The Russians are Coming! The Russians are Coming!

Our lovely model No-Nuts gives the White Russian a smooch.

Those wacky gents over at Lollyphile have done it again-- they've created a boozy-flavored lollipop for those of us who just can't be satisfied with a Cream Soda Dum Dum. To add to the list of Absinthe and Bourbon lollipops, they've now created a White Russian pop.
Back in the day (that would be the early '90s), White Russians were my drink of choice because really, what's better than cream and booze? But then one night, at a divey bar with the rest of my Creative Writing class, I ordered a White Russian and was told, "We ran out of vodka (?!) but I can make you one with gin." Stupidly, I agreed. Let me assure you that there's a reason there are no drinks made with gin and cream. I've never had another White Russian since.
When I heard about Lollyphile's latest creation, though, I thought it was time to revisit the past. These pops are hefty; I really can't imagine eating a whole one in one sitting. I've got to admit, the initial aroma was a bit unappetizing, more sharp than creamy. But the taste is quite similar to a White Russian: coffee, cream and the zip of vodka. No, you can't get loaded off these things. (Trust me, I asked. I was told you wouldn't get any more buzzed than if you drank a gallon of vodka marinara.)
Four pops will set you back $10 (remember, I said these are hefty; you could probably suck on one for a week) or you can go for the Boozy Mixed Six Pack for $15. A fun gift for the booze hound in your life!

Brilliant Blue: M&Ms as medicine?

WOW. I was tipped off to this piece of exciting news by a friend who has spinal cord injuries. Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center found that when they injected Brilliant Blue G (the same color used in blue M&Ms) into rats with spinal cord injuries, the rats were able to walk again, albeit with a limp. This of course doesn't mean that chowing down on a bag of blue M&Ms will cure spinal injuries, but it's exciting information-- and hope for the future! Read more here.

A Birthday Present for a Von Schokolat

May your day be filled with lots of sweetness!

Dollar Store Candy Review

Now that No-Nuts is here for the summer, I've been using her as my guinea pig for certain candies, such as these goodies I found at the dollar store. (As you may recall, I have issues with eating anything from a dollar store, or any non-food store in general.)
I bought the Haribo Peaches because I know she likes Peach Os, and the Goetze's Strawberri Cream "bullseyes" were something I'd never seen before.
The first sniff of the Peaches bag took me back to high school when we had a birthday party for my friend Kris and took all the alcohol in her parents' liquor cabinet--including a bottle of Peach Schnapps--and made a "punch." I've never been much for anything peach flavored since then. These, however, were surprisingly good. Of course, you can rarely go wrong with Haribo in my book.
The Strawberri Creams, however, were another story. First of all, the spelling of "Strawberri" should've tipped me off. There's not a single ounce of strawberry in these babies and you can tell by the God-awful fake berry flavor. They also had a dusty, chalky texture that made them inedible.
So it was a runaway win for the Peaches and a sad loss for the bulls' eyes.

And Now, a Word from The Ice Cube Queen

The Ice Cube Queen is in town. She was barely on New England soil when she handed me two hand-written pages. This is what they said:

Dear Candy Yum Yum,
Just wait until the Sugar Baby is a teenager and you go flying around the world with him (or at least down to Florida to visit Mickey)! I'm sitting on a plane with the "no-name" niece and nephew. Actually, this is our second plane today.
Our day started early this morning when Jenny exclaimed, "I didn't realize that candy weighs so much!" Her carry-on bag was filled with candy!
As soon as we boarded the first plane, I said, "Bring on the candy-- what do you have?"
Yes, I've been brain-washed into thinking that you have to have candy at take-off and landing.
First, we opened the Good 'n Plenty box. Next ... don't cringe ... the Circus Peanuts! In the meantime, Tim opened his stash of candy. He had Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (I shudder to think how many packages he bought!) and a huge Hershey's Cookies & Cream bar.
Now we're on our second plane. Out came the Circus Peanuts and then the gummy worms!
What's left you say? Let me ask my sugared-up teens:

-Twizzlers
-Nerds
-Gobstoppers
-Oreo cookie bar
-Wintergreen mints

So if we get stuck circling the airport for hours like the last time we flew to Yum Yum state, at least we'll have candy.

