gleam wrote:And Hydrox longer than Oreos.

I guess the analogy works then!

gleam wrote:And Hydrox longer than Oreos.

Indeed -- Oreos were initially billed as a proletarian substitute for the snooty Hydrox.

OK. Let me update and extend the analogy:

SCUBAchef wrote:Smarties are to Sweet Tarts,
as Hydrox are to Oreos,
as Betamax is to Blu-ray DVD:
Lame-ass inferior suckage.

JoelF wrote:To anyone who gives out little wrapped peanut butter taffy, Bit O Honey and similar items: F*ck you. Nobody likes them.

While I can't stand them, the two girls I was with at Exit on Halloween would disagree about Bit O Honey's. There was candy spread all over the bar, and one of them (the one NOT drinking) was scrounging them from everywhere.

SSDD

You just reminded me of Mary Jane's. I love those.

Snack-sized Heath bars cannot be beat, even by Reese's PBCs or Miniature Twix bars. . . all three of which are in my house at the moment.

sundevilpeg wrote:Snack-sized Heath bars cannot be beat, even by Reese's PBCs or Miniature Twix bars. . . all three of which are in my house at the moment.

Oh man, Heath bars and their ilk aren't allowed in our house...because I would plow through them until I'm left with nothing but wrappers & remorse. English toffee is already the king of candies in my book...coating it with chocolate only sweetens (pun intended) the pot.

A while back, Whole Foods had a big sample bowl of Vosges chocolate-coated toffee (coated with chopped nuts and pink Himalayan salt) out...I went to town on that sample bowl, then brought home a 1/2-lb box and went to town on that too. Hence the embargo.

Oh man, Heath bars and their ilk aren't allowed in our house...because I would plow through them until I'm left with nothing but wrappers & remorse. English toffee is already the king of candies in my book...coating it with chocolate only sweetens (pun intended) the pot.

*double knuckle tap*

Couldn't agree more. I developed a taste for it before I even had a full set of teeth, as Mom used to make it at Xmas every year - generally almond, coated on one side with semi-sweet chocolate, then studded with toasted sliced almonds. Man. Talk about good eats. It's not that tough to make - just bust out a copy of Fanny Farmer or Joy of Cooking, and go to town. And as you know, the better the chocolate, the more ridiculous the end product. Also, here's a nice made-up dessert: make a nice chocolate custard for creme brulee, and put a modest layer of Heath's toffee bits in the bottom of each custard cup. Proceed as usual. Tremendous make-ahead holiday dessert. Particularly nice with a wee drop of Drambuie served alongside.

Man, I'm feeling festive already!!

JoelF wrote:Indeed -- Oreos were initially billed as a proletarian substitute for the snooty Hydrox.

We were an elitist, snooty family who ate Hydrox and looked down our noses at Oreo. So I still think of them as superior. May they rest in peace.

Mhays wrote:For those of you who are having difficulty keeping your hands off the leftovers, I found a charity you can ship unwanted wrapped candy to...

Yeah, I know one too. Here's my address...

headcase wrote:

JoelF wrote:To anyone who gives out little wrapped peanut butter taffy, Bit O Honey and similar items: F*ck you. Nobody likes them.

While I can't stand them, the two girls I was with at Exit on Halloween would disagree about Bit O Honey's. There was candy spread all over the bar, and one of them (the one NOT drinking) was scrounging them from everywhere.

Bit O Honey rocks. It's up there with chocolate in the pantheon. You haters are missing out.

100 Grand, elusive and delicious.

We never get any trick or treaters, since we live on a busy street and our house looks dangerous. (Anyone interested in swapping roofing for computer help or copywriting, please get in touch.)

So when my mother-in-law sent us a mixed bag of leftover Halloween candy that had been donated to the animal shelter she runs (what was she supposed to do with it, feed it to the cats?), we wound up eating some things I hadn't tried in years.

Hershey's milk chocolate bars - OK. The burnt-milk flavor, if a taste for it was acquired in childhood, remains palatable.
Almond Joy - The best. (Although I agree that a dark chocolate version would be better.)
Milk Duds - Not only did they make me worry for my dental work, they didn't taste nearly as good as I remembered.
Reese's Cups - I never liked them and I still don't.
Dum-Dums - Smaller than I remembered, and mostly too sweet.

AlekH wrote:100 Grand, elusive and delicious.

I remember many a dime went to buy $100,000 bars when I was in junior high. While the name has changed, I still call them $100,000 bars.

There was a sugar shortage in the 1970's. My dime purchase jumped to a quarter and never went back after sugar supplies returned to normal.

Regards,

Ive been eating more than my share of:

-now-n-laters
-tootsie rolls
-anything Reece's peanut butter

this year.

LAZ wrote:Milk Duds - Not only did they make me worry for my dental work...

You weren't wrong to worry. A couple of years ago in a movie theater, a Milk Dud removed an onlay clean out of my tooth. The glass-half-full side is that it removed it so cleanly, and I was able to retrieve it from the guilty Milk Dud so easily, my dentist was able to glue it right back in!

Someone early on mentioned Midnight Milky Ways, which are fantastic. The miniatures are the best (as compared to a full-size bar) because 1 is enough to satiate a candy craving and they have the proper dark chocolate to filling ratio. They are quite hard to find.

Of the traditionals, like most of you, Reeses peanut butter cups and caramel Twix were my favorites as a kid. Mounds as an adult.

It's never really been "halloween candy" but my all time favorite candy growing up was lik a maid(sp?) and sweet tarts. Lik a maid tasted like a powdered version of sweet tarts. I love all things sour.

