Candy Shopping, Southern Style

Hallelujah! I'm back. I've been banging my head against the wall all week trying to figure out why my camera wouldn't download, so I haven't had time to post. But fear not, I've discovered the problem and I'm now able to share with you some of the fabulous (and scary) candy I encountered on our recent trip to Tennessee.
It was a family trip, with most of our time spent swimming, fishing and drinking. But one day Mr. Goodbar and I ventured out into the big city (Pigeon Forge) and did the touristy thing. That is, I bought taffy and he bought a mountain dulcimer. Enjoy the pix; details to follow.

A Delightful Yumster and a Shameless Mr. Goodbar

When I started this blog back in 2003, I had no idea where it was going. In fact, I didn't really think it would "go" anywhere. I had two readers-- my sister and, well okay, maybe it was just one reader, and I barely knew what a blog was. I started this as an outlet to write about my passion-- candy-- versus the stuff I normally write about for publication, and it just kept rolling along. I never expected, though, that I would "meet" so many cool people. I've found that candy lovers are some of the nicest, most giving people on the planet.
Take, for example, Kendra, a Yumster from Ontario. Not only does she read Candy Yum Yum faithfully, but she sent me this awesome box of chocolates from her local chocolatier, Reid Chocolates.

Okay, wait just a second. Here's a "real time" comment: I just went to open the box to look at the chocolates and make some comments and I see that the giant milk chocolate turtle is GONE. I cannot believe this. Mr. Goodbar has once again gotten into my stash and eaten the piece I was saving until last. Seriously, this is not acceptable. Apparently he learned nothing from the previous episode when he ate my espresso truffle. Please hold while I go address the situation...

Okay, I'm back. He didn't even try to deny it. Once again, he said he ate half and tried to save the other half for me, but it was so good he couldn't control himself. "Those are good chocolates," he said.
"But they're MY chocolates!" I said.
"Just because they come to the door with your name on them doesn't mean, well, okay, they are your chocolates, but I didn't know you liked turtles," he said. "I like nuts. I don't usually like caramel, but that was really good." Um, is this supposed to be making me feel better? Cause it's not.
Well, I suppose if anything it's a good plug for Reid Chocolates. And thank you Kendra for being such a devoted Yumster. At least you know your kindness has touched two souls.

Art Installation Saturday: Windsor Chair with Chocolates

"Windsor Chair with Plastic Chocolates" 2010
Chair by Mr. Goodbar, chocolate placement by the Sugarbaby

Espresso Truffles and The Moral Decline of Mr. Goodbar

There's one rule in the House of Yum that everyone knows upon entering: eat any candy you like, but always save a taste for me. That's all I ask. Just a taste so I can inform you, dear Yumsters, of all the good, bad and just plain stupid candy out there. Sometimes it's not so important, with say, for example, a drugstore candy bar that I can go and buy another of. But other times, when it's a candy that's not as accessible, it's the Golden Rule of Yum. For example, this box of Gail Ambrosius dark chocolates I received this week. So imagine, if you will, my surprise at the following conversation I had today with Mr. Goodbar:

Mr. G: "Oh, I ate that truffle with the espresso bean on top."
Me: "What? And you didn't split it with me?"
Mr. G: "It was the verisimilitude of what a perfect chocolate truffle should be."
Me: "And you didn't save me a piece?"
Mr. G: "I ate half and was on my way to give you the other half." (Here he breaks into hysterics. It's so nice that he can amuse himself so easily.) "But then I ate another bite, so then I was bringing you a quarter, but then I ate that and turned around."
Nice, right? Then he had the gall to hand me a "commemorative" calendar from his place of employment.
"Here, have a calendar instead."
So here's Mr. Goodbar's review of Gail Ambrosius Dark Chocolates:
"Some were better than others, but in all of them, the flavors served to highlight the chocolate. I don't know what kind of chocolate she uses, but it's good."

(Very perceptive, Mr. G. The chocolate is single-origin from South and Central America and Hawaii.) I can speak for the Cointreau truffle. I love orange and chocolate, and this was no exception. The description on the enclosed chart says, "The dark boldness of Costa Rican chocolate is the perfect mate for this bright, happy fruit." I couldn't have said it better myself.

I was quite surprised by the Shiitake Mushroom truffle. Yep, you read that right. Here's what the brochure says:

"The warm earthiness of this 65% Peruvian chocolate combines with savory shiitake mushrooms in the ultimate expression of umami, the fifth taste sensation. Dried shiitakes, steeped with cream, create a mild, fragrant ganache. Bits of mushroom add a pleasantly chewy texture-- a deeply satisfying taste experience."

