The Magic of Christmas

This is a great time of year. It begins when the days get shorter and the light is different, it is almost like someone put a filter on the sun, but it is the beginning. Then Christmas lights start appearing in the neighborhoods, it snows even when the sun is shining. You know it, you can feel it, something magical is coming.

Like anyone, when I was young Christmas was something special, everything seem magnified, time suddenly slowed, it was simply that feeling of anticipation, waiting for Christmas day! I loved Christmas when I was growing up. One of my best memories is not one of parties or presents, but being by myself and feeling the magic of Christmas (the true introvert in me, I guess). I would shut the doors to the living room, turn off all the lights, except the Christmas tree, put Christmas music on the stereo, sing and act out the words to my favorite Christmas songs, including Winter Wonderland: “In the meadow we can build a snowman, then pretend that he is Parson Brown, He'll say: Are you married? We'll say: No man, But you can do the job when you're in town. Later on, we'll conspire, as we dream by the fire, to face unafraid, the plans that we've made, walking in a winter wonderland.” Looking back, I guess I was dreaming of the day I would be old enough to fall in love.

But dreaming aside, Christmas is also about indulging in all the wonderful Christmas candies. What makes this holiday so unique is that there are candies that only appear at this time of the year. Think about it – chocolate is available year round, jelly beans, ditto, candy corn – as I have mentioned seems to appear at all the major holidays, but not Christmas candy, just like santa, it comes only once a year!

My favorite? My all-time favorite? Ribbon Candy! I don’t even remember when I had my first taste of ribbon candy. I suspect it was at one of my grandparent’s house, but oh was I hooked! Candy that looks like glass, thin as can be, with colors different on the outside than the inside. How magical is that? Plus, they come in my favorite flavors, peppermint, spearmint, cinnamon, along with lemon and orange. With Christmas just a few weeks away, I finally bought my first box (yes, there will be more than one). I just had to capture the beauty of this delicate candy with this picture so you can appreciate just how truly magical it is, just like this time of year!

Peppermint!!!

I’m sitting here trying to think of a creative opening to talk about peppermint candy, but I can’t because I simply and honestly love anything minty.  It is a fact of life. With a mint in your mouth anything is possible. I love how refreshing mint feels when you pop a piece of anything minty in your mouth, close your eyes I know you know the sensation!

I first knew I was seriously hooked when one summer we were on one of the famous Kennedy summer vacations – driving somewhere packed in the car.  My Dad and my Mom in the front seat with one kid between them, then the rest of us piled in the back. Think of it – 4 stinky boys all next to one another. Suddenly I remember smelling something minty – the car came alive with the smell.  I was clamoring to find out what it was.  It turns out my Dad had popped a Rolaid in his mouth (who wouldn’t driving that clan of crazy kids).  Oh, how I wanted whatever it was he had. I totally didn’t realize that what he was eating was really a chalky gross mess!  How could something smell so wonderful and taste so poorly (yes, I did sneak one later when no one was looking). 

From there my minty love affair has continued for decades. I always have something minty with me, gum, Mentos, those soft peppermint balls (Have you had those? They are the best, they simply melt in your mouth! Try Bob’s Sweet Stripe Soft Mint Candy), and with the holidays approaching Brach’s Peppermint Christmas Nougats.  My love for mint also extends beyond candy – chocolate mint ice cream, mint cookies, mint brownies, even mint jelly!

With the holidays approaching peppermint is at the forefront – don’t you just love seeing the first batch of candy canes appear in the stores? It gets the senses reeling, something magical is coming. It is the time of year when I don’t try to resist temptation – these special sweets are with us for such a short time!

Quite simply, as long as there is a Coke in the fridge, something minty nearby, I am complete, there is nothing more I need!

My True Obession Revealed.....

Have you noticed I have been skirting around the most obvious thing in my life that I love the most (outside my family, friends of course, blah, blah, blah).   I don’t know why I have been waiting, maybe because the candy du jour takes precedence, or once I reveal my true obsession you will all quit reading, or maybe I was simply holding on to it just to whet your appetite, I don’t know. 

