Creativity, Peppermint and Chocolate

I really am not a big peppermint person. I like it and all, I'm not opposed to peppermint, but it doesn't rock my world. I like mint chocolate chip ice cream, I like those mint girl scout cookies, I'm not inhuman. But well, let's just say it's not peanut butter. It's not caramel either. It's above orange, but below almond. Neck and neck with raspberry. Kicks butt on lemon. That's my peppermint placement. Just so you know where I stand.

But what better flavor to kick off the Christmas postings? It's tradition! It's festive! It's decorative! And it's everywhere!

Real Simple Magazine made some great candy wreaths I want to share with you:

A little too weddingish for me, but very creative (and easy to make - the mag gives full instructions).

I'm glad someone finally found a use for those God-awful Goetze's caramel creams (glaack!).

And, my fav:

Very cool and contemporary. Like I said, full instructions are in the mag. I don't want to infringe on the copyright laws any further than I already have. If this posting disappears, you know I got busted.

Now I won't be making any of these wreaths - I am so NOT a hand crafter. A buyer, an admirer, but that's it. They did get me in search of Andes mints, however, and this is what I found:

LOVE the seasonal designs and the colorful wrappers. Although green was in short supply in this bag. However, the shapes don't seem to correspond to the color, so they might have been more evenly mixed. I have no plan to open them all to find out.

These are just like the standard Andes mint - always a solid, if not earth shattering, choice. BUT because of the extra chocolate used to form the Christmas designs, they are better! Stuff those stockings, Santa!

But Andes didn't stop there! Check these out:

Ah- ha! Very different!!! You all know how I like creativity for the holidays. Don't just be giving us the same old candy in some kind of festive wrapper. Show us something! Bring it!

These, unfortunately, remind me why I don't like peppermint. There's a fine line between tasting like candy and tasting like medicine. These cross over. I don't like 'em. Creative, yes. Good, no.

For comparison, here's Ghirardelli:

Another assortment - with Eggnog (apparently the least popular) and Pecan Pie. We'll review those another time. Peppermint is the star of this show.

Ghirardelli did very, very well. There was the crunch of peppermint, but it was prevented from becoming too strong by better white chocolate and a milk chocolate backing. So far, these are the clear winner in the festive peppermint category. But we are just getting started, dear readers! It is early in the game!

I had great hopes for these:

Don't they look awesome????

Here they are in real life:

They look a little different, huh? Those damn glamour shots!! Kind of like online dating pics.

But the important thing is the taste and I was pretty excited! I like the colors - the sprinkles! But the taste - GLAACK! Yucko! These have a weird aftertaste. What a let down! Skip these and buy peanut butter Oreos again. Why mess with genius? Roll the edges in red sprinkles if you want. But don't get these.

Creativity is good, but at the end of the day - it's about the flavor. Just like with people - a hot exterior is great, but who will be there when you need a new hip? Know what really matters and don't get distracted - it's too easy.