Marathon Training for Halloween

It's the big countdown to Halloween! Just six more days until I stuff the Sugar Baby full of carbs so we can cover as much trick-or-treating territory as possible. Have I told you about his costume? He's going as "The World" and he's pretty much made it himself. We'll see how this all pans out. It will be hard to beat last year's Fly Agaric Mushroom.
In any case, I have a lot of stuff to clean off of my desktop in preparation for The Big Day, so here we go.
Last weekend, we took the Sugar Baby into New York City. I planned on it being a simple trip ... take him to Times Square, let him look at the buildings, have lunch and that's that. He, however, had different ideas. We stopped at the hellish Toys R Us that is three or four floors of pure overindulgent child madness. There's a Candy Land area and a Wonka area that, had it not been so crowded, might have interested the Sugar Baby. But, not unlike Dylan's Candy Bar, it was just too much of a scene. He couldn't be bothered with the vats of gummy bears and giant lollipops. We splurged on a ride on the giant Ferris wheel, and, although we got stuck riding in the Barbie car, it was actually well worth the $4. We were on that thing for a long time, and I got to listen to two spoiled brats lovely little girls extol the virtues of Wonka candy over all others.
We got out of that madness and then headed over to M&M World, which was just as insanely crowded and ridiculous. Two floors of M&M-themed everything, but where were the actual M&M's? Strangely enough, they were hidden on a third floor that you had to take a secret Narnia door to. The M&M's were divided by color, and were $12.95 a pound. (Or, you could just go to your local warehouse store and buy a 4-lb. bag for less than $20.)
After all that insanity, we finally acquiesced to the Sugar Baby's only real desire, and that was to see the Flat Iron Building. Go figure. Then, for some reason, all of the uptown trains weren't working, which meant we had to walk the 20 or so blocks back up to Grand Central Station. The Sugar Baby did great, and so I kind of look at it as training for Halloween. If he can walk 20+ blocks, he can handle a couple of neighborhoods and maybe even a party or two.

New York: The Dessert Edition

When the cousins were here, we took a trip into New York City to freak the Ice Cube Queen out walk around and see the sights. After getting pulled over for driving the wrong way down a one-way street ("Are those cars coming towards us?!"), we went to Max Brenner's for some fortification. The problem with that place is, you go in wanting lunch-- a sandwich or a salad-- but then it all goes to hell once you see the dessert menu. We were clever about it though; we split three lunches in order to save room for these:Chocolate cake with a mini chocolate shake and vanilla ice cream; Chocolate and toffee fondue with bananas tempura and strawberries; and a chocolate pizza with bananas, peanut butter and marshmallows. And we ate every last bite. And the piece de resistance? A picture of No-Nuts in front of the Nut Box. What a wonderful day!