But ask anyone who knows me what I love most in this world – the one thing I truly can’t live without – they will say without hesitation:

COKE and CHOCOLATE

It is true, I love Coke. This is difficult because people may think I am talking about the drug, not the soda, but trust me, it is the soda I love!  There is nothing quite so satisfying as opening a bottle of Coke (true connoisseurs know Coke is best in a bottle – my pick – the 12 ounce plastic bottle) taking that first sip and feeling the burn as the carbonated bubbles explode in your mouth. I’m telling you, nothing and I mean nothing gives me greater pleasure! Given the choice between a glass of fine wine and an iced cold Coke – I would choose the Coke! I tend to guzzle it, I know I should savor every sip, but I can’t, I simply can’t!  Despite this addiction, and I admit, it is an addiction (just ask anyone), I do limit myself to one Coke a day (two, only on very desperately bad days). I used to ration myself to one a week, but decided the hell with it, I’m getting old, I deserve to indulge myself.  Oh, and never, ever Pepsi, it is a simply a sin if you do.

Oh, and in case you didn’t know, Coke has medicinal properties. One of my truisms that I use with my children is that Coke Cures Everything – it does, this is the truth. Feeling sad, open a Coke, feeling nauseous – well that is a no brainer, hung over – same thing. Coke Cures Everything. It does, simple as that.

But Coke is best when enjoyed with a lovely piece of Chocolate – my other true obsession.  Over the years the type of Chocolate I reach for first has changed, in fact, changed multiple times. Back on Grotto Street I used to walk up to the candy store (called the Popcorn Place). They had this mint fudge that was to die for! Then for a while my chocolate obsession was in the form of a chocolate iced cookie at S.A. I know, right? I had the timing of when the truck would deliver a fresh batch down to the minute. For many years it was Butterfingers, then Baby Ruth’s, M&Ms and lately it is English Toffee.  Today Steph and I went to a candy store called Sugar Sugar in Minneapolis – we were like kids in a candy store (well, duh, we were!) I came away with a lot of fun treats, but my favorite – sea salt caramels in milk chocolate and dark chocolate!

Well, there you have it. There is nothing left to say, well until the next time.

How to Properly Eat Candy Corn

Fall is in the air, Halloween is around the corner and the stores are filled with bags of candy! It is a great time of year, isn’t it? There is always that sweet feeling of anticipation when I see the first bags of candy corn hit the stores!  As I am walking through the aisles buying my normal groceries I can’t help notice the candy corn display. I walk by looking straight ahead, but I know they are there.  Unlike jelly beans, which I will stalk the stores looking for the first bags to appear, with candy corn the weather has to be just right – it must be sweater weather, a chill in the air and the trees must be changing colors. It must be at least mid-September at the earliest. 

Yes, these are the rules and they must be followed!  I have slowed down in front of the Halloween displays, I have even reached out to grab the bag, but not yet, I must wait just a bit longer.

When the time is just right I will buy my first bag of the season.  Once home I empty the colorful nougats in a bowl, because candy corn is for sharing (another rule of mine, and see, I do share my treats).  The temptation is to pop a handful in your mouth all at once, but avoid that temptation. There is a proper way to eat candy corn. I won’t go as far as calling it an art form, but nevertheless there are rules for this (just ask my sister Kathy, she will confirm this fact). Here is how you do it:

One at a time take a single piece of candy corn, then with the candy between your thumb and forefinger gently press until the bottom yellow section gets smooshed. Then starting with the top eat in order – white, orange and yellow. While some may disagree, please don’t reverse the order, it just isn’t right. You must do this slowly because you need to savor each piece and analyze whether the colors taste the same or different. I swear the white piece tastes differently than the others, but even in my advance age I am not positive. What do you think?

Oh, and I should mention – don’t eat candy corn outside of Fall. Christmas or Valentine’s Day candy corn is near sacrilegious. And even though they sell “Indian Candy Corn” with the chocolate bottoms, it simply just isn’t right, trust me on this. 

Necco's!!!!!

