Texas Candy - the Grand Finale!

Did you know the Texas state tree is the pecan? I didn't, but I was wondering why there was so much pecan candy. Candy is a clue to the mysteries of life.

We looked at pralines in New Orleans (where they are way too sweet for me). Let's see what they've got in Texas:

Love the box and the festive design and colors. These are nice because they are bite size:

See the pecans in there? These were good and chewy. Could have had more pecan bits. Very chewy like a good caramel. Like 'em.

This "pecan chewy" was enormous - about the size of a large hamburger.

And it was delicious! You know what was best about it? TONS of pecans with just a little sugar and other stuff. If you love pecans like I do - this is for you. I loved it. It should be called Fistful of Pecans. We could squint like Eastwood when we eat it.

It's made by http://www.monterreyproducts.com/ it's not a praline - that requires all the junk apparently. I think it was much, much better. YUM!! Made in San Antonio. It's so cool when you get to buy something really made locally. And not in China. Unless, of course, you're IN China, they it would be made locally. (God, get me out of this digression.)

This is a Texas Chewie by Lammes Candies - they also say it's a pecan praline. (This is getting kind of confusing - chewie, praline, fistful - what the hell?) There was a lot more of the other stuff - corn syrup, butter, milk, etc. here than in the pecan chewy by Monterrey. But still not as super sweet as those from New Orleans. I like these much better. These seem more like a caramel, those in New Orleans seem more like fudge.

Lammes is another one of those long standing American candy companies - http://www.lammes.com/. On their website there's a great section on their history and you can order a catalog. I want to see them continue - I requested a catalog.

These are very, very good and what a great American success story! Get a catalog!! Yehaw!! I squinted when I filled out the online form.

As you all know, everything is bigger in Texas. Look at these jelly beans:

I love jelly beans, so these are like a beautiful dream - giant, chewy, sugary - YAY!! Happy Easter to us!!

Well, not quite yet. I have some unfinished business to attend to. It involves the cherry. Meet me tomorrow at the O K Corral.

Who Dat Candy

That was one hell of a Super Bowl!! After going to a Saint's game and putting together a sales meeting where we created the Sell Dat Nation in Baton Rouge, I was totally cheering for the Saints.

So in honor of the Super Bowl champs, we'll check out some Louisiana treats. I snagged all these in the airport (which means they were insanely overpriced - but what the hell).

These "Gator Bites" are "fudge dipped mini sandwich cookies with toffee sprinkles":




I guess the toffee "sprinkles" are the gator teeth. These are not bad - especially if you are stuck in the airport for three hours with nothing else to eat. Are they extraordinary? No - they are cheap cookies covered with cheap chocolate. The toffee really helps. I believe toffee makes everything better. These are by Shakespeare's Chocolate - www.shakechocolate.com based in IOWA. Don't really think of Iowa as the gator capital of the world.

I found these in Target? Walmart? Hell, I can't remember:

Wow - how different they look! They are really the exact same thing minus the toffee. They have a thicker coating of chocolate. They are made by Nassau Candy www.nassaucandy.com. While they look better, I actually like the sloppier looking gator bites better. Who dat!! Less chocolate and more cookie seems to work better here. But don't forget the toffee!.

New Orleans is known for their pralines. These are all by Aunt Sally's and they are basically sugar, pecans, corn syrup, evaporated milk, cream, butter, and molasses. These are so NOT light!!! Let's face it - New Orleans is not known for it's health food.

This one was weird - I swear it had a strange bacon like taste! What the hell? Didn't like it.

This one was even more horrible to me:

It looks just like the first one, but has Tabasco sauce in it. Yuck. I like my candy to be sweet, not spicy. Definitely not working for me. Bleech!

Hey - chocolate!! Triple chocolate!!

This was okay - I like the nuts, but I'd rather have chocolate than this butter, cream, corn syrup, thing. These pralines just aren't working for me. Yucko.

It looks good, though, right?

I thought the lite version would be horrible, but it was actually the best of all! Whoa! At 85% less sugar and 40% less calories, why eat that other crap?

This one is a chewy rather than a creamy praline:

Look at all these nuts!! I thought this would be awesome!!

Not so much. I'd rather have the pecans with a light glaze or covered in chocolate or just naked. Boo!



Here's the same thing by Woody's, but it also has walnuts:

I like the addition of the walnuts - helps offset all the sweetness. But still - eh. What a waste of a lot of good nuts.

Awww. At least we had the Gator Bites. And the Super Bowl. Who dat!!!!!!