Welch's Filled Licorice

When I was in college, I had three wisdom teeth removed. It was a nightmare experience and I always swore I'd never have the last one removed. Then, low and behold, at my last dental cleaning, the hygienist looked at my X-rays and said, "You have a cyst behind your last wisdom tooth. That has to come out." Fantastic. I explained that there was no way in heck I was going to do it, but then the thought occurred to me: Could this be causing my vertigo? Long story short, I had the tooth removed. It was a much better experience than the first time, although it didn't affect the vertigo at all. What does this have to do with candy, you ask?
The day the tooth got pulled, I received some Welch's Filled Licorice samples. What a tease. The Concord Grape and Strawberry licorice sat on my desk for weeks taunting me while I subsisted on a diet of popsicles and rice pudding. The Sugar Baby kept asking about them. I desperately wanted to try them, but my teeth were so sensitive that even the thought of licorice caused me to cringe. Finally, I couldn't wait anymore. I took small nibbles and chewed on the opposite side.

For some reason, I thought the licorice would be filled with a drippy, gooey liquid. It turns out that the inside is more like a jelly (that shouldn't be a surprise, I guess). The flavors are good, classic "candy" grape and strawberry. Gretl von Schokolat tried them and said she was shocked. She thought they'd be sour but they were sweet. Not too sweet, just sweet enough. I'm not sure the filling made much of a difference. The flavors and textures seemed to blend together, but overall, they were pretty yummy and were rather teeth-friendly. Red licorice lovers should find these to be a tasty alternative to the usual.

Allergen-free candy from Gimbal's

I don't often run stuff straight from a press release (Candy Yum Yum is one place where I can be blissfully free from marketing banter), but in this case, I was impressed enough to want to share this info with you. (And, coincidentally enough, I happened to buy a bag of Gimbal's jelly beans the other day specifically because they're made in the U.S. and don't contain high fructose corn syrup). So here you go. Check this out:  

"Gimbal’s Fine Candies confectionary is one of the only major confectionary manufacturers in the USA that has committed to be free of the eight major food ingredients that are responsible for over 90% of food allergies. These food allergens include peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, wheat, soy, fish and shellfish. In order to eliminate risk of cross contamination, these eight foods are not included in Gimbal’s recipes, nor are they permitted inside their production and packaging facilities.  

Additionally, the company is proud to manufacture all its confections right here in the United States, so people know when they purchase any candy, they are supporting American made products and jobs."