The Most Artistic Halloween Chocolates

The big night fast approaches!!!  And while I hate to have Palmer, Godiva and John & Kira's in the same blog - I gotta do what I gotta do.

Palmer is one of the few companies that actually came up with something NEW this Halloween.  Chocolate zombies:

Notice the coffin shaped base and the detailed creepy zombie!  For a buck you get a whole bag!  And there are multiple foil colors and designs - one zombie is actually holding a brain.  I give Palmer so much credit for crazy concepts and great execution (although it's damn hard to execute a zombie - bwah, ha, ha!).  The detail, the use of two colors of chocolate - bravo!  The taste - GROSS!  Can't have everything - cheap price, great design and great taste.  Two outta three ain't bad.

Palmer also has these screaming skullsl:

Look at the colors!  Look at the precision - green band-aid, creepy red eyeballs - still taste like Hell, but bravo, bravo for artistry!!!  And cheapness.

Godiva charges an arm and a leg (mention of severed limbs intentional) for its Halloween creations.  These cost $2.00 each:

This is a white chocolate tombstone with a caramel apple filling.  And it's only okay.  At some point I just need to give up on Godiva - overpriced, disappointing, so over rated.  Creative, yes.  Better than Palmer.  But not worth $2.00.

This is a Blood Orange Bat (bwah, ha, ha - BLOOD orange):

And as much as I hate to admit it, I like this one.  It has a rich, delicious orange taste - not that awful fake orange.  And the design and coloring is truly a work of art.  I have to say, this one is excellent.  Guess I won't be giving up on Godiva after all!

Now look at these beauties from John & Kira's:

Aren't they the cutest?  But they are small - about the size of a nickle.  And they are not cheap - about $3.00 each (yep the box is $36!)

Do you remember the Harry and David's pumpkin butter I reviewed?  These are filled with something very similar - it says it's pumpkin pie caramel, but it tastes just like pumpkin butter to me in a thin chocolate shell.  They are good, but I still think the best pumpkin chocolate confection is Knipschildt Chocolatier pumpkin truffles - sooo creamy and great.

Here's to the all the chocolate makers who take the time to design something fun and or beautiful!  And when it's delicious too - Happy Halloween to us!!

Teenage Vampires and Werewolves, Oh My!

I don't pretend to understand middle aged women who are into teenage vampires.  I don't pretend to understand middle aged women who are in to middle aged vampires.  (I mean, do you know where those fangs have been?)  But, hey, to each her own.  Or to each her own undead.

I've never seen this show or read these books and I have no intention of doing so.  But I did want to try the candy.  (I'm telling you, pickin's were slim this year!)

This assortment had three different designs and flavors.  Peanut butter for the werewolf Jacob:

I like the howling wolf design, (but is that his tongue poking out?  Wha? You can't howl with your tongue poking out!  Try it if you don't believe me.), liked the taste the best of the three, but that's not saying much.  This is no Reese's peanut butter and no great chocolate.  Better than Palmer, but that's about it.  (And really, what chocolate is not better than Palmer?)

This is a chocolate truffle for Bella:

Bleech.  Crappy chocolate.  Not even the truffle part was good.

Caramel for the vampire Edward:

Like the design - very detailed - nice!

While this looks like a good caramel, it's not that flavorful.  These are just not that great.  Mediocre. Zzzzzz...

I got this prototype bar at Candy Expo - before the final packaging was done - cool, huh?  These are made by the New England Confectionery Company (yep, Necco).  I hate almost everything else they make (Necco wafers, Sweethearts) - so I shouldn't be surprised these don't rock my world:

Here's the final - the new Sky Bar with the Twilight design:

Got a little crushed on my travels:

This is repackaged in the individual servings for Halloween.  I like the flavors even less in the bar because there's more cheap chocolate.  I like having the variety of flavors in one bar, like the creative artwork, don't care for the taste.  Sorry, Necco.  But hopefully those vampire/werewolf lovers out there will sustain you - I like your creativity. 

But next up are the real artists in chocolate, the super creative chocolate makers!  Stay tuned!

Halloween and Peanut Butter - Yay!!

I love peanut butter.  I love Halloween.  I was so excited when the Halloween candy starting hitting the shelves.  I kept going back to all my favorite candy haunts (heh, heh, heh - get it, haunts?) looking for the new, the exciting, the different.  And was so disappointed this year.

Sure there were the usual miniature candy bars, but that's the same every year.  We need new, exciting candy - simple pleasures to take our minds off foreclosure rates and unemployment figures.

At least Nestle made a Butterfinger pumpkin:

I like the design - a bit creepy and a bit friendly all at once.  Pretty impressive.