Some things in life you relish every moment and hold on to each memory and then there are other things in life you simply try to survive through.  Law School was that for me – just a means to an end – something I had to just power through.  Of course, whenever I am in survival mode I tend to indulge my sweet tooth a bit and my good habits fall to the wayside. 

One thing I remember that during finals, writing my law review paper or generally just trying to keep up there was one candy that I would turn to in order to keep myself fueled, sane and going strong.  Necco’s!  Weird choice, isn’t it?  I imagine throughout law school chocolate was a big part of that along with the requisite drinking of Coke with the chocolate, but Necco’s stand out in my mind as being fundamental to my survival.

I remember sitting in the library one day quietly, or as quietly as you can crunching on a Necco, eating one wafer after another, always delighted when my particularly favorite color would appear – pink, yellow, and yes even the brown, chocolate ones!  While quietly enjoying my reverie I looked up and saw a fellow student staring rudely at me. I thought what the heck, but quickly realized my Necco habit was probably driving him nuts. Thankfully he got up and moved so I could go back to my studying – read a page, eat a wafer, read another page, have another, and so on.

As summer quietly turns to fall I find myself searching for a roll of Neccos. Now, for those of you who are just armchair candy lovers you won’t understand this next piece, but indulge me a bit… Neccos are the best when they are slightly soft. Several years ago Neccos came out as Halloween candy. These are smaller rolls individually wrapped inside a bigger bag.  That extra layer of protection kept the candies incredibly soft and absolutely perfect!  The first year I discovered the Halloween candy I bought several bags and enjoyed everyone last one (I doubt I shared these with anyone too). The next year I couldn’t find them anywhere. Someone said Walmart had them. I never shop at Walmart, but for Neccos I would and did!  But last year I couldn’t find them anywhere. Like an addict searching for its next fix, I actually went to several different Walmart’s because someone said they aren’t all alike – nothing!  I was devastated (I know that sounds severe, but trust me, it really bummed me out for several days).

Now that Halloween candy is already appearing in the stores, the search is on again for this year. Please drop me a line if you find them anywhere!  Meanwhile, my sweet baby girl Colleen bought me a roll and as I sat in the sun reading my book (a novel, mind you, no more law books for me) and enjoying the sweet wafers I noticed that the wafers were getting softer the longer I sat in the sun, which got me thinking…..

Violet Pastilles

Fast forward a few years, I discover scarves and long flowing dresses, I become more a child of air than of earth. I spend more days skipping school than attending school, I am a free spirit, a dancer that looks for reasons to pirouette through the woods, imagining the likes of Robin Hood or Puck from Midsummer’s Night Dreams. I lived this sort of enchanted, dreamlike life. I imagine every teenager feels that way – discovering new things every day and feeling like no one else knows what you know. It is a powerful, wonderful existence.

My group of friends would ditch out of school and drive to the Arboretum.  This is way before the Arboretum was a popular and structured place to visit. We were free to roam the woods to our heart’s content. We would grab beer and wind our way into the woods laughing and carrying on. As an introvert I would usually slip away from my group of friends and find a quiet spot to sit. My favorite resting was a fallen tree over a stream.  Picture Robin Hood jumping on a log to instruct his merry men – that is how I felt every time we would visit this spot – a spot I was certain no one else knew about! Those were happy days for sure.

At this same time, I was enchanted with everything Art Nouveau. I loved the intricate drawings, the long flowing hair and beautiful dresses. It was inspiring to me, I think that is why I gave up the grunge hippie apparel and started wearing dresses and scarves (I still love scarves today by the way!).  My boyfriend Jim, indulged my love of this period, by buying me countless Dover Fairy Tale books (Red Fairy Book, Blue Fairy Book, all different books with fairy tales in them! BTW, I still own these beautiful books so let me know if you would like to borrow them sometime!).

Because Jim of course knew about my sweet tooth he bought me these lovely little French candies called Violet Pastilles. These little round candies came in a tin with violets on the cover. The tin itself was beautiful and inside – delightful little candies that have the most delightful per-fumy taste that ends with a sensuous anise flavor. Whenever I opened a tin of Violet Pastilles I found myself swept into the past, imagining myself with beautiful long, complex hair with a crown of flowers around my head and wearing a lovely long flowing dress with huge bell sleeves. It is funny where a little piece of candy can take you!

