Random Acts of Kindness and PEEPS!

I have not died!  The last couple of weeks have been crazy busy and blogging had to wait.  I had a speaking engagement in La Jolla - so cool - you will hear about that soon - I even visited a nut farm while I was there.  I know - who the hell goes to San Diego and visits a nut farm?  I say - who doesn't?

I also am trying to recover from my arch enemy, the Naked Cowboy, announcing that he plans to run for President.  First he sues Mars, now this?  What an idiot.  Call me crazy, but I want my President to wear pants.  (or a skirt - but clothing, dammit!)

Back to business.

Even though I'm a motivational speaker and typically happy person, I get the blues sometimes.  I don't trust people who say they never do.  Just like I don't trust people who don't like to eat.  Suspicious, very suspicious.

Anyway, fall is the time of year that I always think it would be so cool to have a sweetheart.  You know - someone to go to the fair with, someone to watch football with, someone to snuggle up with.  And don't even get me started on the holidays!  So this weekend, as the first crisp fall weather rolled in, I was feeling a little blue.

I stumbled downstairs to get the paper - and what did I see on my porch?  A box from Just Born!  How do my candy buddies know?  I was so excited!!  There was a sweet (no pun intended) note from Cindy Glick - my fabulous factory tour guide.  Look at the note card:

Bwah, ha, ha!!  In the note she said "You may remember the tour you took of the Just Born candy factory."  Remember?  That was one of the highlights of my life!  Yeah, I've seen the Great Barrier Reef, Ayers Rock, the Grand Canyon, a nut farm - whatever.  Seeing those Peeps made was the coolest - hands down.  And when Cindy let me have one hot off the line?  Woohoo!  Remember?  I'll never forget!

Anyway, she sent me some of their new and amazing chocolate Peeps!  Look what she sent me:

There are 24 Peeps in each of those boxes.  I'm not alone anymore!!!  Woohoo!!  I can't tell you how nice it was to know Cindy was thinking about me.

She sent a box of dark chocolate covered marshmallow pumpkins:

Okay, he looks a little like a pig, but he's still better than a blob!

The dark chocolate ones are my favs - the darker chocolate seems to offset the sweetness of the marshmallow better.  Even if you don't like Peeps, I think you should try these.  The chocolate takes it to a whole new level.  And if you like Peeps, you'll REALLY like these!

I picked up a couple of milk chocolate covered pumpkins to show you:

This one looks mysterious. 

Love the bright orange color - and look at all that marshmallow!  When it comes to marshmallow, Just Born doesn't mess around.  I've seen these at most drugstores and some convenience stores if you're trying to find them.  The Easter chocolate covered chicks sold out fast, so you might want to get one of these babies now!

And look at these - dark chocolate covered MINT flavored marshmallow Christmas trees:

And milk chocolate:

Here they are side by side - and they will stand up on their own.  In case you want to build a holiday forest to surround your holiday gingerbread houses. 

Dark chocolate autopsy (whoa - that is some serious green, right?):

Milk chocolate autopsy:

These are different in that they have a mint flavor.  I wasn't as crazy about the mint - I like the non-mint flavor better.  This tasted a little toothpasty to me.  But when these come out, I'd love to hear what you all think.  I'm not a huge mint lover, so I might be wrong here.  Let me know.

Simple things can make a big difference to other people.  After a REALLY bad date the other night, I went by Walmart to get chocolate for an upcoming seminar (and to feel better by looking at Halloween candy).  I was walking in and a young man passed me and said "Super fine" and he was talking to me!  He made my night.  (I also had a flashback to the 70's, but what the hell.)

Recently I had lunch with my good friend Don Johnson and he brought me a Time magazine printed right around my birthday (not to give away how old it is but the original price was 35 cents).  He didn't have to do that - but it was really sweet.  I forget that other people are thinking of me and that I'm not alone.

It's so easy to do something random and kind - here are some ideas I'm going to try over the next few months (chances are other people might be feeling kind of blue too this time of year):

Post something nice on someone's wall on Facebook.

Pay a stranger a sincere compliment.

Give someone an unexpected gift - it doesn't have to be expensive - it could a a wildflower you picked for them.

Leave a nice tip for a service person - better yet, tip someone who never expects it.

Be open - talk to a stranger rather than listening to your iPod or talking on your phone. 

Give someone candy!