I agree. I was all set to hate it (you know I'm not fond of savory and sweet combinations), but it did in fact give that rich, umami taste which was a nice compliment to the bitter chocolate.

As for the calendar, well, the pictures are boooooorring. But the trivia factoids are actually kind of interesting.
As I was reading them, Mr. Goodbar said, "Did you know that in the 1800's in New York City there was a fire ..."
Yes, I just read it on February's page. While some insurance companies couldn't meet the catastrophic losses, "Eliphalet Terry, president of The Hartford, took every Hartford insurance policy on New York property, hired a sled and team of horses, and set off in a heavy snowstorm for New York where he announced that The Hartford would settle claims in full."

"That makes me feel good," said Mr. Goodbar. "If you've got to work somewhere, it's good to know they stand behind their promises." (Too bad his morals don't extend to truffle-sharing.)

And here's a real whopper:

"Mr. Lincoln, will you share your truffles?"
"Not until the north has won, Mr. Lee!"

"Abraham Lincoln and Robert E. Lee faced each other across the gulf that divided our nation during the Civil War. Despite their allegiance to different flags, both men chose The Hartford to insure their homes against fire damage."

I'm not sure that having this bit of trivia stuck in my head is as good as say, an espresso truffle, but what can you do? Maybe someday I'll go on Jeopardy and one of the categories will be Presidential Insurance Policies and hopefully not Espresso Truffles.

For more info, visit www.GailAmbrosius.com

Read Any Good Books Lately? The Sugar Baby Has.

This weekend we went up to Vermont. Here's what I packed to entertain the Sugar Baby:

• Travel lap desk with markers, crayons and pencils
• Stamps and stamp pads
• An assortment of books
• Stuffed animals
• Matchbox cars
• Stickers
• Toy magnets

Here's what he occupied himself with the entire time:

Click here for visual

I kid you not. He spent the entire three hour drive staring at the See's Chocolates catalog I had left over from Christmas. He carried it up to the check-in desk and proudly showed the inn-keepers his "book." Later, that night, as bedtime reading, I had to tell him what each and every chocolate was.
I swear to you, I have not tried to encourage a love of chocolate in this kid. Apparently he comes by it naturally. (He does also love grapefruit, so maybe there is something genetic about taste.)
On the ride home, he slept the entire way, making me wonder what he was going to be like when he woke up. Certainly he'd demand all of my attention, when all I really wanted to do was take a nap.
By some miraculous intervention, this was waiting on my doorstep:
"Chocolates and Confections at Home with The Culinary Institute of America," written by Peter P. Greweling (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2010).
"Whoa! Look at this!" I said to the Sugar Baby.
He swiftly grabbed it from me (it weighs about as much as he does) and he hauled it over to the couch. Three hundred pages later, we had looked at each and every picture. Then he took the book and ran downstairs with it where he had his own quiet reading time.
Here's where my official review comes in. This is a beautiful book. The pictures are gorgeous and the recipes are easy to read. I particularly like the third chapter on Master Techniques. This section takes you step-by-step through tempering, dipping and garnishing-- all things that make me quake in fear whenever I consider making my own chocolates. This book makes me feel like I could actually do it.
I had the thought of doing a sort of "Julie & Julia" kind of thing-- dedicating myself to creating every recipe in the book over the next year. I'd love to do it, but I'm not sure I have the stamina. This is something I'll have to give a little more thought to.
In any case, I've only gotten to look at the recipes briefly because the Sugar Baby has pretty much had it under lock and key since its arrival. (He went so far as to take it to school with him.) When I went to the library last night to return some books, he shouted after me, "Look for another chocolate book, Mom!"
I'm telling you, it's got to be in the genes.

(Mr. Goodbar indulges the Sugar Baby with some pre-dinner reading)

M&M Color Distribution: A Non-Peer Reviewed Study

I got this memo from Mr. Goodbar. Please remember, he is NOT an accountant, nor is he a scientist. This information is provided for entertainment purposes only and is not admissible in a court of law.

I was cleaning up my files and I ran across the Peanut M&M tally sheet. It ran from March through December, and included 51 bags from the vending machine. The final spread for the average bag is as follows:

Orange - 4.98 pieces - 23%
Blue - 4.27 pieces - 20%
Green - 3.93 pieces - 18%
Yellow - 3.75 pieces - 17%
Red - 2.66 pieces - 12%
Brown - 2 pieces - 9%

Isn't it interesting that brown -- boring as it is -- is the least representative, presumably because it is the most expensive to produce. Does anyone really crave brown? Why not spend the money on additional red pieces to bring their total up to about 20% like all the others?

