Limited edition art from the Sugar Baby

Look what the Sugar Baby brought home from school one day. A candy masterpiece! Admittedly, I didn't know what it was until he told me, but now it seems so obvious. Up top, we have chocolate coins, a candy Lego piece, a stick of rock candy, a lollipop, a wax bottle filled with black syrup and those smiling people? Those are Air Heads. I'm so proud.

Gift Idea! Virtual Birthday Cake!

Need a unique Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Solstice/Birthday/No-Reason-I-Just-Love-You gift? Look no further! I'm excited to announce that my cake paintings are now available in limited edition giclee prints. They're printed on Somerset Velvet paper (a lovely thick, textured paper) and are produced with Epson Ultrachrome professional archival inks. These are signed, unmatted and unframed (so you can choose your own level of fanciness).
To order, or if you have any questions, contact me at: candyyumyummail@yahoo.com.

"Bake Sale" Image size 9"x12"; print size 11" x 14"; Price: $25

"Birthday Cake" Image size 4 1/2"x5"; Print size 7"x 7"; Price: $16*

*25% of the profits from this print will go to the American Cancer Society

"You're Never Too Old for Cupcakes" Image size 9"x12"; print size 11" x 14"; Price: $25

You're Never Too Old for Cupcakes!

A very belated birthday present for my Partner-in-Crime. Yes, her birthday was in August. Yes, I started this painting in July. Yes, she will get it for Christmas.

Candy Art from the Sugar Baby: Provocative, Yet Sentimental

"See's Catalog, Number 4"
Paper, glue and magazine clippings
The Sugar Baby, 2010

Candy Canes & Mistletoe

Shameless Commerce

It may only be November, but before you know it, Christmas will be here. Check out my new magnets at my Etsy store. At 2 for $3 or a set of 5 for $6, they make a great stocking stuffer.

Dontcha Just Wanna Take Him Home With You?

I was going to wait and make a big announcement, but I've decided to go for the "soft opening" instead. So without further ado, I'd like to introduce my new Etsy shop! Yes, now you can have your very own piece of Candy Yum Yum art. My shop is still under construction (I still have to figure out how to make a banner and I have lots more items to list), but I figured I'd share it with you guys. So check it out and let me know what you think: www.sweetstuffart.etsy.com.

Countdown to Halloween

It's official: the Sugar Baby knows that Halloween is coming up soon. Every morning this week he's woken up and said, "I'm going trick-or-treating." It's going to be a long few weeks. In other news, only two more days until I head to New York City with my partner in crime for a birthday candy extravaganza. First stop: Economy Candy on the Lower East Side. Second stop: drinks.

QBZ: Candy With a Q!

This entry is a two-fer: a review and a candy ABC all in one! I was very perplexed about what I was going to do for the letter "Q" in my ABC paintings. If worse came to worse, I was going to do Quince Paste, a British treat. But then-- taa daa! Warheads candy came out with QBZ. These are little gummie squares that are rated as "Sour" on the Warheads Sour Meter.
The texture is more like a gumdrop than a gummie, and they're not as puckery as Sour Patch Kids. The flavors are Green Apple, Strawberry, Blue Raspberry and Watermelon. None of these are big on my list. It seems like these are the flavors of the generation after mine. My crowd was all about grape, orange and cherry. Not very exciting, but we Gen-Xers are into simplification. I'm sending the rest of the package back with No-Nuts. I'm sure they'll be a welcome addition to her communal candy jar.

Kits and BB Bats: A Fond Farewell

I've been busy working on my ABC paintings of candy and for a while, I was just bopping around the entire alphabet, doing whichever letter suited me at the time. But now I'm getting down to the dregs ... the letters that are giving me somewhat of a challenge.
I've been contemplating "K" for the past few weeks and was trying to decide between Kit Kats or Kits-- those little wax-wrapped squares of taffy. (I've wanted to stay away from name brand candies if at all possible, but in this case, I've been coming up empty handed.) I realized that I didn't know who made Kits, so I set out to do some research.
To make a long story short, I found out that the original creator was Gilliam-- yep, the same company that makes the candy sticks that I just wrote about last week. Then today, Candy Blog had a post about the history of Kits (and the related BB Bats), and sadly, the news is that they're being discontinued.
How can this happen? Kits and BB Bats are iconic American candies. In fact, it was just last summer when I met someone at a party and we had a whole discussion over BB Bats and their pronounciation. She contacted me last week to say she had found some at Cracker Barrel.
It's been a long, long time since I've had Kits or BB Bats, and who knows if I'd even like them at this point in my life, but it's just wrong that they won't be around anymore. This makes me realize how the Kiwis felt when their beloved Snifters were rumored to have been discontinued. (Speaking of which, whatever happened with that?)
Well, now with this news, I definitely have to do "K is for Kits." Anyone have a suggestion for X?

