Necco gets with the program

The very fabulous June brought this to my attention:

Oh man, the image didn't transfer. Those "O"s are all Necco wafers. In any case, looks like Necco is finally getting on the retro bandwagon. What's your favorite flavor? Mine is the cinnamon, otherwise known as white. 

Convo Me!

This has been the strangest Valentine's season. I just realized the other day that there's usually a lot of hoopla around what the year's new mottoes will be on Necco Conversation Hearts. You know, it was a big deal when they switched from "Fax Me" to "Text Me," showing they know how to keep up with the times. But this year? Not a peep. Nary a word. What's up with that? I'm off to investigate today. I'll report back!

Guest Review: Vomit, Chalk and Chewy String

I sent the Wee von Schokolats a package of various candies from the assortment that I received from the NCA Sweets & Snacks Expo. This is stuff that I normally wouldn't eat, so I thought I'd let the experts do the talking on this one. Without further ado, a very honest review from Liesl von Schokolat:

The candy that we got was very interesting to say the least. The X-treme Sour candy tasted like vomit if you ignored the taste and chewed a bit longer it then tastes like cherry. The inside of the X-treme Sour is jelly and it is SOUR!!!
The Chocolate Necco Wafers were terrible-- they tasted like chalk. The only people who would like them is the people who are addicted to chalk. There is a very slight aftertaste of chocolate, but only I, Liesl, the chocohalic tasted it. LOL.
The Rips Whips were really good and fun to play with. Gretl made a bracelet with the candy and then ate it. She said that the candies did not taste good all together. The Baroness tried it and decided that they weren't worth the calories and spit it out. She said it tasted like chewy string with a cherry flavor. The Sour spray was very, very, very sour!!! It tasted like green apple and it made the Baron's tongue really dry. Warning: DO NOT SPRAY IN EYES.The Fini tennis balls were gums that were very sour at first, but didn't have a taste. It had a really stale texture with a weak sweet lemon flavor. It was like chewing on a slightly softer Gobstopper and it hurt our jaws to chew. The gum was very cute though.
Last but not least, the candy that I have recently eaten was a Triple Chocolate Twix bar. It was so good. It was like fudge on top of a yummy cookie. I loved it. The other Von Schoklats did not like it though, "too chocolatey" they said. Oh well they don't know what they are missing. :)

OUQT! Some Random Sweethearts Stuff

Auntie Ice Cube Queen sent the Sugar Baby a box of Necco Sweethearts Smoothies for Valentine's Day. I decided to go wild and let him eat them all in one sitting. He wolfed them down without a word, and then, when he got to the last one, he said, "What does this say?"
Appropriately enough, it said "I love you." (Note the following items in the picture: Necco Sweethearts, plastic chocolate truffle, and a book called "Sweet!")

This year, the new phrases on Sweethearts are "Tweet Me," "Text Me," "You Rock," "Soul Mate," "Love Bug," and "Me + You." Alas, the obsolete "Fax Me" has been discontinued. Maybe next year they'll add "Super Poke!" or "Friend Request."

And, if you just can't get enough of that sweet Valentine's aroma, check this out. Demeter Fragrance Library has introduced three new scents to their collection: Be My Valentine, Love Me and Call Me. You can get them at Sephora.