Stick Up Yer Dukes, Jeffrey Steingarten; Winner Gets a Skybar

For some strange reason, the October issue of Vogue showed up in my mailbox the other day. This is quite a mystery, since I'm so not fashionable. In fact, I'm negative fashion. No doubt if I had a daughter she'd be mortified by some of my choices of dress, most often a sweatshirt and jeans. (As I'm writing this, I decided to check the mailing label. Aha! It would appear that this magazine belongs to No-Nuts. It all makes sense now.)
Well, I thought the arrival of the magazine was some sort of karmic message, because it turns out that this month's food article was called, "Dream Sweets" with the sub-head "With Halloween treats on his mind, Jeffrey Steingarten investigates America's enduring appetite for candy."
Let me begin by saying that I have a love begrudging appreciation/hate relationship with Jeffrey Steingarten. I met him once at a press conference and he was very rude and snide and pompous. (Unlike some of the other more well-known food writers at the table who were friendly and very nice.) However, I do have to say that I appreciate his research skills (although this could arguably be accredited to his assistant) and the information he includes in his articles.
(As an aside, let me comment about the art that goes with the article. There is a photograph of three little girls dressed as witches (quite creepy, actually), eating green Frankenstein cake, with the title "dream sweets" in a thin, sans serif font. What?? The title is much too crafty to be of any use. Obviously it's a play on "sweet dreams," but it just doesn't jive with the photograph. I never would've thought this was an article on candy; I would've assumed it was all about cake.) Anyhow.
So what did I learn from Mr. Steingarten's masterpiece this month?
He points out that the U.S. Census Bureau counts candy as well as people. Huh. I didn't know that. According to the article, the Census Bureau divides non-chocolate confections into six categories: hard candy, chewy candy, soft candy, iced or coated candy, panned candy and licorice. That in itself is an interesting fact and something I'll explore at a later date, when I have more time.
Next in the article he goes on to talk about some of New York's candy shops, beginning with Dylan's Candy Bar. He says, and I quote, "Dylans ... is the most perfect American candy store in existence, all three airy floors designed and decorated in the happiest possible manner, each clever colorful detail conveying the deepest candy love imaginable."
Oh, how I disagree.
Here's my take on it. Dylan's is the Disney World of candy stores. It's all glitz and glitter. It's larger than life. Everything is candy, candy, candy, from the stairs (embedded with gummies) to the music ("sweet" themed songs, like "Sugar, Sugar," played at full volume). It is an atrocity. You could almost imagine a giant talking candy bar welcoming visitors to the store with an enormous fake smile on its face. Or perhaps a snappy, scary old lady saying, "This is candy! You WILL have fun!"
His description of Economy Candy was more on-target. Here he says, "The shop is clean and happy, well organized (but neither modernized nor gentrified), and packed from floor to ceiling with candy."
He then goes on to ask, "Did you know that a cup of candy corn has fewer calories than a cup of raisins?"
No, I didn't. Very interesting, that.
And he continues. "Standing in Economy Candy, I was immersed in the sweets of my boyhood, a thousand madeleines each triggering a five-volume novel giving way to the involuntary memories released by the next candy bar. It was exhausting. There were Skybars; chocolate Ice Cubes; French Chew Taffy in chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and banana; Adams Black Jack and Clove chewing gum ..." and so-on and so-forth. Yes, this is exactly what most people seemed to be experiencing when I was at Economy Candy. I stood by the door for a few minutes and listened to the comments from people as they walked in. "It smells so good!" "Remember these?" "I haven't seen these in years!" I watched as a little girl grabbed handfuls of Jelly Bellies while her mother was otherwise entranced by rock candy. I saw a little boy's eyes light up while his mother bought him a swirly lollipop. I listened in as a woman inquired about the different types of licorice behind the counter.
See, that's the thing about candy and the one thing Mr. Steingarten got right in this article: candy involuntarily triggers memories for all of us. That's what makes it so wonderful. You just don't have the same onslaught of nostalgia when you walk into a green grocer or a butcher. There's something particularly wonderful about candy and the way a single wrapper or a whiff of chocolate can bring you back in time to that day on the playground when you fell off the swing and hit your head; or the Christmas Eve you ate so many candy canes that you ended up with a serious tummy ache; or the time you were able to spell your name out from the letters in your vegetable soup and were given a Hershey bar as a prize. That's just the magic of candy.

The Great New York Candy Extravaganza, Part III

After leaving Economy Candy with our haul, we decided to check out the neighborhood and the interesting little shops. One place made me stop and look. It was called Mastihashop, and at first glance, it looked like a place that sold fancy little soaps and beauty products. But then something on the sign caught my eye; it said "candy."
Indeed, the shop did sell things like creams and soaps, but they also had a bunch of samples out of their food products, including chocolate and gum.
"Would you like to hear about Chios Mastiha?" the woman behind the counter asked.
Well, yes, I certainly would, because I had no idea what the heck this place was.
Turns out this was the "Official Shop of the Chios Masthia Growers Association," and all of the products contain, you guessed it, Chios Masthia, a "resinous crystal granule from the Pistacia lentiscus tree." It's more widely known as gum mastic.
Talk about a niche market.
The woman at the shop was very nice and offered us all sorts of different samples. I tried the original, straight-from-the-tree granules, which are sold as a natural gum. They tasted like chopped up wax lips.
In the end, I bought a small square of chocolate, a hunk of Turkish Delight and a Honey Pie with Almonds. The nice lady threw in a free box of Fama Fresh gum.
I haven't tried any of it yet, but I will certainly report back. I wouldn't want you to miss out on this most unusual ingredient. It's very strange to have a shop based entirely on one obscure ingredient, although I suppose it's not unlike some small shops in New England that only sell things made with maple syrup. In the meantime, if you want to check it out for yourself, visit www.mastihashopny.com.
Let me know what you think.

