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 on Sale!!!

There is nothing better than candy on sale! Especially expensive candy like that in Williams-Sonoma. These S'Mores were $24.95 originally, now they are marked down to $9.99:

These are as close to the real thing as I've seen. I ate one out of the box and it was pretty good. I bet if you zapped it in the microwave, it would rock! (Kris, I'm with you - never as good as the real thing.) But if you like s'mores - these are the best packaged ones I've found.

These were originally a whopping $16.50! $16.50 for a box of marshmallows! But I got them for $4.99.

They look pretty good and they ARE chocolate! But they aren't even worth $4.99. Just too bland. Boo!!!

These are another matter entirely. I saw them originally at $26.00 and refused to pay that for "a crunchy, buttery confection showcasing crisped rice and Guittard milk chocolate." I mean $26.00 crisped rice??? Please. But at $9.99 I thought I'd check them out:

And let me tell you what - they are awesome!!! The crisped rice (toasted organic brown rice) is mixed with a "homemade buttery caramel base." OMG!!! It's the caramel base that rocks these babies. Get thee to Williams-Sonoma and score some - they are fantastic!!!!

At first I thought the dancing figures on the box and liner were idiotic. After I tasted the candy, I want this as a bumper sticker. Or a tattoo.

Trust me. You too will be doing the happy dance.

This is my Brain on Marshmallow

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a great New Year's Eve! I was out dancing to a great rock band AND was wearing three inch heels. Hip replacement? What hip replacement?

Anyway, my Sorbet Sistah, Sassy and I were out till three last night and as a result, my brain is somewhat marshmallowey today. Thus our theme - holiday marshmallow.

I went by Crate and Barrel a couple of days ago and all their holiday candy is on sale - so you might want to check it out. I have several of their treats - let's start with their S'mores:

These are nothing to rave about. The marshmallow is not evenly distributed (as you can see in the picture) - it sits in a blob roughly in the middle. The chocolate is okay. Real s'mores are better. Hell, Goldfish S'mores (reviewed months back) are better. There are much better treats out there.

They also have these mini mighty marshmallows - and the tag line reads - "drenched in milk chocolate - perfect for dunking in hot chocolate or for eating right out of the bag."

,

These would probably kick butt in hot chocolate - what a great idea! And as far as chocolate covered marshmallows go, they are good. Exciting? Nope. I just can't get really excited about the chocolate covered marshmallow. Unless......




Do you see that? It's peanut butter!!! Let's just check these bad boys by Harry and David out. There are three kinds in the box - dark chocolate and marshmallow:

Eh. Okay.

Let's do milk chocolate caramel next:

Looks good!! I have some high hopes!! Okay, NOW we're talking. These have delicious and not skimpy caramel which makes them awesome! The only ones worth eating yet. Very, very good - awesome chewy caramel, good milk chocolate, and the marshmallow really works - outstanding!

And the one I've been waiting for (drum roll please).....milk chocolate and PEANUT BUTTER!

Hmmm......while these are not bad, I don't think the marshmallow brings anything to the peanut butter. In fact, I think it takes away. Booo!!! I hate marshmallow. Now I want a Reese's Tree.

Harry and David also has these caramel marshmallow bars billed as "fluffy clouds of yum, wrapped in caramel":

These remind me of Modjeskas (blogged about in another post) and I won't lie to you, these are pretty darn good. But I prefer the Modjeskas I had that were completely covered in caramel. If you like marshmallow, you will do back flips for these. If you don't, pass and just get some caramel. These are super sweet, but somewhat light due to the marshmallow. Wow.

Look at these crazy things I found in World Market:

These are made by Tunnock's, a Scottish company established in 1890. And they are god-awful. They are covered in coconut and are filled with that whipped marshmallow - kind of like Fluff - that stuff some people put on sandwiches. They are very rich, yet at the same time have very little taste. They have a thin layer of something that tastes vaguely like coco and holds the thing together. Awful in a weird fascinating way, like when you can't help but look at a car wreck.

And now I have marshmallow fluff on my keyboard. Great.

You all are very familiar with how much I despise Russell Stover. But I can't seem to walk away. (Sounds a little like my love life - I keep going back to the same guys thinking they are going to be different). Anyway let's move to the world of festive marshmallow shapes:


Well, at least it looks like a snowman, pretty amazing for RS, King of Blobs. But when I performed the autopsy, look at that:


Chocolate marshmallow! Any good? Well, better than white marshmallow, but still not really worth anything. Caramel still way better. Crate and Barrel Mini marshmallows have better chocolate. RS just never really makes the grade. I wonder how much longer they are going to be around.


Speaking of blobs, check out this "Santa" by Georgia Nut company:




Are you kidding me? What the hell is that?

The Christmas Blob is filled with something with the same consistency of marshmallow fluff, but they call it "whipped vanilla cream". It's sinful. It's totally sweet and if you bite into it, you will eat the whole thing, even if you don't want to. I can't explain it. It's good, but it's also so sickeningly sweet that after you eat it, you immediately want to eat green vegetables. It's over-the-top.

The next one is chocolate covered marshmallow Santa's made by Brach's:

This Santa is just plain weird. I don't know how they make it, but you can see that it's kind of detailed, but the chocolate coating is so thin the white shows through and the whole thing looks weird. The taste is not horrible, just boring. At least these are cheap. I am reminded that I still don't like marshmallow and again want a Reese's Tree.

Before we go, look at these chocolate covered cherry cordial flavored marshmallow reindeer treats by a company called Melster Candies:

Okay - these are actually reindeer, not reindeer treats. But, what the hell. Again the weird detail, the thin chocolate, and this time, pink marshmallow peeks through. If you like cherry, you may like these, but it was too much for me. Cheap marshmallow, cheap chocolate, and overpowering cherry. Well, at least we have a different shape and some wildly colored marshmallow.

The take away?

What a celebration of marshmallow creativity! We had different shapes, and coatings, and flavors and fillings. Are you this creative with how you view yourself? Are you someone with a bad hip or a dancing queen? Are you too old to do what you want? Too fat to wear that? Or are you someone who does what makes them happy, convention be damned? You get to decide who you are - only you and no one else. Who will you be this year?

Your life is as sweet as you decide to make it. Happy 2010 - make it your year.