Coconut, Summer and S'mores!

One of the very cool things about going to Candy Expo as a blogger is that you are considered "press".  And the press get a great big bag full of candy.  This was one of the things in there:

Atkinson's (makers of the Chick-O-Stick) also makes these.  I saw a booth that sold ONLY these in all the colors of the rainbow.

While it looks festive, I thought the taste was pretty lame.  Kind of dry and tasteless.  And no chocolate involved.  Bleech.

This one from Candy Farm http://www.candyfarm.com/  (a division of Dayton Nut Specialties) was actually a lot better:

It was thicker and the coconut was much less dry.  But this is still a boring candy to me.  They come in different flavors - I liked the chocolate flavor here, but much prefer a real chocolate coating over my coconut.  Coconut lovers - what do you think of these?  They must be popular, I saw a few companies making them.  Anybody have some thoughts?

For 320 calories a slice (these are called coconut slices, BTW), they just aren't that good.

Since I've been planning to blog about coconut, I had to snag these in A Southern Season (my favorite, but oh so expensive food store in Chapel Hill, NC):

They are handmade toasted coconut marshmallows:

And they are pretty darn amazing!  You can see the shredded coconut all over the top.  They also contain almond  and vanilla extract - the almond gives them an awesome taste.  And the marshmallow is so soft and fresh - wow!  I'm not the world's biggest coconut or marshmallow fan, so this is really saying something!

When I got them to the register, they told me there was a BOGO (buy one get one free) sale, so I HAD to get another bag.  I opted for Vanilla Bean (lavender marshmallow just sounded too gross):

These were just average to me.  They would probably be AMAZING toasted, but I'm not going to all that trouble.  I'm happy they were free.

Speaking of toasting marshmallows, I was at a conference last week where the dessert was served outside by a big fire pit where we made s'mores.  (How cool is that?  Go Embassy Suites, Concord, NC!) The hotel had a great set-up, but they were using DARK chocolate disks.  Dark chocolate disks don't melt.  Classy, but we really needed milk chocolate.  So, if you're going to make s'mores this summer - use milk chocolate.

One cool thing they did was add a swipe of cream cheese to the graham cracker.  Never had that before - it was really good!  So experiment - have fun!

If you don't want to make your own s'mores, you could get these:

They really are mini - a little bigger than a penny:

And, as usual, they don't really look like the picture on the box.  Verdict?  Please.  How can this even be compared to a s'more?  They taste like little cheap cookies.  Not even very graham crackery. Definitely not marshmallowy.  In fact, I'd say these taste nothing like s'mores.  Either go real or don't go at all. (Goldfish S'mores - covered in another entry - are better.)

I found these at Candy Expo - they are made by the GudFud company (http://www.gud-fud.com/).  And, in concept, they are great:

Little prepackaged chocolate filled marshmallows.  They also some in fruit flavors which I didn't try.

They are horrible.  Think stale, flattened marshmallow filled with some chocolate-like substance.  YUCK!

Their company tagline is "the best thing to ever happen to a marshmallow."  No, it's not. 

But THIS might be!

These are soooo cute!  And at 10 calories a piece, you can't beat them!  Would make great decorations (cakes, cupcakes, etc.) and they taste good too.  Instead of having that weird powdery coating, these have one that's more like granulated sugar, but very fine.  From Harry and David - YUM!

This bar is also from Candy Expo and is billed as a "feel great super food" - which usually means "tastes like crap":

I have it here because it is called an "exotic COCONUT almond bar":

While it looks good, it tastes pretty boring.  I'd rather have a handful of almonds.  I couldn't even taste the coconut.  But it's all organic!  Kumbaya!  You'll live forever eating these, but you won't want to.

While these have been out for a while now, Hershey was pushing them hard at Candy Expo:

And I gotta tell you, these are good!! They taste coconutty and I swear there are little chunks of coconut in there.  I think they blow the coconut M & M's away.  The M & M's taste more chocolately - not very coconutty.  These are like little Almond Joys.  Well done, Hershey!!!