Mallo Cups - Need I say anything? Simply perfection!!

Good & Plenty

I know I have already written about licorice, but Good & Plenty are a bit different than licorice, don’t you think? They have that soft, yet crunchy out layer of pink or white before you get to the licorice part – a bigger bang for your buck, if you will!  I recently picked up a box of Good & Plenty at the store (they were having a 10 for $10 special, and no, I didn’t buy 10 boxes of candy, I only bought two!  I do have some self-control after all).  As I poured out a handful of candy I thought of when I was younger and how I would spend a whole box full trying to determine if the pink ones tasted different than the white ones!  My childhood self swears they taste different, but the grownup me knows they don’t (they don’t, right?). As I was making my way through the box of candy I started thinking about parenting and how when it comes to raising our children we always want to be different than how our parents raised us but yet we are kind of the same too.

Being raised a Kennedy in a family of 9 plus a dog, a parakeet, multiple hamsters, and a handful of motorcycles, things were pretty relaxed. The house wasn’t spotless (just ask my mom about how after cleaning the bird cage one day the bird seed sprouted in the bathroom and grass started growing in the carpet). No one seemed to care we were too busy with life! There is another side of being a Kennedy though, and that is the “stiff upper lip” side. We weren’t an overly demonstrative family, yes we loved each other (most of the time) we didn’t always show it. I may love my siblings, but I don’t think I ever told them that (at least not when I was younger). And there were certain things you just didn’t talk about  - for example, illnesses, feminine hygiene, sadness, etc. I’ll never forget that when it came time to go buy my first bra my dad asked my mom where we were off too – the response – to go buy an “unmentionable.” Say what??

Fast forward to being a parent myself. Yes, admittedly, I have kept much of that relaxed nature of housekeeping (maybe not to the extent of growing bird seed in the bathroom), but I have worked hard to shed that layer of stand-off-ness. I hug my kids and tell them I love them as much as possible. It is natural and not forced. I think I have done a good job being a more open and honest parent than my parents, But when I see Steve, my sweet husband, with our kids I know I have miles to go. There is no conversation that he won’t have with our girls, no matter the topic. He loves our kids openly and honestly without reservation. There was a reason he was the stay-at-home parent more than just income potential, he is a natural. And while there at times when Stephanie is more like a Kennedy than a Budge, Steve is in her face saying give me a hug, and she does!

So there you go – when you open a box of candy, you never know where it will take you! Today it was about being a better parent and about love and openness with your children. What will you think of when you open a box of candy? Go find out, they are on sale – 10 for $10!

Variety is the Spice of Life!

I always have a steady supply of jelly belly’s in my purse and some type of chocolate nearby, but every now and then I’ll mix things up, like today, I am enjoying a nice big box of Mike and Ikes. But these aren’t just any Mike and Ikes, these are called “Red Rageous!” Imagine a box full of chewy fruit flavored candies in several different shades of red: Raspberry, Cherry, Fruit Punch, Strawberry and Watermelon! Totally delicious and hitting all the major red fruit categories!  The Mike and Ike brand does a good job by offering many different varieties of their chewy candies, which made me think of that old saying “Variety is the Spice of Life!”

I believe variety is not only the spice of life but is also essential to a happy one. I’m not talking about changing partners or anything like that I am referring to trying new things, changing careers, not always wearing the same color clothes or the same shade of eye shadow.  I grew up studying dance which some how morphed into becoming a paralegal which later led me to law school to a career I never dreamed of having, but one that I loved. I look forward to the future and wonder what career is next? Similarly with hobbies – I used to play the piano, but dream of playing the harp. I know that at some point in the future I will play the harp, in fact I dreamed about it last night. I love studying languages and while I am not fluent in any of them I have studied Russian, French, Japanese and Hawaiian. I don’t care if I am fluent or not, I simply enjoy stretching my brain.