P.S. Jenny informed me that she was going to buy the caramels with the white centers or cowtails, but she couldn't find them.

Well, Ice Cube Queen, it would seem that we're all cut of the same cloth! (I'll overlook the Circus Peanuts.) Perhaps they've earned their own titles. I shall call them: Carry-on Candy Girl (CCG) and The Reese's Kid. And by the way, of course you have to have candy at take-off and landing. It's a Candy Yum Yum rule!

Get Your Candy Yum Yum Swag!

I promised you something new and exciting, so drumroll please .....
Introducing the new line of Candy Yum Yum goodies! Our model the Sugar Baby is showing off a toddler T-shirt. The front is a skull and cross lollipops and says "Candy Yum Yum. Net" and the back says, "Eat Candy. Die Happy."
Rest assured, there are adult sizes, too! Also a really cool tote bag and, my favorite, Euro stickers. Come visit my store at Cafe Press!!
(Huge thanks to The Connection for the fabulous design!)

Nestle Crunch: Cause for Play! (A Contest and A Giveaway!)

Check out this bucket o' fun, Yumsters! Nestle Crunches, a ball, a frisbee ... there's a whole summer of good times right there for you. And guess what? The good folks at Nestle have offered to give three Yumsters a bucket of their own! It's all part of their "Cause for Play" campaign, in which they'll be giving away a playground and a grant to a well-deserving community. Here's the deets:

From March 7, 2009 through Oct. 29, 2009, parents, teachers, community organizers and anyone who believes in the power of play can enter to win a residential ready-to-assemble playground, $3,500 cash and the opportunity to help designate a $30,000 KaBOOM! playground grant to a deserving community. Entry to win can be found on NESTLE and WONKA fun-size bags via a unique online entry code to use on www.NestleCrunch.com/CauseforPlay. For every entry, NESTLE CRUNCH will also donate up to $30,000 to KaBOOM! - a national non-profit organization dedicated to bringing play back into children's lives. Additionally, NESTLE CRUNCH is donating $70,000 to KaBOOM! to further their national mission.

But for you, my friends, if you'd like a chance to win your very own bucket of "Cause for Play" fun, all you have to do is leave me a comment telling me about a favorite summer memory. It can be anything; I'll choose three lucky Yumsters on August 1, noon (EST). PLEASE don't sign in as anonymous, because then I'll have no way of contacting you. Leave me some way to get in touch with you. And please be a resident of the continental U.S. Good luck!

M is for Marshmallows

Funley's Stix in the Mud

We've been going up to Vermont a lot this summer where we're building a glorified shed cabin. The highlight of each weekend is to see if I can find some sort of new candy at the little local grocery store. I was thrilled to find these: Funley's Stix in the Mud. The little bags contain bite-sized drops of chocolate-covered cookie pieces. There's also a peanut butter and a caramel variety.
According to the website, the chocolate is a mix of dark and milk, although they don't specify exactly what the cookie pieces are.
I'm always excited to try something with a chocolate/crunchy combination, but I'm often disappointed. I think it must be difficult to maintain the crunch once the chocolate is added. On a scale of one to ten (with ten being the yum yummiest), these are about a 7. They're good, and I might try them again, but when it comes to chocolate-covered cookies, nothing beats a Twix or Jordan Crackers in my book!

(P.S. Please be patient with my terrible photos; camera issues continue to haunt me.)

P is for Peeps

I was scouring the house the other day looking for some candy to paint, when I remembered the Peeps I had stashed in the freezer. Woo hoo!
And this just in from Alexandra: a Peeps store ("Peeps & Co.") will be opening this fall in Maryland.

How Do You Like Your Reese's?

Here's a great video from the "Real Life With Married People" series. If you're a Reese's lover, you'll totally get it! I love the wife's expressions.

