My Top Halloween Candy Picks – 2011

I know, I know. I’m being a bitttt premature with this post, but I just simply can’t help it. I LOVE HALLOWEEN SO MUCH. It’s the first time of year you smell wood burning (in suburbs that is, I haven’t smelled any goddamn wood since I’ve lived in SF, Boston or NY… grrr). I also love how simply cool and crisp the weather is on the night of Halloween – it never seems to be horrible out, perhaps a bit nippy but nothing awful.

I grew up wearing some of the least girly, most unusual costumes ever. For example, I was once Wendy from the Aadams Family and then a “Joker” which no one who opened their door for me, knew what I was exactly. Oh well, I tried to be creative. I’ve given up with the costumes for the most part, but my unwavering love for all things Halloween has nowhere near diminished.

Below is a list of my Top Picks for this upcoming Halloween – whether you’re hosting a party or… creepishly wearing a mask to steal candy from people most likely your own age:

Take 5

So… pretty much… the bar is a combination of pretzels, chocolate, peanuts, peanut butter and caramel. How can you possibly NOT like this chocolate candy? I didn’t really know about it as a kid, I was more of a “Nutrageous”-er if you will, but I’m glad that later in life, I found out about these great bars. My finance department coordinator has a piggy bank of chocolate (yes, I know, there’s always one employee like that in every workplace) well she keeps some stashed just for me. I let her keep the Mounds and Almond Joy’s… CLEARLY, gross me out. 

Candy Blog

Dots 

I’ve blogged many times about my adoration for Dots. It’s one of those foods that my mom totally warped me into loving as a little kid and it’s stuck ever since. While I haven’t ever tried the Halloween inspired ones below, I figured, of they’re out there on the market and I’m blogging specifically about Halloween candy why not use this picture, right? Whichever variety of Dots you choose, you just simply can’t go wrong. 

Ryno Report

Homemade Caramel and Candy Apples

My grandmother has showed up at my house in NJ since I was born in a VERY peculiar costume of choice with a big ol’ basket of homemade caramel and candy apples. I was fortunate to even have her send me the apples while in college at Boston. They just bring back Halloween’s throughout my childhood. My grandparents would show up WAY later than the rest of the trick-or-treaters in either a Reagan or Bush mask… sometimes they’d even dress as human peacocks, regardless of costume, we’d always have those apples. Damn do I love them and the memories associated. 

Edible Crafts

Reeses – Halloween Edition

I’m a big sucker for all things peanut butter. You really can put PB with MOST food items and it’ll be delectable. Yes,  I just included the word delectable in my blog. #firstforeverything. I used to do the usual brother/sister post Halloween trick-or-treating candy swap. He’s a huge fan of all things sour which I’m clearly not and he hates all things savory (aka REESES) therefore, we always thoroughly enjoyed our annual swaps. I got everything from peanut butter filled pretzels (lame in comparison to other picks but hey, beggars can’t be choosers) to white chocolate Reeses which is my all time favorite. WHITE CHOCOLATE + PEANUT BUTTER  = PURELY INSANE DELICIOUSNESS. 

Shopping Blog

 Tootsie Pops (Preferably the Cherry and Chocolate Flavors)

Embarrassingly enough, I often find myself bringing in Tootsie Pops to the workplace solely so I can hoard a bunch of them in my drawer. I love these pops. Oddly enough, I love the chocolate one’s which no one but me (I don’t think) enjoys. It’s very creamy and less harsh then the acidic blueberry and cherry’s. I wouldn’t turn down a cherry flavored pop though, so don’t think that please. I’m a level-headed person, come on. 

Christina Cronk

Candy Corn

I used to hate the concept of candy corn. It grossed me OUT. For some reason, though, I’ve become such a fan of the candy over the past few years. Maybe with age, my palate has become more open to sugary, artificially colored halloween candy – who knows. All I know is that I adore candy corn year-round. I shouldn’t probably admit that should I? Oh well. 

Mix My Granola

The Fight Against Obesity — What’s Really Working?

Today, in the New York Times Business Section, an article caught my attention. The article talked about Hershey’s launch of new “Pieces” Candies — think Almond Joy “Pieces” and York Peppermint “Pieces” — Hershey’s is aiming to compete with the extremely popular Reese’s Pieces which has been around for quite some time now. The reviews of the new bite sized on the go candies, however, are somewhat mixed to say the least. The peppermint candies had a lot of customers and candy experts confused — inside of the pieces lies dark chocolate that tastes like peppermint as opposed to the memorable white creamy filling.

The launch was also prompted for another reason — the problem with full sized candies in our modern obese society. They are hoping instead of eating a package of either Almond Joys or York Patties people will share and give some to themselves and some to friends.

Another article written recently by Mark Bittman, the legendary food writer, described the ways in which TOBACCO can be compared to SODA. He explains the detrimental effects soda (in excess) has on children and adults alike. The statistics really surprised me most in the article — Bittman explains that MOST of the calories we consume in our diet are from sugary caloric sodas, not from food we consume – that surprised me. With that in mind, states are in the midst of talks about “10 percent taxes on all soda beverages” — some states have already implemented this law, however, it has not grown to encompass all US states, but it may in the near future. Similarly to smoking cigarettes, if the prices escalate either the amount of soda consumed will go down or the habit may cease to continue all together.

Another way companies are trying to curb the problem of obesity is by creating “100 Calorie Pack” foods — pretty much every type of snack and dessert on the market has been turned into 100 calorie versions. The problem with this creation is that not only do they look and taste nothing like the original but they are NOT filling and most likely people will be consuming more than 1 bag.

My question at the end of the day ultimately is…. what will really be the winning ticket to curbing obesity? I don’t think it’s mini versions of fattening cookies and “cakesters” nor do I think people will stop drinking their Coca Cola’s. I think it will take a restructuring of all schools, workplaces, and education in order for people to really start shaping their lives differently.