You'd be surprised how much a simple act of kindness could mean to someone.

More Halloween to come!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sweets and Snack Expo 2010 Begins!

Hi Gang!  I'm back from the whole bus incident and ready to rumble!!!  Look at the load of candy I got today (this is my bed at the Hilton COVERED in candy!):

I took a bunch of pictures so you all could get a feel for what the Expo looks like:

It's so bright and vibrant and amazing - these really don't do it justice. 

There were some new products I got to try, but they didn't have takeaway samples. So no autopsy or other photos.  These are new - coming out in the fall:

Milk chocolate covered blueberries by the maker of those crazy Queen Anne Cherries.  These are pretty darn good - I really liked the tartness of the blueberries.  They are still pretty sweet, but well worth trying!

Ghirardelli didn't have anything new, but how cool is this display?  This would be a cool sculpture for my house!

Asher's debuted their new dark and milk sea salt caramels.  Very, very good.  Not too soft and not too chewy - perfect consistency:

Peeps is going full bore with the chocolate covered goodies:

There are going to be milk and dark chocolate covered pumpkins, chocolate covered mint flavored trees, and chocolate covered raspberry flavored hearts.  Mark Summers from the Food Network (he did a late session just for us media folks today) loves the dark chocolate Peeps just like I do!  Yay!!

I didn't get to sample any of these, so I can only refer you to my review of the chocolate covered Peeps for Easter.  (YUM!)

Okay - how damn amazing and cool is this???

The Mona Lisa out of Jelly Bellies.  I would like this to go with my Ghirardelli sculpture please.

The Hershey's booth is impressive:

But no samples of the new candies - Hershey's Drops and Reese's Minis.  I have to say, I thought Hershey could have done way more in the samples department.  No samples of the new dark Kit Kat either. Teases.

Good grief, does Ed Hardy have NO shame?

On more popcorn?  Puleeze!  I'd say he's gone from cool to tool.

These were an interesting idea - a marshmallow with some dark chocolate drizzle:

I wanted to like these - the guys in the booth were really nice.  But these just didn't work.  There wasn't enough chocolate to really taste.  Maybe if they were completely coated?

This is Bubble Chocolate (http://www.bubblechocolate.com/) it's aerated chocolate (basically chocolate with a bunch of bubbles in it):

It comes in dark and milk, and quite honestly, I didn't like it.  Maybe if the chocolate were better?  I dunno - it just didn't work for me.  The people in the booth said it's really popular in other countries.  Nevertheless, I didn't like it.

I got to see a great opening session this morning with Kevin Roberts, CEO Worldwide of Saatchi & Saatchi.  He showed some fantastic ads and his big message is stop planning, start acting.  The world today is all about speed.  Of course, if you're not careful, that kind of thinking can get you hit by a bus. 

Spring Chocolate

This may be the most anticipated spring in many years. We are all so sick of snow and cold and dreariness. Seeing the budding trees is definitely bringing joy to my heart! And speaking of bringing joy to my heart, look at these adorable babies:

Yes, chocolate covered Peeps!

How cute is that little guy? You can see his little Peep eyeball. And look at his little wing and his tail. Awwwww!!!

Not that that will stop me from hacking him open like all my other chocolate victims. I mean, volunteers. There's the trademark Peep yellow!!

And if milk chocolate Peeps weren't enough, there are also dark chocolate Peeps!

Now I know what most of you are thinking - "I hate Peeps, I don't care if they cover them in chocolate, blah, blah, blah."

I say, "Dear Reader - have you learned NOTHING from this blog?" You must try the thing you think you will not like. You must keep an open mind. You must boldly go where no chocolate lover has gone before! You must have adventures!

These are GOOD! I know, you think because I got to tour the Peeps factory that I am biased. And I will admit that I do love Just Born and think Peeps are hilarious. But I will not lie for anybody. (Maybe if they had let me drive the Peepmobile, but they didn't.)

I do like the dark chocolate Peep much better than the milk chocolate Peep. I think the dark chocolate does a better job of offsetting the sweetness of the marshmallow. Also - the sugar dusting on the regular Peeps is gone, so this is just smooth chocolate and fresh marshmallow. No weird sugar grains.