Still Life with Marshmallows and Lollipop

"Who did this?" I heard Mr. Goodbar say from the living room last night.
Uh-oh. I was expecting something like marker on the sofa or the cat dressed in pajamas.
Instead, we found this sitting on a little chair. Apparently a still life crafted by the Sugar Baby before he went to bed.

In the Red: Cherry Dum Dums are the Shizz

As I've mentioned before, Dum Dums have become quite a commodity in this house; they are the ultimate potty training tool. After reaching a successful goal, the Sugar Baby stands on a step stool in the kitchen and anxiously awaits the big bag of lollipops. He looks very carefully before choosing his precious reward. The thing is, he's all about red. So all the cherry pops went first, then the bubblegum and cherry cola. "We have to get more red ones," he keeps saying. It then occurred to me to look at the Dum Dums website to see if they actually do sell single flavors in bulk. Well, they do, but only flavors that are about to be discontinued. For $5.20, you can get a box of 120 pops in buttered popcorn, pink lemonade or cherry cola. (I haven't tried the popcorn, but I really dig the pink lemonade ones.) In the meantime, the Sugar Baby will have to try the other flavors. (He actually seems to have a fondness for the coconut ones.)

The Spangler website is pretty cool. You can order the usual T-shirts and mugs, but you can also vote on your favorite future flavor. The options they're offering are: apple pie, blueberry, cranberry, french toast, honeydew, pumpkin, peach and toasted marshmallow. Personally, I'd vote for honeydew and toasted marshmallow, although pumpkin might be interesting.

Mexican Candy: A Poop Theme

As I mentioned previously, The Connection brought me a bag of crazy candy from Mexico, which was incredibly thoughtful. The only thing was, I just couldn't bring myself to try it because I was afraid of swine flu tasting them. So I did the next best thing: I passed it all onto the Baron.

Pelon Pelon Rico:
Gretl says:
"Looks like something that comes out of the Sugar Baby's diaper. It's really bad, EW!"

The Baron says: "Really hard to dispense. It may be date or fig. Doesn't have a very good texture. Salty and gritty."

Limon 7: (not pictured)
Gretl says: "Smells like tires and I'm afraid to eat it, so I'll give it to Daddy to try it."

The Baron: "It tastes like Margarita salt mix for the rim of the glass. I'm not sure it's supposed to be candy?!"

Rellerindos
The Baron: "Looks like dog poop. You put this in your mouth? I'm not sure I want to play this game anymore!" (With this review, no one else in the family would try it.)

Veto Elotes
The Baron: "Gag, cough. Very salty. Sorry, can't get past the salt." He spit it out and washed his mouth out with water. "This is the lollipop that you give your kids when they are bad!" After the gag and the cough, no one else would try it.
Duvalin:
The Baron: "It's like cake icing, but with a thicker texture." He liked this one and didn't want to share.

Mini cow tales (not pictured, because these weren't supposed to be a sample. I had included a box of Mini Cow Tales for Memaw, who likes Bullseyes, which are similar.)
The Baron: "They don't have enough white stuff in them."

There you have it. Sorry Mexico. You may have good food, but your candy is really scary and gross leaves something to be desired.

Going Batty

Here's a piece of black licorice dressed up like a bat for Halloween. Consider this a sort of commercial break before I post the next not-so-tasty review.

Fair Warning: This Ain't Pretty

It's been a way busy summer here at the old Yum Yum headquarters, so I've had to dole out some of my stash to the wee Von Schokolats to review. First up, Tung Toos, Candy Tongue Art. I think this might be one of those candies that, in 30 years, people will be saying, "Hey, remember those tattoos you'd put on your tongue?" And someone will respond, "Oh yeah! I remember those. What were they called?" Kinda like Garbage Pail Kids or Freshen Up gum.
In any case, these tattoos are cherry, watermelon, lemonade, raspberry, strawberry and apple-flavored and come in different designs such as sports balls, princessy things like castles and wands, and the ever-popular vehicles of war (tanks and planes and helicopters and such).
First of all, let me just say that when I read the ingredients, I wasn't thrilled. They are:
Natural and artificial flavors, citric acid, edible ink (otherwise known as artificial colors) and aspartame. Now I know, a lot of candies are made with these ingredients. It's just that, I don't know, all that artificial stuff without at least something nutritionally beneficial seems a bit wrong. But I suppose wax lips and Nik-L-Nips never did any damage to us as kids, so there you go.
On to the reviews.