Well, Mr. Goodbar, you raise a lot of good questions there. Some I'm sure one or two many other people have had.

You assume several things in your assessment. First, you state that brown is "boring." Some may agree, but others, such as myself, enjoy the brown ones. In fact, I mourn the loss of tan M&Ms, which were replaced by-- ick!-- blue. Is brown more expensive to produce? I have no idea. But brown was one of the original M&M colors (along with red, orange, yellow, green and VIOLET! in 1941). So, in fact, brown has rightly earned its place in today's M&M packets. You suggest ditching the traditional brown in favor of more red. I'd like to bring your attention to this nugget of information, straight from The Lord God Himself , Encyclopedia Brittanica , Oprah Herself Wikipedia:
"Red candies were eliminated in 1976 due to health concerns over the dye amaranth (FD&C Red #2), which was a suspected carcinogen were replaced with orange-colored candies (this despite the fact that M&M's did not contain the dye; the action was purely to satisfy worried consumers). By 1987, the public had forgotten the scare, and the red candies were reintroduced, but they also kept the orange colored M&M's. They currently contain Allura Red AC (FD&C Red #40, E129). In Europe, Allura Red AC (E129) is not recommended for consumption by children. It is banned in Denmark, Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Austria, and Norway."

I hope this answers some of your questions, although I know that the only thing I've managed to do is to assure that you'll never eat a red M&M again.

More on Lindt and King Leo

Listen up, people. We have got a LOT of ground to cover. Not only are we smack in the middle of the best candy month in the year, but I also have some serious reporting to do of my recent Candy Extravaganza in New York. But first, let's tie up a few loose ends.

More feedback on the Lindt Excellence Touch of Sea Salt bar: Mr. Goodbar said, "That is the best chocolate I've ever had." Go Lindt!

And more on the King Leo's candy: I gave some Soft Peppermint Sticks and Soft Pomegranate Puffs to Sue MKAFFGGF and she wrote me an e-mail stating the following:

King Leo's soft peppermint sticks are my new favorite food! They are so delicious and they have a really awesome texture. They are exactly like larger versions of those soft pastel after-dinner mints that restaurants used to put in bowls to take on your way out ... only no one does that anymore because they discovered how terribly unsanitary it was. So now, even if I see that style of mint, I never take one because all I can think of is everybody's unwashed hands all over them. Anyway, those peppermint sticks are awesome. No one seemed to like the Pomegranate Puffs. They were just strange.... The thing I don't get is that on the package it says something like "King Leo's Pomegranate Puffs are soft, right out of the package." Previously did you have to leave them on the counter, or cook them in the microwave until they reached the desired softness? Why would their soft quality be a good thing?

Exactly what I said, Sue MKAFFGGF. (Apparently she missed that post. We'll forgive her.)

M&M's: A Statistical Breakdown of Colors (a.k.a. Working Hard, or Hardly Working?)

Okay folks, once again, it's time for Mr. Goodbar's melding of the delicious candy world with the

disturbing universe of numbers. (As you may recall, he explored the economics of M&M's in a past entry.) This time he's done a review of the colors of M&M's. He had the results laid out all nicey-nice in a chart, but I can't figure out how to lay it out in Blogger. Anyhow, here ya go. Take it away, Mr. Goodbar:

***

I sampled 19 bags of Peanut M&Ms from the vending machine down the hall between 3/1/09 and 5/27/09. The average number of m's per bag was 22, with Orange being the most plentiful color and brown, surprisingly, the least. Here's the statistical breakdown:

Orange
Average: 5.05
23%
Max: 9
Min: 2
Mode: 4

Blue
Average: 4.63
21%
Max: 8
Min: 2
Mode: 4

Yellow
Average: 3.89
18%
Max: 7
Min: 1
Mode: 5

Green
Average: 4.00
18%
Max: 8
Min: 0
Mode: 4

Red
Average: 2.63
12%
Max: 5
Min: 0
Mode: 3

Brown
Average: 1.79
8%
Max: 4
Min: 0
Mode: 2

I got two bags with siamesed m's -- one was red, and the other was blue. In both cases, I counted them as 2. Only one bag had a broken m in it -- a yellow one. I know it wasn't broken in transport because only half of the m was there.