Let's Talk About Mint, Baby

I love mint and chocolate. Doesn't matter about the mint or the chocolate. It's the perfect combination. Well, maybe it's a tie with peanut butter but wait-- I just had a revelation. Mint goes best with dark chocolate and peanut butter goes best with milk. So they can both be my favorites, right?
I thought I'd share this experience with mint from last weekend.
When we got to Vermont and stopped for gas at the local grocery store, Mr. Goodbar wanted a bottle of water. Having only .26 cents on me, I had to use my credit card, which meant candy aisle, here I come!
So this is what I got. A Divine Mint Dark Chocolate bar and a Haviland Chocolate Covered Wintergreen Patty, which had a tag in front of it that said "Item Being Discontinued."
First, the Divine. Obviously, if I found this in a backwoods grocery store in Vermont, you know it's Fair Trade, non-GMO and over $3.00. The aroma is driving me crazy; I can't place what it compares to except to say that its fresh mint.* The chocolate is just the perfect percentage. The package doesn't say what it is, but it's right on that fine line between bittersweet and just plain bitter. The mint part is actually a mint crunch-- little bits of hard, crunchy candy cane-like nibblets. This is good chocolate, perfect for a special treat with a glass of Malbec. (Oh wait, here's one right here!)
And then there's the wintergreen patty. I bought one of these during one of the summer trips to Vermont, but I put it in my pocket and it melted into an irretrievable mess. This time I made sure that I tried it before it had a chance to melt (although there was hardly a chance of that considering we had 2 feet of snow). Let me say for the record, I had high hopes for this, considering 1) I really liked the Haviland Orange Thin Mints and 2) I really like wintergreen. But my goodness. Gracious.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a contender for next year's Worst of 2010.
I'm actually going to try this again right now, so I can give you a live report. The patty looks just like a York, maybe a little thinner. The scent is medicinal. The inside cream is smoother than a York and it is BRIGHT PINK (my camera couldn't do it justice). Here goes the nibble: OMG. Seriously, this brings me back to high school when I'd chomp on Pepto-Bismol tablets for my stomach aches. Vile. I need to know: who eats these things? Have you ever had one? Is there anyone, ANYONE out there who likes these? Probably not, considering they're being discontinued. But if you're out there, send me a note. We need to talk.

*It just came to me. The aroma is that of peppermint tea.

Special Edition Thin Mints and Green Necco Wafers

During my most recent visit to the Von Schokolats', we went to Big Ass Wal Mart where we had to do some shopping as well as hunting for scavenger hunt items. (We had to find a Wal Mart employee with the same name as someone on our team; unfortunately, the only person who had a matching name was fired the day before.)
In any case, as I was cruising through the food aisles, I spotted these: Haviland Thin Mints in special edition flavors of orange and raspberry.
Haviland Mints are made by NECCO (speaking of which, I'm still waiting, Mr. Krause) and they're a staple in my family's house at Thanksgiving. Seriously, I think the regular Thin Mints are as much a part of the holiday as the turkey. No mints, no Thanksgiving.
I bought a package of the orange ones, although I didn't really have any big expectations, considering the box was less than $2. It might've even been $1.
Well surprise, surprise. These mints are really good! They remind me of Munson's orange creams. There's a faint mint taste, but not overwhelming. Mostly it's just sweet and tangy orange with the rather decent dark chocolate. Kudos to you, Haviland mints!
In other news, I went to the NECCO site to grab the photo (I'm too lazy to take a picture of the ones I still have left) and found this weirdness:
Green Necco wafers for weddings. Only green. Not white. Not pink. You can only get green. That's fine if you're the Jolly Green Giant, or your bridesmaids are wearing mint green (not a good idea) or you're having your reception at the Gaelic-American Club (ahem), but otherwise ... Is there some mythological green Necco wafer story I don't know about?

Blast From the Past: 2004

Hey Yumsters!
Here are a few of my favorite entries from 2004. Enjoy!

June 23, 2004:
Candy exchange
Holy Crap! I'm so excited I can't stand it. I recently met an Aussie on one of the writers' websites I belong to, and we got to emailing each other back and forth. She's a food writer, too, so we have lots to say to each other. BUT---check this out---we're doing a candy exchange!!! Oh, beloved Australian candy, I can't wait to meet thee. I sent her a big box of various delectibles...Twizzlers, Red Vines, Jelly Bellys, Nerds, Airheads, Goldenbergs, Pearson Peanut Roll, Fruit Stripe Gum and beef jerky for her husband. Oooh, the anticipation is killing me.

(2009 Editor's Update: My Aussie friend [who is really a Kiwi] turned out to be one awesome chick. We've corresponded weekly-- at some points daily-- and have gone through all sorts of major stuff together-- everything from birth to death, recipes to politics. Her box o' goodies to me included all sorts of cool things, but my favorite was a package of Tim Tams. These chocolate cookies were just released in the U.S., but they totally suck here. Gotta have the real thing! If I remember correctly, she really liked the Lindt ladybugs I sent. And the real jerky ended up being her husband. But that's another story...)

