Since I'm gonna need to be seeing less and less of it in the coming weeks, I wanted to dedicate an entire post to the thing I love the most in the world (well, besides my dog): CANDY.
You heard me. I. love. candy.
I inherited a prize-winning sweet tooth from both parents - my brother did, too. My mom (who raised us) tried to stop us from catching it by banning ALL candy, cookies, ice cream, sugared pop, kool-aid-y drinks, cereals, little debbie snack cakes, etc... anything with sugar.
The backfired result of this approach is that my brother and I are each about 25 lbs overweight, even though we're both pretty active - and this is entirely because of our food choices. Basically, either of us'll practically do tricks for candy.
One candy type has been in my top 10 list since 1989, when I went to Europe and spent some time in England, is Rowntree's Pastilles. They are incredible, and luckily have been available, off and on, at the larger Jewel supermarkets here in Chicago. As imports, they're $4 a ~5 oz. box, but it's worth it. The potent and untypical fruit flavors are so good...
My licorice habit began in childhood, too, with my Mom's secret love of Necco wafers (the black ones are licorice) and Good and Plenty. As an adult, I discovered various licorices, including Scandinavian licorice when I moved to Chicago's Swedish neighborhood (the little cats, pipes and coin-shaped ones I could get from the specialty shops) but one day, I grabbed the wrong Finnish Halva brand licorice (the packages for their original sweet licorice versus the salty-strong, or Salmiak, licorice are the same design but different colors), and it was all over; I had discovered salt licorice, and I love the stuff!
When I started working in (and eventually moved to) Chicago's "German" neighborhood, Lincoln Square, whole new arrays of delicious candy awaited me at a local deli, the meatshop, etc. (and even the apothecary, because among the natural remedies, they carry the Halva licorice!).
Now, I've always loved Haribo's classic Gold Gummi Bears - they are amazing, and should probably have their own spot in this post, because lord knows I've eaten about 1 million of the little guys - but they've been eclipsed. At some point in my life, maybe while travelling, or maybe just at a Cost Plus World Market on a whim, I discovered that the same amazing Haribo gummi flavors come in the perfect mouthfeel and taste-amount disc shape of Haribo Roulettes! (FYI: Green is my favorite flavor, with the clear/white a close second.)
I give full credit to the WX regarding these ones: Salzige Heringe are fish-shaped, sugar-coated semi-hardened salt licorice imported from Germany. They are so delicious. After he introduced me to my new fishy friends, I quickly found them at Germandeli.com (which I love, and now order nearly all candy items from - yes, gd.com is my drug dealer). I no loger see the WX but I can honestly say that this particular candy is way up on the plus side of his rap sheet.
Another WX intro (he was/is actually German, after all) was to schnecken - or Haribo Rotella - great licorice flavor (not too sweet with a strong licorice kick) in a fun-to-eat shape. With these, I learned the hard way that I do prefer the imported ones from Germany, not the schnecken made for the US market. I ordered a 5-lb. bag, and they're just not as good. (Must be a slightly different recipe?) Just remember, if you are buying, go for the tub, not the bag!
I've come to the end, and I didn't even mention chocolate! It'll have to wait. Part 2. Now I have to take a go-go dance class, then floss, do situps, and do my pushups. Maybe I'll even talk to a new guy, too...about licorice.
Happy Friday!
2 comments:
I love candy too. I've always blamed my sweet tooth on running. it seems the more I run, the more sugar I crave.
Really?! I wonder what my excuse is. For me, the more I run/exercise, the more meat I crave...mmm, steak burrito...
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