A Marshmallow in a Bumble Bee Costume

A Birthday Present for a Von Schokolat

May your day be filled with lots of sweetness!

M is for Marshmallows

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

E is for Eggs

Back to work on my Candy ABC's. These are Cadbury Mini Eggs-- the U.S. kind.

The Great Debate: Dark vs. Milk

(Milk Chocolate: "Where's the party?" Dark Chocolate: "I can't believe they let them in.")

As you may recall, Jody made the following comment during the Great Candy Giveaway:

"I would like to see you address the fact that people who like dark chocolate feel that they are better than those who like milk chocolate. I would like you to tell them that it is a matter of taste. And that they're probably lying about preferring dark chocolate so that they look more sophisticated."

Very interesting point, Jody. I will admit, in the past I’ve been known to be a dark chocolate snob. Yes, I actually do enjoy dark chocolate, but I also like milk. And of course, it all depends on the brand. In some cases I prefer the milk over the dark.

But you’re right in saying that some people feel that dark chocolate makes them look more sophisticated. This can be evidenced by the recent increase in chocolates that list their cocoa percentages.

First though, an explanation on the differences between milk and dark. Dark chocolate is made from sugar, cocoa butter and chocolate liquor (which has nothing to do with liquor at all; it’s simply liquefied cacao beans). Milk chocolate contains the same ingredients, plus milk.

Nowadays you can find bars of dark chocolate that list the cocoa content in percentages, usually anywhere from 50% to 85%. So if, for example, if you have a bar of 70% chocolate, that means that the remaining 30% is sugar. In other words, the lower the cocoa percentage, the higher the sugar content. High=bitter, Low=sweet.

Personally, I find anything over 70% usually inedible, which I suppose makes me part of the bourgeoisie in the serious chocolate circles. And really, if you meet someone who’s talking in-depth about their preferred percentage of cocoa content, run the other way.

However, it’s not all bunk. There is something to be said about the complexity and deliciousness of dark chocolate without sounding like James Lipton. Unfortunately I’m going to use another snobby product for comparison—wine.

My first real interest in wine started on my honeymoon in Venice. (I know, I know, stop with the pretentiousness already.) But the fact of the matter is, I’m terrified of foreign languages, so we often ate at a cafeteria-style restaurant so I wouldn’t have to ask for the check (“Il conto, por favor”). As I pushed my tray along the metal counter, I fell in love with the machine that, instead of dispensing soda, poured out wine. It looked so beautiful, that red wine splashing into a glass carafe. The thing was, I didn’t really like the taste so much. But after drinking it for lunch and dinner for a week, it started to grow on me.

Once we got back home to the States, I started off on the Great Path to Wine Appreciation. Yep, I was drinking white zinfandel. Any wine snob will pish-posh white zinfandel, but hey, it’s a great place to start if you’ve never been a wine drinker. It’s syrupy-sweet, the pecan praline of the wine world. Soon, the white zin began to taste too sweet, so then it was onto whites like Chardonnay and Riesling. Then came the desire for something with a little more oomph. It was onto reds—first Beaujolais, then Pinot Noir, then onto the serious stuff—Merlot, Cabernet and (red) Zinfandel. It was a natural progression.

Chocolate can be the same way.
I will state for the record here and now that some days, there is nothing that fits the bill more than a simple Special Dark bar.

Other times, you might be wanting something slightly more upscale, like Lindt (which, in my opinion, makes the best mass-market out the “upscale” chocolate at a reasonable price). And then from there, you move on up to more boutique, sophisticated chocolates. It all depends on your mood. Like I’ve said before, I much prefer a good piece of milk chocolate almond bark to a tiny square of gold-dusted chili-lime-cardamom dark truffles. I think there’s a fine line between “sophisticated” chocolate and just plain dumb chocolate. There’s no need to “enhance” perfectly good milk or dark chocolate with all sorts of crazy spices and elements. Keep It Simple, Stupid.

So there you have it, Jody. Yes, some dark chocolate lovers are faking it. But there are others of us out there who like chocolate in almost any form it takes. But don’t let the dark lovers intimidate you, because the fact of the matter is, they’d probably respect you (and envy your honesty) for preferring milk.