I have to tell you, I was prepared for these to be terrible. I thought they would be covered with bad, cracking Russell Stoverish chocolate. Instead they are heartbreakingly cute and the marshmallow to chocolate ratio is perfect. You owe it to yourself to at least try one. Hey - if nothing else, he can sit on your desk and be your chocolate mascot. Who could have a bad day with their little chocolate buddy beside them?

Imagine taking him to a meeting and just sitting him right there on the conference table. How great would that be?

Clearly I have spring fever.

I have also decided to make spring resolutions:

1.) Have more chocolate adventures!! I hope you noticed my new Countdown to Candy Expo in the right hand corner of the blog. The name is now the Sweets and Snacks Expo, but I like Candy Expo better so I'm sticking with it. I'm also going to the Fancy Food Show in New York this summer.

The recession is still impacting my business, but I'll be darned if I'll stop having adventures. And if I don't plan them and put them on my calendar - they will never happen. What adventures will you have this spring and summer?

2.) Complete the projects I've been delaying. These are not exciting, but the longer I delay, the more they bug and worry me. One was re-tiling the bathroom. The vinyl flooring in there looked like Hell and every time I went in there it would bug me. I finally went to Lowe's picked out the tile and got it done. Now when I go in there, I admire it. It makes me feel good everyday instead of bad. It was worth the money. The next project? Switching my books from Microsoft Money to Quicken. Money has been discontinued and I figure converting sooner is better than later. As you all know, swithcing software is rarely fun and/or easy.

Neither of these is glory projects. But the sense of accomplishment and the reduction of worry is huge. What projects can you finally knock out this spring?

3.) Savor the season. I'm so glad to see the spring this year - the blue skies, the warmer temps, the trees and flowers coming to life. We take so much beauty and wonder for granted - I think the seasons have to change to keep us appreciating the beauty of the world. Just like the candies have to change to keep us appreciating the deliciousness of the flavors! We live in a world so full of riches - how lucky are we? For God's sake, we have TWO types of chocolate covered Peeps! Life is grand!

Celebrate the spring - try a chocolate covered Peep!!

The Festive Marshmallow

Ah the marshmallow. Used in so many confections, and so often, such a disappointment.

Kraft just can't stop, offering StawberryMallows for Valentine's Day:

They still have the choking warning on the bag, thank God. I almost killed myself with these.

These are pretty much the standard marshmallow with a vague hint of strawberry. ZZZZZZ

They might be okay in hot chocolate or a S'more for something different.

Of course, in my book, Just Born is the King of Marshmallow. And they've pulled all the stops out for Valentine's Day:

The chocolate mousse bears were new last year. They are really good - for marshmallow that is. Way better (and way cheaper) than those Williams- Sonoma marshmallows. and so cute!!! These are chocolate through and through as you can see in the pic below.

These are different - they are strawberry creme flavored:

And let me tell you, these have some SERIOUS strawberry flavor. they are WAY better than the Kraft marshmallows - they are really soft and, well surprisingly good. And you have to love the cute red hearts.

Both of these are just regular marshmallow flavor:

Like the I heart U - very creative! And look at the close uu - its sugar is glittery!!!

Very festive!!!

Here are the autopsy photos:

You can see the strawberry in the smaller red heart.

And there's the cocoa in the bear. Even if you hate Peeps, they are some of the most festive candies out there. And they are low in fat and calories!


This is a whipped creme cherry heart by Georgia Nut Company:

At least this one looks like a heart.. Georgia Nut is notorius for blobs. The cherry flavor is there but fairly subtle. These are soooo rich because of the creme filling, but because it's creme, it's better than marshmallow. I've said it before - it's like Fluff. For some reason I like these. You'll only want one - too rich, but for only 140 calories it tastes pretty darn good!

I can't explain it - it's good!


These surprised me and I have no explanation for it. I tried them at Christmas - they were red and green - and didn't like them:

These I liked! It makes no sense unless they have somehow changed the ingredients. Maybe the green in the crisped rice freaked me out. Maybe I am insane. I dunno. But these were pretty good. Are they the greatest thing ever? Oh hell, no! But if you want a Valentine's Day rice krispy treat - this is for you!

The marshmallow disappoints me more than it delights me, but as long as there are Peeps in the world, it will always make me smile. And I do believe the world would be a lesser place without the marshmallow. It doesn't have a lot of taste, but often marshmallow is the glue that holds the rest of the confection together.

Hey, everybody can't be chocolate.