The Great New York Candy Extravaganza, Part II: The Haul

It doesn't seem like so much now that it's all laid out, but I was trying to be pretty selective. So, from the back we have:

• two varieties of Pucca: regular shell with chocolate creme filling and chocolate shell with chocolate creme filling. I bought two boxes because these are made by Meiji, the same company that brought us the fantastic Chocorooms. The first thing I did after leaving the store was bust open the box of original flavor. They are little shapes that look like Goldfish and the ghosts from Pacman (or are they octopi?). I was disappointed. The shell is shinier and less crunchy than the Chocoroom stems, which were like a crunchy cookie. But for $1.79 a box, it seemed like a good deal.
• A can of Charms Sour Balls: I'm not particularly big on hard candy, and I seem to have quite a large stash of it right now, but these reminded me of my PopPop. He always had a can of these by his easy chair.
• British Double Decker: I couldn't remember if I had ever tried one of these. I don't think I have. Of course, I threw out the wrapper, so I can't tell you the proper description, but it was nougat and crisped rice in milk chocolate. I wasn't so sure about it at first; the nougat seemed a bit too "fake" to me, but in the end, I decided I really liked it. Here's what the Brits do right: their crisped rice is more sturdy and crunchier than ours.
• A box of Leone Candy Originals in Orange: I have no idea what these are, and at $2.99 for one ounce they were pricey, but the box is so beautiful. They're from Italy and the box says "Breath of Sicily."
• Cadbury Picnic: "Packed with Peanuts and Raisins." I haven't tried it yet.
• Fruitips Fruit Pastilles: These confused me because they have some sort of Asian writing on them. At first I thought they might be a Japanese candy, but I finally saw that it said, "Made in the United Kingdom." The wrapper says 4 times real fruit juices. Four times more than what? Rocks? The first one I sampled was on the Subway when PIC said she was afraid she was going to barf from not eating all day. I gave her one and it seemed to help her, while it did the opposite for me. The two that I've had both had a musky taste to them. Ick.
• Economy Candy's own brand of chocolate in Belgian Milk Chocolate Smores and Belgian Milk Chocolate with Roasted Almonds: First of all, I should've read the ingredients on the almond bar because it clearly says "roasted almond bits." This is my candy bar pet peeve. When you chop nuts up into miniscule pieces, they have an unappetizing texture and no flavor. These were very disappointing. The chocolate was not very good (on par with a stale Hershey bar) and the mix-ins were meager. I'd never know it was a Smores bar if you didn't tell me. I could find nary a marshmallow.
• Tropical Razzles: Again, I couldn't remember if I've already tried these so I figured I'd get them just in case. Haven't tried them yet, but the flavors are pineapple, strawberry-banana, tropical punch, tangerine and kiwi-lime.
• Chick-O-Stick: I bought this thinking it was a Coconut Longboy. Oops. It proudly sports a "Made in the USA" label.
• Adams Sour Cherry Gum: I remember this from when I was little. So far I've just sniffed it and it has that wonderful cherry Bubble Yum scent to it.
• Doscher's Famous Banana French Chew Taffy: If I had read the ingredients first, I probably wouldn't have bought this. Check it out: Corn syrup, sugar, partially hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oils, egg albumen, soy albumen, corn starch, sodium bicarbonate, artificial flavor and artificial color. They should call it French Artery Clogger.
• And lastly, Ice Cubes, because I need them to do the "I" painting in my ABC series.

Oh, and I bought this tiny little candy dispenser (it was empty; I filled it with Jujyfruits). I figured the Sugar Baby would love it. I was right. It's now become the "special treat." When he does something good, he gets to take the little scoop and get one (yes ONE, Memaw) Jujyfruit.

Next update: candy from a freaky deaky Greeky store.

The Great New York Candy Extravaganza, Part I

It's been almost four years since I've been into the city. The last time I went was before I was pregnant with the Sugar Baby. This is sad, considering I only live 1 1/2 hours away. So when my Partner-in-Crime asked me, "Hey, do you want to go to New York for your birthday?" I jumped all over it. YES! YES! YES! I've been dying to go to Economy Candy on the Lower East Side for such a long time now. And so, I present to you: Taa-daa! Economy Candy. (Note the 24 Hour ATM right next door, just in case you start jonesing for some Mallo Cups or Bit O' Honeys.)Here I am. Look at my face. Do you know what I'm thinking? I'll tell you. 1) I'm in New York City with my P.I.C. on a beautiful fall day! 2) I'm standing in front of a candy store that's packed floor to ceiling with all sorts of goodies; 3) I don't have the Sugar Baby clinging to me saying, "Mommymommymommymommymommy." That glow you see is the pure bliss oozing from my pores.
Where do you even begin? It was pretty crowded so there was no way to map out a plan of attack. We had to just go with the flow. (What's up with the tricycle hanging from the ceiling?)
The iconic giant lollipop. Is there anyone out there who's ever actually eaten one of these things? Let me know! I bought the Sugar Baby a miniature version.
After fully perusing the store and making our selections (I maintained some self-control and only spent $30), we headed out in search of lunch. But not before we saw this:
Yeah, thanks for that, New York. We were unfamiliar with this part of town, so we just started wandering, looking for a place to eat. We wandered, and we wandered ... Oh, there were plenty of cute cafes, but for some reason they were all serving brunch. On a Saturday. At 2 p.m. That is just wrong. Eggs are for Sunday. We walked and walked. Seriously, every restaurant, whether it was Mexican, Turkish or American, was serving omelets and pancakes. It's just not what we were in the mood for. After walking for another HOUR, we finally found sustenance at Rolf's, a German restaurant. Below, the first piece of real food we'd had all day.
Stay tuned for Part II, when we get down to business and I reveal my purchases.