Monday, October 30, 2006

Holy candy!
This is great. I was just reading the bulletin from my parents' church and here's what Father John had to say about Halloween:

"Help me with something: Every year some friends of mine and I gather at the rectory to celebrate the holiday and hand out some candy. The first year I was here, there were only four trick-or-treaters and I was so disappointed! Almost every year, the count has gone up, but we've never made it into triple digits. (One year was achingly close at ninety-nine!) So let's break 100 this year. I've done my part: we're talking Snickers, Hershey's, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Nestle Crunch, Butterfingers, just to drop a few names-- and all in regular size bars. Because I am a man of hope, I have 167 of them waiting in the pantry. I dare you: on Halloween, make me run out to the gas station for more!"

Yeehah! We'll be there Father John!

(2009 Editor's Update: Father John continues to rock Halloween with hundreds of full-size candy bars. It's the highlight of our Halloween!)

Friday, October 20, 2006

Halloween Hierarchy
Maslow had his hierarchy of needs. I have my hierarchy of Halloween. There's no getting around it-- some candies are just better than others.

Bottom of the barrel: If you want your house to get egged, there's no better way than to give out apples or raisins. Does anyone seriously give this stuff out anymore?Also, anything that can't be eaten because of the likelihood of poisoning, such as loose candy corn, Smarties, Dum Dums or Hershey's Kisses.

Second tier: That nasty peanut butter taffy wrapped in orange and black wax paper. Pennies. Any of that Boyer pseudo-chocolate crap.

Third tier: Necco wafers. I will say, though, that these have great value for playing First Communion and a good trade with kids who've never had them before. I remember babysitting when I was in high school and the brother and sister were fighting over the Necco wafers in their Trick or Treat bags. I asked them if they had even tried them before and they hadn't. This was obvious, as the boy was willing to trade his Mr. Goodbars for the wafers. Bad trade. Any predominately caramel candies, like Milk Duds or Sugar Babies.

Fourth tier: This is where it starts to get tricky. This category is reserved for those things that are pretty yummy, but are of lesser value than other goodies, such as: gum, SweeTarts, LifeSavers, Three Musketeers.

Fifth tier: Skittles, Starburst, Milky Ways, Butterfingers, Hershey bars, Mr. Goodbar, Jujyfruits

Cream of the Crop: Reese's, Snickers, M&M's, Kit Kats, Nestle Crunch, Baby Ruth, Twix, Mounds, Almond Joy.

Big-time bonus points for: Full-sized candy bars (any type); Little bags of assorted goodies; Quarters or dollars; Cracker Jacks; Pez; Mallo Cups.

How does your Halloween Hierarchy measure up?

Friday, August 18, 2006
Dark chocolate salvation
You knew it had to happen. The Virgin Mary has appeared in a lump of dark chocolate at a candy factory: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14400252/?GT1=8404. She's no fool-- moving onto chocolate after the e-Bay grilled cheese. I predict she'll make her next appearance in a creme brulee.

Your Three Words

A big thanks (?) to Frau Marzipan for directing my attention to the Good Morning America segment called "Your Three Words" where people hold up signs, wear T-shirts, etc. with three words stating what's on their minds. It's all set to music and of course, you'll be bawling your eyes out by the end of it, when you see things like a sign saying "Finally coming home" with a video of a baby in the hospital or "Miss My Friend" with someone holding up a picture. There are funny ones, too, of course, like "Am I Cute?" with an ugly little chuhuahua. So what does this all have to do with candy?
Well ... our friends at Necco (of the Yum Yum heart fame and Twilight Sweethearts) have decided to retire their old sayings and use some of the current "Your Three Words" for next year's Conversation Hearts. Pretty cool, huh? I say it again; someone is definitely pushing Necco into the 21st century. You can enter your saying at mysweethearts.com.
So Yumsters, what are your three words?

Sweethearts: The Twilight Candy is Here!

Okay Yumsters, settle down. We've got a lot of ground to cover on this one. Yes, indeed, I have here before me a package of Sweethearts Conversation Hearts Forbidden Fruits. This will be a totally unbiased overview, despite the fact that I'm still waiting to receive my Necco Yum Yum heart. (Don't make me beg, Mr. Krause. Pleeeeease.)

Anyhow.