Gretl: "It's sour and it tastes bad"

Liesl: "It's sour first, then sweet. Good flavor."

The Baron: "Though the picture looks like a turd, it's supposed to be a football. It is burning my tongue, YUCK!"

No-Nuts just put a blue raspberry boat on her tongue and said, "It tastes good. For a second. Now it tastes totally fake."

These would probably be a fun party favor at the kids' next sleepover or your college-student's next kegger.

When Baby Candy Corns Get Sassy

Yesterday was just one of those days. So I funneled my fury into a candy corn translation. I think today will be much better.

Mexican Madness

Lookee here at this crazy assortment of candy The Connection brought me back from Mexico. That thing up top, right, which looks like a turd on a stick is a tamarind lollipop that's supposed to be corn-shaped. I'm not exactly sure what the Duvalin is, but it's the most appetizing-looking of all of them. The bag contains hard filled tamarind with chile candies and that other thing is ... well, I don't really know. So how do they taste?
I've got to admit, I don't know. I've been trying to work up the courage to taste these delicacies, but every time I look at them, all I can think is, "swine flu." I know that's so politically incorrect, but I can't help it. I know I should try them and give you the full report, but I'm just feeling a little wimpy. Anybody out there willing to give 'em a try?

D is for Dum-Dums

Great uses for Dum-Dum lollipops:
1) Cat toy. Put one on a slick surface and watch the kitty bat it around.
2) Potty training incentive. They're the perfect small treat. (That, or a single M&M).
3) Playing a miniature drum.

Mmmmm, beer fudge!

Breaking news from Alexandra! At Tin Bin Alley, a store in Cooperstown, NY, you can score some beer fudge! Yes indeedy, beer fudge is what I said! Here's a comment Alex got from the store owner:
"It's made using Brewery Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence Stout. It makes for a unique Belgian taste, different from the everyday taste of regular fudge made with cream."
Sounds verrrryyyy interesting!

New Wonka Gummies: No Artificial Colors or Flavors!

I was pretty psyched earlier this year when I found out that Wonka would be releasing two new products: Sour Puckerooms and Sluggles Gummies. These sounded like just the kind of fun candy the market has been lacking for a while, because, let's face it, gummie worms and bears can only excite and amuse for so long.
The Sour Puckerooms are little mushroom shaped gummies with a sour dusting, similar to Sour Patch Kids. The flavors are cherry, grape and lemon/orange.
In contrast, the Sluggles are sweet and come in bug shapes (but not gross bug shapes, thankfully). The flavors are orange, grape, lemon and strawberry. I found them at Target.
I tossed the bags to No-Nuts and she went for the Puckerooms first. "These are good!" she said. I agree. They are good. Not too sour, but just puckery enough to have you reaching for another one. I like the contrast of the rough sour stuff against the smooth, chewy gummy.
The Sluggles are good, too, although I always prefer sour. These have a dense chew and a slick surface.
My overall thinking was, these are good. But how are they any different than any other gummie candies? One look at the ingredients will tell you: no artificial colors or flavors. Very cool. This is a big deal for parents of kids who have sensitivities to artificial ingredients, so yay for Wonka!

H is for Hearts

Hey Yumsters! Have a great 4th of July weekend! I'll be back on Tuesday. Here's a preview of what's to come: Mexican candy, Wonka's Puckerrooms and Sluggles, candy tongue tattoos and lots more!

Candy Postcards

Check out this awesome postcard I bought in Brattleboro, Vermont this weekend. The witch is saying, "Mi Casa es Su Casa" to Hansel and Gretel and pointing to her candy house. Haha!