 

I guess what I am saying is that while there are always constants in your life, like your spouse, your children, your family, don’t settle and do the same thing your whole life long. Try new things, experiment, reinvent yourself often, do things you have always dreamed of doing, but never thought possible.  And of course, try new flavors of candies, I promise you won’t be disappointed!

Summer and Salt Water Taffy

Salt water taffy forever reminds me of that passage from being a kid to crossing the divide to becoming a full-blown teenager! The summer between 8^th and 9^th grade my aunt and uncle invited me to Cape Cod for the month of August to help take care of their two daughters. First, the simple fact I was asked to accompany them over my older, and much more sophisticated sister sent shivers of delight up my spine. Then in anticipation of spending the month on the beach my mom bought me a two-piece bathing suit – yes, a bikini!!  I’ll never forget it, it was a lovely shade of pale yellow with little flowers. The double bonus, it made my sister incredibly jealous – as being the oldest she was the one who was supposed to experience everything first, including wearing a two-piece! 

Cape Cod was simply beyond words – the house was just a few yards from the beach. We would spend hours on the beach swimming out to the sand bar, body surfing, just hanging out. It was fabulous!  I’ll never forget walking down the beach in my cute two-piece bathing suit and being whistled by two boys who even ran up to talk to me. I was confused – why were these boys (clearly older than me) talking to me? This was my first foray into dealing with the opposite sex, which I failed miserably at then, and admittedly throughout high school and beyond! (I was always thick-headed when it came to flirting). Still it felt strangely exciting and forbidden at the same time.

But what I remember most from this vacation was my first taste of salt water taffy!  I’ll never will forget it, we were walking in town and stopped into a country store. My uncle bought me a bag of salt water taffy. Here were these bit-sized pieces of multi-color chewy taffy wrapped in pieces of white paper. Each piece was better than the next – banana, strawberry, vanilla, licorice, every imaginable flavor. I was totally hooked, in love and craved more. From then on, every opportunity I would stop back at that quaint little store and buy another bag of salt water taffy. Funny, thinking back the excitement of traveling first class on an airplane, wearing a two-piece bathing suit, being chatted up by boys are all diminished by the memory of tearing into a piece of chewy taffy!

To this day, each summer I look forward with great anticipation to the arrival of those bit-sized, brightly colored tasty pieces of salt water taffy!  And with each bit I am taken back to that summer after 8^th grade feeling ever so grown up in my sweet yellow two-piece bathing suit (like any good Catholic girl, I still have a hard time calling it a bikini – good girls simply didn’t wear bikinis!).

Summer!!!!

I come from a family of 7 kids – 4 boys and 3 girls. Growing up my brothers were very rambunctious, you know the type – the smelly, noisy messy, teasing kind. It is no wonder I ended up an introvert. Summer would come and the gaggle of us Kennedy kids would be home together with nothing but time to get in each other’s way.  I loved finding a place to hide out, somewhere to escape to, just to have time to myself. One of my favorite escapes was riding my bike to the little grocery store not far from our house. Back in the 60’s when I was growing up there were still family run grocery stores – the kind where the store was downstairs and the family lived upstairs. There was one such grocery store near us on Williston Road – one that was easy to get to without having to ride on busy streets, which was strictly forbidden. I don’t remember its name, to me it was always simply the candy store. Right next to the counter were rows and rows of candy, with the lowest row chock full of every imaginable penny candy!

I would save my pennies or even snitch one or two from my mom’s purse when she wasn’t looking (sorry Mom!) Once I had a few pennies I would jump on my bike (the kind that was one speed with foot brakes) and head out full of anticipation of the adventure and the treats waiting for me. My route never varied, I would head up Tonkawood Road to Robinwood Drive, hang a left and cruise through the back streets until I hit Williston Road. I swear 40 years later I could easily take that same route without hesitation, I knew it so well.  Off I would ride through the intertwining streets to arrive at the grocery store. They had this fantastic selection of penny candy. I would dream about what I wanted to choose – of all the choices, tootsie rolls, taffy, waxed lips, pixie sticks – I would invariably choose candy lipstick. For those of you who don’t know, candy lipstick was shaped just like a tube of lipstick, surrounded in gold foil. Naturally, it was bright red and had this fabulous cherry taste.  I would lick the “tube” and put on lipstick before biting into the soft, creaming deliciousness.  Oh, how I wished they still made that penny candy today, there are imitations of course, but nothing matches that red, sweet cherry lipstick in its gold wrapper!