This guy is chocolate with Butterfinger pieces mixed in.  It's okay.  I prefer the mini Butterfingers taste.  Nestle's chocolate isn't as good as their Butterfinger filling.  I'd really like this if it were all Butterfinger filling.  I don't think it would hold together very well, but damn, it would be good!  And it would be orange.  Nestle candy makers - read my blog and make us a Butterfinger (no chocolate) pumpkin!  Crunchy!  Peanut buttery!  Yum!

This is new fall packing for the Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkins.  I'm still bitter they didn't make the mini ones this year.  But I still think these are the best peanut butter treats on the market.  They still have the old Halloween themed purple packaging from last year (you can see it in last year's post if you really care that much).  Maybe this is so they can keep the Reese's pumpkins on the shelf a little longer - making them a fall treat?  These could stay out through Thanksgiving.

I think we should be giving thanks for these all year long!

This is the only Russell Stover candy I bought this year.  I didn't see anything else new and I hate Russell Stover anyway.  I think they own Whitman's so the marshmallow candy corn was one of theirs too.  I did like it.  But I still hate Russell Stover.  Not as much as the Naked Cowboy, but close.

I was intrigued by this because the wrapper says it's solid peanut butter and it's flat as a pancake.  I wanted to see what it was:

Reese's next to Russell Stover:

My soul mate:

You have got to be kidding!  Why even bother with this? 

No creaminess, the peanut butter taste is too sugary and fake.  It's just a travesty.  Gross.  See why I hate Russell Stover?

I reviewed these last year, but they are so random and weird, I threw them in again this year:

Palmer's Creepy Peepers peanut butter filled eyeballs.  Made with the world's cheapest chocolate but at least they have decent peanut butter filling.  I like the peanut butter but that chocolate is just so waxy and bad.  But they are creepy (in a good Halloweeny way) and the packaging is a riot - "Eye love it, You'll Love it!"  "Another eye-catching idea from Palmer"  Campy!!  Love it!

These are another of my favorites - Hallowscream Caramel Balls from Harry and David:

Oh yes, babies - that is peanut butter wrapped around that caramel center.  These are the best EVAH!  Totally addictive, totally great.  Very peanut buttery and the mix of textures - crunchy candy coating, creamy peanut butter, chewy caramel - genius!!!!!  Get thee to a Harry and David and grab some of these - they are sooooo good!!!!!

I don't know about you, but I'm having fun!!!  I love Halloween and getting to see all the cute kiddies in their costumes!  And what better excuse for a middle aged woman to be stalking the candy aisle? 

Hope you're doing some fun things this week!  I'm gving my "Motivation by Chocolate" session for the hospital staff at Roanoke-Chowan  Hospital.  How much fun are we going to have?    Join in the fun - take some candy to work, wear a costume, or visit a corn maze or haunted house.  Life is short - celebrate!

Candy Corn Gone Wild

Halloween is fast approaching!!  And I have to say that, compared to last year, this year's Halloween candy is lame.  Thank God Just Born offered something new with their chocolate covered Peeps pumpkins.  The rest of the crew just served up the same old boring stuff.  I couldn't even find the mini Reese's peanut butter pumpkins this year.  Hershey, hast thou forsaken me?

Target, however, has a line of candy corn in flavors including green apple, strawberry and loads of others.  I picked a couple to try.  Pumpkin Pie:

These taste just like candy corn with a hint of pumpkin.  Not enough pumpkin as far as I'm concerned.  If you like candy corn, I think you'll like these.  If you're looking for pumpkin pie, look somewhere else.

Now this is a good idea - chocolate covered candy corn:

I like the way it looks better than the way it tastes.  Although chocolate covered candy corn is better than naked candy corn, it's too sweet for me.  But a great idea!

I thought I'd also try chocolate covered toffee candy corn:

YIKES!  This was just terrible.  I like toffee, but definitely not toffee candy corn.  Remember our old adage - just because you CAN do something, doesn't mean you SHOULD do it.  This was really terrible.  Yipes!

Whoa - look at this crazy marshmallow candy corn from Whitman's:

I have to admit - it's festive as hell. 

And, shockingly - it's pretty good!  Now - you have to consider that it's just marshmallow covered in a sugary candy shell, but the marshmallow was really creamy.  I am now diabetic.

These are some weird things I found in World Market - they are made in Ireland:

This might be one of the weirdest candies ever.  They have a really strange "tutti frutti" smell - so I was kind of scared of them.  But they were oddly good.  Weird green candy eyeballs from Ireland - what more could you want for Halloween?
Yahoo!!!!  The holidays are beginning!  Are you having fun?