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!  ; )

Chocolate Odds and Ends and Easter

I keep finding cherry!!! But I didn't even try these once I performed the autopsy.

Hmmm.....something doesn't look right - check out the close up:

Yikes!! See those little round balls? That's not sugar, baby! Some type of mold? Fungus? Ewwwww!!! Maybe it would help if these companies would use some EXPIRATION DATES!!!! Beware if you buy any food stuff at the Grove Park Inn gift shops - apparently they have been on the shelves for a long, long time. This is the third time (all different products and different companies) this has happened to me with Grove Park Inn purchases. Yucko!!!

Look at this - pineapple!!! A pineapple Bing!!! (Remember the ugly yet weirdly good Cherry Bing?)

While this is not terrible, it's not as good as the Cherry Bing. And it's actually called a Tropical Bing. I think the pineapple flavor works best with a high quality dark chocolate - this combo (with milk chocolate and peanuts) is not so good. Sigh. I'm have high hopes for pineapple and chocolate.

Since we talked about Raisinets in the last post, I thought I'd review these:

I found these in World Market - they are from the UK and are made by Fox's Confectionery. They are basically Raisinets, but I like the chocolate a little better. Is it worth going to World Market to hunt them down? No, not really. I mean, is any chocolate covered raisin really that exciting? But if they were next to the Raisinets, and I really was craving the whole chocolate/raisin thing, I would buy these.

I've never seen the Easter Junior Mints before:

Love those wildly colored boxes!!! They only have about seven Junior Mints in each, but they sure are festive!!

And since we looked at the Poppet Raisinets, let's look at the Poppet Junior Mints:

The Poppets (on the right) aren't bad - they have a different taste than the Junior Mints. What they lack is that awesome creamy Junior Mint texture. Who doesn't just adore that? They are just not as creamy - a little more to the chewy side. And they are inconsistent - some seem to have no mint at all and to be solid chocolate. Nope - the Junior Mint is much better. Go USA!! Tootsie Roll Industries makes the Junior Mint.

We are going to be hot and heavy on Easter from here on out. Here's a festive and delicious Frey Swiss Chocolate Bunny to kick us off:

Love the gorgeous metallic packaging.

Isn't he just the cutest rabbit ever? Look at his little rabbit muscles!

And his little cottontail!

Of course, I had to autopsy him for you - hollow:

Frey makes delicious, creamy milk chocolate that I swear only the Swiss can make. This rabbit is exquisitely designed and molded, and the chocolate is wonderful. Easter 2010 is looking pretty darn good!!! Hoppy Spring!!

Tradition!!

I'm going to digress (surprise!) from the Chocolate Show to go on a Christmas rant.

I want to rant because Christmas trees will not be displayed in the two main libraries at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill this year because the library staff thinks "it didn't seem right to celebrate one set of customs when libraries offer information about all belief systems around the world without judgment." I guess the only one they can judge is the Christian one.

Look, let me preface all this by telling you I am one of the least religious people you will run into. I'm not a fan of drawn out prayers (from any religion) at business meetings. I don't go to church - well, the Church of Chocolate. But I love Christmas. I love the candy and the trees and the lights and the Santas. I remember my days at college and I loved when the decorations went up on campus - they were festive and pretty.

I say these politically correct librarians are idiots. If I went into a library in another country and saw decorations displayed from that culture - would I not learn something? Would I not be enriched? If I saw another country's flag flying would I be offended? Are the books in the library offensive because they are in English? Is there a Bible in there? Better get that out quick - someone might be offended! Heck - the Christmas Tree came from a pagan beginning! Can't it just be a festive, holiday decoration? I'm sorry - I just think this is ridiculous. They can't see the beauty for the trees.

So, let's talk about some candy that is breaking tradition. Have you seen all the candy canes out there? Everybody is getting in on this - I saw Bubblicious candy canes, Jolly Rancher candy canes, Jelly Belly candy canes, Dum-Dum candy canes, Life Saver candy canes, Spree candy canes, Sweetarts candy canes, Smarties candy canes, even High School Musical candy canes (what the hell?). And, for us, Wille Wonka Chocolate Flavored Candy Canes in the bi-lingual box. Apparently Willie has a big Spanish speaking following.

Candy cane in Spanish is bastones de dulce. Ole!

Ok - first of all, these are so ugly. They are purple and brown. Not festive.

I wanted to hate them - to tell you they should have never been made. (Nestle makes them, by the way.) But I kind of liked them! And each one only has 50 calories (calorias)! If you like chocolate, want a low calorie treat that no one else will take because they are so ugly - these are for you. (But not for the librarians at UNC - they might be offended.) In fact, I think they should all work on Christmas - isn't it offensive to close the library?

Now Cadbury has an entry. I like the Cadbury eggs - the little candy coated ones (well, I like the big creme filled ones too, but I'm not talking about those. Don't get distracted.). They have much more chocolate in them than M & Ms, their closest competitor in this category. So when I saw the Christmas ones, I was pretty excited.

Okay - something went wrong here. Look at these things! Are they dusty? Did they roll around on the floor of the factory? Do they need to revisit their candy coating process?

Can you say - gross? Again I say, what the hell? Where was quality control? Red and green M & M's in a glass container look great as a decoration. They are shiny - they look delish. I'd be afraid to put these out. Boo!! Give these to the library ladies.

I always love new candy - it is exciting. And even though mint is not my fav, I have always loved the Junior Mint. Low fat - creamy. I have eaten these in many a movie. So when I found these new limited edition inside out Junior Mints, I was excited!!!

These are just terrible. They are like a bad mento filled with some really crappy chocolate like material. Like a chocolate gel - eewww. The Junior Mint is great!!! Tradition!!! These are a blemish on the Junior Mint name and the edition should be limited to as few as possible. BLEECH. Library material.

Now, these are better:

These are just like the traditional Junior Mint, but with some little peppermint sprinkles. I still like the traditional one best because I love its smoothness. But as a holiday offering, these are very festive. And you gotta love that box - very seasonal - would look great in a stocking! And doesn't have any Christian images - the library ladies would be happy. But these you should keep for your friends - the ones who are glad to see decorations for any holiday - and know that the more, the merrier.

Anything that adds beauty to this world is a gift. I hope you get to see much beauty this holiday season. (And get to eat mucho chocolate!)