More Sweets and Snacks Expo 2010

I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day holiday!  It was hot as Hades in South Carolina - I bought some chocolate (shocker!) and keeping it from melting was a struggle.  But always worth it, my friends, always worth it!

I spoke with the Chicago Transit Authority today about my run in with their bus.  I'll let you know what happens.  They had an accident specialist call and interview me.  A claims specialist will call me next.  My arm still has a weird lump and some very festive bruises.  I told the accident specialist about my macaroons.  She was unmoved.

Back to Candy Expo!!!  I hunted down and tried the Chocolate Pop Rocks.  This was their booth display:

And here are the Pop Rocks:

Now the first thing I have to tell you - is that they were WAY better than I thought they would be.  They are actually covered in a pretty decent chocolate.  I thought they would just be "chocolate flavored."  But they truth is, I don't really want things popping in my mouth.  Yes, it's festive, yes it's interactive.  But I don't want my food to interact with me. 

This was another offering I simply had to try - Elmer's Tabasco Chocolate Truffles:

No picture because they only gave me one to try at the show.  And again, all I can say is - it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  Not exactly a rousing endorsement.  Only a hint of Tabasco.  This is a great novelty item - Elmer Chocolate is based in Louisiana - but I don't need to eat another one.  But creative!  And less interactive than the Pop Rocks!

I didn't get to sample these, but check out the new Tootsie Pop flavors!

Wild Mango Berry?  Didn't know the mango was a berry, but Rock on!  I'd like to try it!  I'd like to try all these flavors.  I did get a sample of this one:

Hmmmm........the green apple is strong as heck and I guess the center was caramel.  It looked lighter than the standard Tootsie Roll center, but didn't taste really caramelly.  But my taste buds were pretty overwhelmed by green apple.  I wonder if this would have been better with a red apple Tootsie Pop?

No samples of these, but I really want to try them - Andes toffee crunch and cherries jubilee (also by the makers of Tootsie Roll):

I'd never seen these before (also by Tootsie Roll) and I wheedled my way into a whole box of them on the last day:

See the bloom?  I'm telling you - it was HOT!  I like the JM monogram on the top:

Wow - look at all that creamy Junior Mint mint!

These are WAYYYY  too minty for me - I'd like more chocolate.  But mint is not my fav, so you mint lovers will probably adore these.  Well worth trying if you're a mint fan.

Ritter Sport was showing a Limited Edition Dark Chocolate with peppermint bar:

This one also has a strong mint flavor (too much for me) but the dark chocolate here is absolutely fabulous.  Mint and dark chocolate lovers - look for these around Christmas time:

This was a giant display for their new milk chocolate with strawberry creme bar:

A portion of the profits (Ritter is donating $100,000) go to help fight breast cancer and the sample was amazing!!  I can't wait till this one comes out.  Look for it in the fall.  And let me know when you find it!!  Delish!

Speaking of strawberry - look at this from Guylian!  Strawberry filled seashells!  Didn't get to sample any - but want to!

The bad next to the strawberry box is their new Temptation - an assortment of individually wrapped seashells.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Guylians seashells.  They were also debuting dark chocolate ones!

Here's my whopping sample from Guylian (cheapskates!):

I am so crazy about he standard seashell - this one is filled with original praline - so creamy, so sweet and delicious - if you haven't had these - you have to - they are sooooo good!  The Extra Dark was pretty damn amazing as well - you dark chocolate fans are in for a serious treat.  They are a little too dark for me at 74% cocoa, but they are very, very good.

Whoohoo!  What a great assortment of new and exciting candy and more to come!  It was so worth getting hit by that bus!  ; )