Monday, December 27, 2010

My New Obsession: Dark Chocolate Stars


My P.I.C. and I decided that, this year, instead of getting gifts for each others' kids, we'd splurge and give presents to each other. Nothing big, just something fun. Well, howdy doo, guess what I got? A veritable candy feast of Trader Joe's goodies. There's Fleur de Sel caramels, chocolate-covered edamame, chocolate-covered peppermint Joe Joe's and-- hold onto your hats-- dark chocolate-covered shortbread stars.
Back in November, there was a woman behind me in line at TJ's who was buying a whole bunch of boxes of the stars. She said she learned her lesson last year when they sold out. I didn't think much of it, because I'm not a huge shortbread fan. But these are beyond compare. They really don't taste like shortbread. They don't have that huge butter taste and are more thin and crunchy than thick and crumbly. The chocolate is delicious. If these were a candy, they just might be voted the best of 2010. Now I know. Next year I will hoard them.
What about you? What treats did you get for Christmas?

New Address!

Hey Yumsters! Spread the word. There's a new address for Candy Yum Yum: the ever-popular dot com. I'm not exactly sure what happened to the dot net, but it somehow went the way of the Dodo Bird. So now you can get your favorite candy news at www.Candyyumyum.com. Remember to change your bookmark!
(And please be patient while I work through some design issues. Never a dull moment.)

Thursday, December 23, 2010

A Candy Yum Yum Christmas Message

Merry Christmas Yumsters! I hope you're still with me, as I seem to be experiencing some domain problems. Please stand by; I will resolve this in due time. Meanwhile, enjoy all your holiday goodies and get ready ... the Candy Year in Review will be coming up shortly!

Monday, December 20, 2010

New Dove Swirls


I think 2011 is going to be a good year for chocolate. I have a feeling there will be a lot of new, fun candies out there for us to try. Dove has announced that in January, they'll be launching a new product: Dove Silky Smooth White & Milk Chocolate Swirl and Raspberry & Dark Chocolate Swirl. I tried the raspberry and was very happy with it. Raspberry is one of those flavors that can easily go wrong, but here the sweetness of the berry is nicely balanced with the tannin of the dark chocolate. Like most of the Dove products, I could eat a bag of these in one sitting. But just for the record, I did maintain self-control and only had a few. That's today's story, anyhow. Tomorrow could be completely different.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Breaking News: Twix Coconut on the Horizon

Oh yes, you read that right: in April, Mars will be launching a limited edition Twix coconut. Just when I thought I'd become immune to the excitement of new products, along comes this. I. Can't. Wait.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

And the Peppermint Bark Goes to ...

Dan! For his sweet memories of his grandma's cookies. Congrats! And thanks everyone for participating. Lots more giveaways in 2011!

Friday, December 10, 2010

Giveaway Time! Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark


It's time for another giveaway, don't you think? How about some Limited Edition Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark? I love this stuff. It's so festive and you can do so much with it... eat it right out of the bag or bake with it. So, if you'd like a chance to win some bars and bags, leave a comment here telling me what your favorite Christmas cookie is. Could be anything, from your grandma's famous prune cookies to your BFF's whiskey balls. I'll pick one lucky person at random on December 14 at approximately 1:45 p.m., give or take a few minutes. Remember to leave a way for me to contact you. You can't win if you're anonymous!

Wednesday, December 08, 2010

Cocoa with 6 Grams of Fiber?!


A few more Trader Joe's updates. First, they have "Coins of the World" which are much cooler than the regular old drugstore bag of geld. Here, the Sugar Baby has made a Christmas tree out of his (after he won all of my coins in a rousing game of dreidel).Second, check this out. Trader Joe's Sipping Chocolate. Sounds delish, right? Well check out the nutritional info, too: 6 grams of fiber, baby! I'm not sure how that's even possible, given that the ingredients are cocoa powder, cane sugar, chocolate liquor and cocoa butter. Any nutritionists want to give us some insight on that? Because I'm all about six grams of fiber.

Saturday, December 04, 2010

Minty Mallows and ... Announcing My New Gig!


It's that time of year again ... the time when I can't go to Trader Joe's with an empty sugar tooth because they have all their holiday yummy things out. They have cute snowflakes made out of milk, white and dark chocolate; holiday jelly beans in red, green and white (with no artifical colors or flavors); lots of truffles and fleur de sel caramels, chocolate-covered Joe-Joe's ... it goes on and on. I decided to go for the Dark Chocolate Minty Mallows. Want to know more? You know you do! Check out my new food blog, EatDrinkShopCook! I've accepted a gig as the food writer for a group of local papers, which means my postings here may be a bit sparse for a while, until I get my bearings over there.