About 1/3 of the bags had an m with an "off" taste. One bag had 4, and I felt like I'd been ripped off. Come on, guys -- just because we can't see the peanut doesn't mean we can't taste it!

I'm going to keep this little experiment up over the course of 2009 to see how things look when the sample gets larger. Once an accountant, always an accountant, apparently.

***

I have no idea what Max, Min and Mode mean. All I know is that I loves me some peanut M&M's!

Chocolate Road Trip: Burdick Chocolates

One of the women in my Super Secret Writers' Group is such a font of information when it comes to where to find things, particularly if you're looking for something strange (tentacle porn--don't even ask); unique (egg poaching pods); or just really cool. So when I told her that Mr. Goodbar and I were going to Vermont this past weekend, she said we had to drive over the border into Walpole, New Hampshire to go to L.A. Burdick Handmade Chocolates. She didn't have to tell me twice.

Saturday morning, we stuffed ourselves into the car after a delightful breakfast and made our way south. (I'll skip the part where Mr. Goodbar decided to drive OVER the mountain in mud season, instead of around.)

In any case, let's get right to it. You can get all the FAQs at the website; here's what you need to know from me. This is a tiny jewelbox of a store with incredible hand-made, European-style chocolates. Their signature chocolates are these:Chocolate mice! They also make penguins and, for Easter, bunnies. How can you resist?According to the brochure, each bonbon is hand-piped or hand-cut, using no molds. In addition, the pieces are "miniature in the European fashion, providing the ideal portion to enjoy a complex, intense chocolate flavor."

I love that the pieces are so small. (Contrast this with the Kohler chocolates, where each one was big enough to feed Octomom's family for a week. Not that I'm complaining about the size of those; I like big chocolates just as much as little ones.)

The selections range from exotic to ... more exotic. Some examples: Pistache (White chocolate ganache with pistachios, lavender and herbes de Provence); Honey Caramel Truffle (Caramelized honey with herbs and vanilla, dusted in cocoa powder); Lemon Spice (A whipped rum & lemon ganache, enrobed in milk chocolate and topped with grated Trinidadian spices). You get the idea. Traditionally I'm not much for these "fancified" chocolates; I prefer to stick with nuts, caramel and creams, but these looked so good, I had to get some. I was starting to get a touch of ADD in the store, what with all the bonbons, mice, Easter bunnies and drink mixes. I wasn't sure what to choose.

No-Nuts, on the other hand, was just looking for something that wasn't nutrageous. She decided upon a Jaffa (Dark chocolate ganache, whipped with freshly squeezed orange juice). In the end, I decided upon an 18-piece sampler with one mouse, and a beautiful stick of nougat (picture forthcoming). I must say, though, this shizz is expensive-- over $50 a pound. But since Mr. Goodbar treated himself to a book ("Country Wisdom Know-How"), I figured I could splurge on some chocolates and add a little European class to his hill-billy ways.

The chocolates I've had so far have been delicious. I'm saving the mouse for last.

P.S. There is a bistro attached to the shop with delicious looking cheeses and desserts, but we were still too full from breakfast to partake. Next time.

Today's Hot Giveaway: Lollipops For Your Hair!

Yesterday was one of those days that just seemed to have a little magic sprinkled over it. We got up early and met the Connection Family at the local breakfast hotspot. Mrs. Connection and Mr. Goodbar were mature and ordered some sort of omelette/egg/veggie things, but The Connection and I went the way of the sweet tooth. He had the Monkey Business (bananas foster pancakes) and I had the Pancake Blitz (pancakes with strawberry cream). That in itself made the day wonderful. But then ...

The Connection mentioned that a warehouse liquidator (in a somewhat unsavory part of town) was going out of business and perhaps we should take a gander. Hooray! Oh, the excitement! This is the kind of adventure I love. So we went, and it was everything I dreamed it would be: scary, exciting, somewhat filthy and bargain city! What did I get, you ask? Ghost-shaped foil cupcake liners for 10 cents a box; tons of children's books for 29 cents each; gardening gloves for 24 cents; magnetic chip clips 10 cents for a package of six; and then, dear Yumsters, I found these:




Lollipop-shaped hair sticks! Are these cool or what? I put them in the cart but then suddenly the Sugar Baby seized upon them. To make a long story short, he would not relinquish them and in fact they kept him busy the whole rest of the day. (He'd arrange them, then rearrange them. He'd carry them around in one hand like Bob Dole. He tried to figure out what I was talking about when I kept telling him, "They're pretend. Girls put them in their hair.")
I ended up making another trip back with The Connection (so we could check out the camera batteries) and I bought two more packages to raffle off here!
So two lucky winners will receive the Scunci Sweetsticks pictured up top (provided that the Sugar Baby doesn't discover them). I don't anticipate a huge response to this giveaway, so just leave a message and the first two people to respond (U.S. citizens only, please) will get these beauties. (Please be sure to leave me your e-mail so I can get in touch with you!)