Since I had the coconut M & M's to compare with these, I tried Sarah Silverman's M & M trick. (38 seconds in the microwave)  Holy God!  She is right!!!  Try, it, try it, try it - it's awesome!!!!!!

Try something new - microwave your M & M's, make some s'mores with different ingredients - it's summer!  Celebrate food and fun!

Candy Expo Continued (Pieces v M & Ms)

Hi Gang! Sorry for the delay - when I left Chicago I had to head to Birmingham to give my Leadership Lessons from the Kings of Chocolate seminar and then get back to Raleigh and deal with the pile up. I'm still digging out. No rest for the gluttonous.

This is SOME of the candy I came home with covering my dining room table. Amazing, huh? When will I have time to review all this? How much weight can I avoid gaining? But...how lucky am I????

You should have seen me lugging all this through the airport - I already had one bag checked (at $15 each way that was a cool $45 for nothing). This bag of candy had to weigh over 50 lbs - it's a damn good thing I work out! As it was I lost the feeling in my fingers three times. Oh - I also had a bag with my laptop. I am clearly demented. (And stubborn as hell).

Okay - I just randomly took pictures on Wednesday - I figured they could come and get me if they wanted to, so here are some to give you a tiny idea of how cool these booths were:

How cool is all that???? I wish I had that Lindt bunny for my front yard. And not just for Easter.

The booths were all gorgeous, colorful and huge - with samples! Candy Expo is as close to Willie Wonka and the Oompa Loompas you can get.

Let's do some quick reviews:

I'd never tried these before, but now I have. And these are my thoughts - did Nestle Crunch really need to be any crispier? I don't think this adds anything to the original. (The original isn't one of my favs to start with, but this makes it less flavorful.) Same goes for Butterfinger - I mean it's already great and crispy as hell - it doesn't need any wafers. I prefer the originals of both of these bars.

But THIS is another matter entirely:

I like the Baby Ruth, but I LOVE the Baby Ruth Crisp. I think the Baby Ruth needed a little lighter touch. These are well worth trying. I actually went back to the booth to get more samples. WAY good.

Look at this great idea:

They already had Reese's Pieces, now Hershey's has added York Peppermint Patty Pieces, Almond Joy Pieces, and Special Dark Pieces. The York Pieces are fabulous (and I'm not even a huge mint fan), the Almond Joy Pieces are way better than the Coconut M & M's below, but I would rather just have an Almond Joy. And the Hershey's Special Dark Pieces are good. I don't have any Dark M & M's to compare them with, but they are a solid entry. Great ideas from Hershey.

Grab the York Pieces when they come out - I think you'll like them.

Mars isn't taking this innovation lying down! (Well, maybe lounging on a beach...)

Okay - these don't taste much like coconut at all. The Almond Joy Pieces were much better - they had some coconut texture - although they were too small to autopsy. And they tasted kind of like coconut. These taste like M & Ms. Maybe someone walked through the factory wearing a Hawaiian shirt. No coconut is listed in the ingredient list - the Almond Joy Pieces list both coconut and almonds.
Hmmmmm..........

Maybe Mars thinks if they SAY the M & M's taste like coconut, we'll BELIEVE they taste like coconut.....

I was so excited about these - strawberry and peanut butter M & Ms - YAY!!! What a great idea! How exciting! But they disappointed me. I found the strawberry gave them a weird aftertaste. Peanut Butter M & Ms are better (and I think Reese's Pieces are better than those!).

Candy Expo really was a blast!! As I review more of the candy I'll tell you more about some of the people. The candy was cool, but it was the people that really made it a great experience.

I'd also like to express my admiration and appreciation to anyone who has served in the military. My friends Katie and Wally come to mind - I am so proud of them and don't tell them nearly enough. Memorial Day is a great day to think of all those who serve, who have served, and who gave their lives for our country. Thank you!!!