This is perhaps the smartest thing Necco (maker of Necco wafers and Conversation Hearts) could've done. Frankly, I'm surprised that Hershey or Nestle didn't latch onto the Twilight licensing. (If you're one of the six people in the country who don't know what Twilight is, it's a book/movie about vampires with morals. The first book, in my opinion, pretty much sucked, but I'm currently reading the final book and I have to say that Stephenie Meyer really got her act together by the end. This book is really good. And-- as a side note-- Stephen King, you shouldn't go picking on other horror writers. Just because you've figured out a formula doesn't make you any better than she is. I think you're just jealous. But I digress...).

Necco somehow got the rights to the Twilight licensing, and so they've released these candies. First, let's look at the box. There's the picture from the movie poster with Bella and Edward and the other vampires. It's nicely spooky. There are also illustrations of the candy-- hearts that say, "Dazzle," "Bite Me," "Live 4 Ever," "Lamb" and "I love EC." Some of the candies are drawn to be all sparkly, like they were doused in glue and sparkles for a school project. Not really what you want out of a candy. Then, next to the hearts it reads: "Secret Scent Rub to Reveal..."

Okay, this is where I'm totally confused. Rub what? The candy? The box? Only certain candies? Help me, Necco people! I don't understand!

On the back of the box, there are four hearts with their corresponding flavors:

Orange: Orange Obsession

Red: Tempting Apple

Purple: Passion Fruit

A different red: Secret Strawberry

First up, orange. This actually has a nice, bright, citrusy flavor. Good job!

Apple. It's pretty good. Not like Jolly Rancher green apple; more like another apple that I can't place.

Passion fruit: Sorry, it's just nasty. But then again, I don't like passion fruit. To me, it tastes like dead flowers.

Strawberry: Tastes like Play Doh.

Now, the main draw of Conversation Hearts is the pithy little sayings they have stamped on them. This should be the case here, as well; however it looks like something went a little wacky at the factory because most of them are really hard to read, especially the sparkly ones. The one that I could read the easiest said "Forks," which is the town where all the vampire action takes place. Hardly the most romantic saying.

Lastly, let's take a look at the ingredients. Sugar, corn syrup, artificial and natural flavors, blah, blah, blah and-- get this-- Pearlescent Pigment. Whoa mama! Exactly what is pearlescent pigment? Or perhaps the better question is, what is it made out of? Any guesses?

So, what can I say? Teen girls will love these. As for me, well, I might've found it in my heart to *really* love them, if only I had a giant Yum Yum heart to call my own. As it is, they're just okay.

Necco, Necco Wafers, Necco Sweethearts, Richard Krause, Necco!

I can't turn down a challenge. I'm not one to try to break a world record or anything, but there are just some ideas that stick in my brain sometimes and I just have to accomplish them. Like when I stole accidentally borrowed a glass from Martha Stewart. Or the other night, when my partner in crime and I spent too much time lingering over drinks and had to sneak a pizza into the movie theater. (Yes, it was in the box.) So today I've been faced with two challenges:

1) One of my super-secret writer friends has thrown down this gauntlet: if I can spin a certain article three different ways, she'll send me some See's candy. Ho ho! This one is going to take some hard work.

And...

2) I'm getting a little obsessed with the Necco heart. I have to have it. I'm not sure what lengths I'm willing to go for it, but the wheels are churning.

Here It Is!

Dear NECCO people (or just the cute girl in the white apron),
I would totally, TOTALLY be your BFF if you sent me that Yum Yum heart. I know you'll probably have to use it through Valentine's Day and everything, but when you're done with it, oooh, could you send it my way? I'll even pick it up!
Yours (hopefully), Madame Yum Yum

Art on Candy!

Check this out: an artist who does drawings on Necco wafers. This begs the question, however: how would you frame them?

Old Timey Candy

This is so cool. It's a website of nostalgic ads with lots of candy-related stuff. This picture is from a sales book from the 1940s. There are also ads for Chuckles (assorted and all-licorice), Nickel Nacks (little boxes of candy corn, lemon drops and other yummies), 3 Musketeers (the original with three flavors!), Stark "The World's Longest Candy Roll" (looks similar to Necco Wafers), and-- you've gotta love this-- "Mason Cocoanut Queens: A luscious, tasty chocolate flavored coating, impervious to temperature extremes covers a moist, flavorful cocoanut center."