Another favorite non halloween candy I still love were called bullseyes, but I only see them now as caramel creams. The chewy caramel is wonderful but who could resist that sweet soft white little circle of deliciousness in the middle. Fresh Market, a gourmet grocer across the street, has a pretty good candy section with jars of delights, including caramel creams. I've pilfered quite a few over the years.

RevrendAndy wrote:It's never really been "halloween candy" but my all time favorite candy growing up was lik a maid(sp?) and sweet tarts. Lik a maid tasted like a powdered version of sweet tarts.

It's now called Lik-M-Aid Fun Dip, and made by the Willy Wonka Candy Factory in Itasca.

I really liked the Candy kisses (not to be confused with Hershey's) kinda of like bit-o-honey but softer, kind of round and twist wrapped in orange or black waxy paper with a dab of peanut butter in the middle. Someone still makes them but hard to find.

I have a question that is a bit unrelated. I made up about 1-1/2 dozen goody bags yesterday and almost no one came, although I saw tons of people on just a couple of blocks down. Each bag had two fun-size bars (one Titon and one Dreamy, off-brand Mars & Musketeers, respectively), a sleeve of Sixlets and a quarter. I taped the bags shut with skull-and-crossbones tape, and these bags are freakin' cute, so I don't want to tear them all open just to get my money back. I was thinking of freezing the whole stash and thawing them out next year. Are Sixlets freezer-friendly?

As a yute, was fan of Forever Yours. Glad to see it's been somwhat reincarnated as the Midnight Milky Way.

Given the relatively high turnover in the novelty consumables biz, it's kind of amazing to me that so many Mars bars have been on the shelves for so long.

I had one group of three trick or treaters. The left over candy went to friends and my son and his roomates. I like Baby Ruth and Mounds bars. Also kit kat.
Love snaps but rarely see them anymore. I'm the only one liking them as most of the family thinks they taste like soap.

Pie Lady wrote:I have a question that is a bit unrelated. I made up about 1-1/2 dozen goody bags yesterday and almost no one came, although I saw tons of people on just a couple of blocks down. Each bag had two fun-size bars (one Titon and one Dreamy, off-brand Mars & Musketeers, respectively), a sleeve of Sixlets and a quarter. I taped the bags shut with skull-and-crossbones tape, and these bags are freakin' cute, so I don't want to tear them all open just to get my money back. I was thinking of freezing the whole stash and thawing them out next year. Are Sixlets freezer-friendly?

You should totally post this query on Craigslist, and I can practically guarantee it will end up in one of these compilations in about six months.

From a more practical standpoint, I bet they would freeze (I'd be more worried about the quarter than the Sixlets), or you could squish them into a PM for me. Mmm, Titan bars...

Santander wrote:

Pie Lady wrote:I have a question that is a bit unrelated. I made up about 1-1/2 dozen goody bags yesterday and almost no one came, although I saw tons of people on just a couple of blocks down. Each bag had two fun-size bars (one Titon and one Dreamy, off-brand Mars & Musketeers, respectively), a sleeve of Sixlets and a quarter. I taped the bags shut with skull-and-crossbones tape, and these bags are freakin' cute, so I don't want to tear them all open just to get my money back. I was thinking of freezing the whole stash and thawing them out next year. Are Sixlets freezer-friendly?

You should totally post this query on Craigslist, and I can practically guarantee it will end up in one of these compilations in about six months.

From a more practical standpoint, I bet they would freeze (I'd be more worried about the quarter than the Sixlets), or you could squish them into a PM for me. Mmm, Titan bars...

I think with the Craigslist and squishing idea, you're hinting that you'd like me to mail them to you. They're even presented in a decorative 'Weeny bucket for all your festive needs.

Are Sixlets freezer-friendly?

I'm not too familiar with these, but there might be a problem with condensation on the candy coating when they thaw, depending on how "waterproof" they are. I might throw a pack in the freezer for a couple of days, thaw it and see what happens.

On the subject of Halloween Candy i really have only one piece of input -- I loathe any and all candy corn. I have no idea why it was invented and I wish it nothing but bad times. Weird texture, fake flavor, strange looking icky candy.

Now..on the subject of candy I love, I've recently discovered soft Australian licorice. I have been a Twizzler's (Redvines too) fan most of my life, not caring much for licoricey-licorice but preferring the "berry" flavored Twizzler but this Australian licorice makes twizzlers look like the plastic imitations they really are. Wow...such flavor and ease of chew -- and other flavors, like Mango and green apple are pretty fun too. I don't eat that much candy but when I want a sweet treat -- this is what I lean towards.

I like Sunkist orange slices too. They taste juicy.

Australian licorice sounds pretty nifty. Where do you find it in Chicagoland?

It IS nifty, PL. Absolutely. I've found a couple of varieties and they're all very tasty. Especially the Strawberry flavors. First place I found it was in the candy section of Fox and Obel -- it's not cheap but you can stock up per pound! And they do have all the flavors. I've also seen it in the CVS candy section -- it was essentially the same licorice -- it's labeled as Australian Licorice. It would be hanging on a hook like a big bag of lifesavers or something. And yesterday i found an excellent deal at Cost Plus Market -- which is the home of many an odd or foreign type of candy or cookies (ever try Arnott's Biscuits? Yummy cookies wrapped in chocolate and filled with caramel!) but you could get 7 oz bags of "soft eating liquorice" at 2 for $5. I was on my way to the Evanston movie theatre to see Megamind (great fun) and so it was a perfect movie snack. The makers are Darrell Lea and Kookaburra.

Newman's has good licorice - with new pomegranate and tangerine flavors too.

earthlydesire - I loathe candy corn too. The taste and texture is just so weird to me.