New York, New York

New York is truly a culinary wonderland. A couple of years ago I took a "sweets" tour of New York that featured Magnolia's cupcakes, Jacques Torres' chocolates and lots of other goodies. I learned my lesson on that trip; you can actually overdo chocolate in a single day in New York. So when I set out to put together a chocolate tour for the Baron, I kept it small but oh-so-sweet.

We dropped the little von Schokolats off at the American Girl Place and headed down to Union Square. First stop: ABC Carpet & Home.

I kept hearing, "Why are we going to a carpet store?"

First off, it's not really a carpet store. I mean, they do have carpets, but it's so much more. All sorts of funky, groovy stuff for your home, and then all these other little stores within the big store. That's where Chocolat Michel Cluizel is.

It's part chocolate shop, part restaurant. They offer guided tastings, from the Introductory Tasting at $35 per person (features 7 chocolates, including blended and single plantation varieties and a "superlative bonbon") to the Full Spirit Tasting (an emphasis on how chocolates pair with fine spirits ranging from Cognac and Muscat to single malt Scotch and Tequila).

The chocolates were lovely. They weren't too froofy with painted designs or gold leaf, and there weren't any of those "spice cabinet" combinations that I loathe. It was a difficult decision, but I finally got a dark bonbon for each of us, and then the Baron picked out two round, prickly things in pink and orange. I would've never chosen these so I'm glad he did. Turns out they were filled with liqueur-- mine had Grand Marnier-- and they were delicious. (Michel Cluizel is the only chocolate shop in Manhattan that's allowed to sell liquor-infused chocolates, because they have a liquor license.)

I also bought a 20 dram "vial" of cocoa nibs (the container looks like a prescription bottle-- very cute!) and a tasting box of single-origin chocolates (more on these in another post). It was pretty pricey, I must say. The individual chocolates were about $3 a piece, so this isn't chocolate to binge on.

Then it was onto Max Brenner. (I'd put the link to the website here, but every time I go to it, it takes forever and I don't want you to curse me.) I know that Max Brenner has been lambasted by the culinary community for being more of a marketer than a chef, and Brian and the Baron felt like the place was a little too Disney World, but I liked it. We were pretty hungry at this point, so the question was: do we order lunch or do we order something sweet and wonderful from the desserts menu? (They had things like peanut butter and chocolate crepes, chocolate pizza, S'mores and dip-your-own ice cream bar.) The answer: both. The Baron ordered a cup of the Mexican Hot Chocolate which came in one of their signature "hug mugs." It doesn't have a handle so you just hug it to your lips. It was pretty tasty: rich and thick with a good kick of cinnamon and peppery spice at the finish. Brian ordered a chocolate beer, which wasn't really chocolatey. More malty and dark like a Guinness. We decided to split a normal lunch and the Munchies Waffles: two waffles topped with your choice of milk, dark or white chocolate ice cream, served with crunchy chocolate balls and chocolate syrup. I would've gotten the dark chocolate, but the Baron's gentle palate dictated that we have the white. It was fabulous. I mean, what's not to love? The waffles were hot and crisp, the ice cream smooth and milky, and the sauce and crunchies gave it more texture. Deeelish! The chocolate shop had an array of individual chocolates for sale, and then boxes of different goodies and hot chocolate and such.

While we were having our feast, we got to talking to two women at the table next to us. One of them said that her grandmother, who lived to be 100, was addicted to dark chocolate. She said when they cleaned out her room at the nursing home, they found a hidden stash of Hershey's Dark. (See, it is a potent antioxidant!)