There's lots more, too. You'll have tons of fun looking at these. Which reminds me, I have an old Life Savers ad that I need to get framed to hang in the H-man's room.

Random Candy Memory: Charleston Chews by the pool

Here's a lovely, summery candy memory from my friend Neil, who will probably be mortified that I'm writing this. But it's so cute, I had to do it.

We were talking about candy and the subject of Charleston Chews came up. "They remind me of being a kid," said Neil. He said he would go to the town pool and work up the courage to buy a frozen Charleston Chew from the hottie teenage girl in the bikini who worked at the snack shack. I can just picture him all moony-eyed with a cracking, pre-pubescent voice saying, "One Charleston Chew, please."

And then, like millions of other teenage boys, he'd take the frozen candy bar and thwack! it on the ground so that it broke up into a million pieces.

Good times. Good times.

This then got me thinking about the gender of candy. There are some candy bars that are just boy-oriented; fewer that are girly. Charleston Chews are definitely a boy candy, as are fireballs, jawbreakers and most other round candies. Twix are definitely boy-oriented, although probably just as many girls like them. 3 Musketeers are boy candy, as are Milky Ways. What do girls get? Stupid candy like Mary Janes, Bit o' Honeys and Necco wafers. I'll have to ponder this some more. What do you think?

Necco Update

I contacted the customer service people at Necco about the Smoothie controversy (see post below.) They sent a very kind e-mail saying that the flavor selection is indeed random, but they'd be sending my query on to Quality Control. In the meantime, Alexandra was sweet enough to share her four banana caramel wafers with me. They were lacking that slightly sour tang of real banana flavor. It was more of a cloying, artificial banana with some serious caramel notes. But I always like to see banana represented in the candy canon. I think it deserves as much respect as say, watermelon or green apple.

Candy Controversy!

After posting about the Necco Smoothies, Alexandra said she had to try them. So she bought a roll and proceeded to unwrap it. The first one she got was peach-- a bummer, since she doesn't like peach. But then the next one was peach. And then the next one. So she unwrapped the whole roll and here's what she got: a great big buttload of peach, a bunch of strawberry, four banana and ONE blueberry (just like my roll!) and NO tropical. What gives NECCO? She went to the website and found that the company claims that the wafers are randomly mixed, but this seems too suspicious to me. C'mon! What's going on here? I'll have to investigate. In the meantime, I think "One Blue Necco" would be a great name for a band.

Yes, we have no bananas

So I was cruising through the grocery store yesterday trying to get in and get out in record time, when I noticed that the Easter candy had been replaced by the "summer" candy. Of all seasons, summer is just the worst when it comes to candy. It's all gumdrops and Circus Peanuts. But there, in the middle of the aisle, was a display of Necco Wafers Smoothies. Maybe these have been around for a while, but it was my first time seeing them. I stood in front of that stupid display for much longer than I should have, contemplating whether or not to buy a package. (Because at 69 cents, it was a huge investment.)
I'm not a fan of Necco Wafers, but there's something so comforting and quintessentially "candy" about them. And since they're made in New England, I felt like I should do my part to support the company, so I bought a pack. The package says the flavors are blueberry, banana caramel, tropical, peach and strawberry creme. The only one I was really interested in was the banana caramel. Sadly, that was the only flavor that I DIDN'T get in the package. But more about that later.
The first one I tried was peach, and I generally hate all things peach flavored except for real off-the-tree peaches. But I must say, this was pretty pleasant. In fact, after eating one, I found I wanted another. Lucky for me, the second wafer was also peach. But then so was the third, and the fourth. Okay, I thought, maybe they've stacked all the same flavors together. So I tore off the whole wrapper and what did I find? The majority was peach, followed by strawberry, a few tropical, ONE, yes ONE, blueberry and, as I said before, NO banana. What's up with that? Hey Necco, how about some quality control?
The strawberry creme was pretty good, although I'm not a huge strawberry fan. The tropical was pleasant; it tasted like a pina coloda. I was afraid it would be too coconutty/suntan lotion tasting, but it was pretty balanced with a hint of pineapple. The lone blueberry one was tasty, but I wouldn't say it tasted like a blueberry. More like a mixed berry kind of flavor. But alas, I will probably never know what the banana caramel tastes like, unless some kind soul feels like sharing theirs with me.