Update: Thanks everyone for entering! The Sweetsticks have found new homes!

A Visual Review of Mike and Ike Italian Ice

After reading the review of Mike and Ike Italian Ice on Candy Addict, I've been on the lookout for them. Mr. "I Don't Like Candy" Goodbar is the true Mike and Ike aficianado in the house, but the "Italian Ice" part just intrigued me. So the other night I found myself stood up for a dinner date by a very well-known, shall we say "minimalist" cookbook author, so I figured I'd see what I could find at the local Walgreen's, since I already had coverage for the Sugar Baby. Lo and behold, I found what I was after. I excitedly brought it home to Mr. Goodbar and No-Nuts for their professional observations. You can read "real" reviews at Candy Addict, Candy Blog, and Wisconsin Candy Dish.
As for here, well, you get a one-word review from each of our verbose critics. Try to imagine it more as art therapy for the kiddies than a food review.
First up, from Mr. Goodbar:


And from No-Nuts:

There you have it. As for me, I have this thing against "cooling" products. Back in the professional taste-testing days, we worked seemingly forever on this nasty British drink that tasted okay at first, but left your mouth and throat feeling all cool afterwards, like you'd swallowed some Vicks VapoRub. So sadly, I'm not a big fan of the Mike and Ike Italian Ice.

Wild Times With French Chocolate

Part of the fun at Thanksgiving was getting to try all the fancy schmancy chocolates that Memaw brought back from Paris. Of course, it would've been a more memorable experience had I not been sauced the whole time. In any case, I do remember that these were my favorites of all the candies. Check it out: lumpy, bumpy fruits and nuts. The orange peel in these babies was soooo good. Fruity, tangy, sweet and sour. So good.

Then we tried these: the Valrhona tasting pack. Fortunately I took notes. The first one, Manjari, was tangy at the back of the tongue. Tainori, yummmm. Caraibe: the Baron said dark, earthy, like very black coffee. Leisl von Schokolat said it was like dirt or plastic. Mr. Goodbar said it was milky with an explosion of rich cocoa.

Guanaja: tannic

Alpaco: Mr. Goodbar said it was slightly metallic; No-Nuts said it was really good

Abinao: was very dry and sucked all the moisture out of my tongue.

My one complaint is that these squares were no where big enough for tasting, and as a professionally-trained taste tester, I should know.

So we ate the chocolate, then drank some more. No-Nuts taught us how to play beer soda pong, and then things got wacky. Hi-jinx ensued. And then this happened. Warning: you might want to shield your eyes. It's frightening, it's nauseating, and it might not be here for long once Mr. Goodbar gets wind of it. It's what happens when men mix beer and chocolate:

Mr. Goodbar and the Disappearing Candy

Even though Mr. Goodbar continually claims that he doesn't like candy, he does hold a special affection in his heart for Mike & Ike. Go figure. So when I saw these limited edition "Alex's Lemonade Stand" Mike & Ikes, I figured I had to get them. I also figured he'd hate them. He's not much for newfangled-ness.

They sat on the counter all weekend. They taunted me, because I realized, after bestowing this gift upon him, that I really wanted to keep them for myself. I don't especially like Mike & Ike, but I do love lemonade, and the wrapper kept calling to me. Finally, yesterday, after a harrowing trip to the bank in which the Sugar Baby decided it would be a good idea to throw his toy at the teller, I came home wanting a glass of wine but instead settled for a handful of the candies in question.

There are different "lemonade" flavors: lemon, lime and berry. Here's the thing. There's something bitter and icky about them that I didn't like, although I appreciated the attempt to make them really sour. Fortunately that meant there was plenty left for Mr. Goodbar.

And guess what? He liked them. He really liked them. Well, he actually thought a few of the flavors were too sour (I didn't ask him to be more specific; it makes him uncomfortable to discuss candy, feelings and talk radio). Tonight, during our pre-dinner walk, he finished off the bag, saying "The Mike and Ikes have left the building." But remember: he doesn't like candy.