As I grew older I was allowed to ride my bike on busier streets, so instead of going to the little candy store I would ride my bike up Minnetonka Blvd. through the back roads to the Rexall Drug store. Here you could buy nickel Hersey bars, or a 5 cent box of red hots (yes, I do love my red hots!). But best of all Rexall Drug had a fountain counter in their store where for a dime you could sit on the stools and drink strawberry or vanilla phosphates – total heaven!  These were also solo bike rides, just me and my bike. To this day I still seek out time to spend alone. Of course today, my bike has been replaced with my sweet ride, but undoubtedly it involves making a special trip to find something sweet!

Ballet, Tap and Red Hots!!

I started taking tap and ballet in 3^rd grade. I remember seeing a poster at Groveland Elementary school announcing an after school dance program. I knew then and there I had to do it. Little did I know then that dancing would become a major focus of my life for 20 years.  Every Friday afternoon we would file into the gym. Black leotards, black tights and black ballet shoes (pink wouldn’t come into vogue for several years, apparently!).  We didn't have ballet bars to hold on to, instead they would line up folding chairs and that is what we use to hold on to. From the beginning I loved ballet, the music, the steps and patterns, the outfits, everything!  I was free, I was beautiful, I was me.  Tap was just pure fun, but ballet is what made my heart sing.  I truly loved it…. Anyway, this is really about red hots!

Fast forward a few years. I am still taking tap and ballet at Groveland, but as I got older I was able to leave the school grounds between school and ballet class.  Talk about dangerous! There was a Tom Thumb store about a half a block from school. Every Friday I would skip lunch and save the quarter it cost for lunch (yes, my children, 25 cents for lunch) and before ballet class I would walk to Tom Thumb and buy a bag of red hots for 19 cents. We’re talking about a big bag of red hots, not the nickel kind (yes, candy was a nickel back then). I loved the cinnamon flavoring, how it would burn slightly on my tongue. Red hots are best when slightly soft and chewy. For some reason buying them in a bag would guarantee that perfect mix of hot, spicy, soft and chewy.  I am positive I would come to class with a red tongue and what likely looked like red lipstick on my lips from eating so many red hots!

The best part was that walking to Tom Thumb to buy candy without my parent’s knowledge felt surprisingly good, a little dangerous, but also slightly wrong. My first taste at independence at such a young age proved to be precipitous. What followed through the rest of middle school and into high school was an incredibly determined, fiercely independent person. I’ve always followed my own path and didn’t let others overly influence me. I went to an open school throughout high school so I could dance every day and I continued dancing through college, even majoring in dance. Today, dancing is still an important part of who I am. When no one is looking I will do pirouettes in the kitchen, I shake my booty at a latin hip hop class twice a week, and when I close my eyes, I am young again and dancing up a storm!

And of course, I still love cinnamon candy!  My repertoire has broaden a bit to  cinnamon sticks, cinnamon Mentos, and Brach’s cinnamon hard candies, but every now and then I will seek out that perfect cinnamon imperial slightly soft, extra spicy red hot! 

Licorice!!

I know this is a written piece, but I want you to imagine Oprah saying “Licorice!!!!” In that voice of hers (you know, that loud high pitched voice that starts out lows and ends up high, right?) If you can imagine that voice that is the feeling I am trying to portray in the heading:  Licorice!!!! That’s right, whether it is Good n’ Plenty, Licorice Mix, Twizzlers, Red Vines, String Licorice, Anise hard candies, or even Luden’s Honey-Licorice Cough Drops there is nothing quite as good. The rich, almost heavy tasting candy has been around for centuries. It is even used for medicinal purposes. But none of that has to do with me, my friend Goldie Reinhardt, and string licorice!

It was fall and I was entering 3^rd grade at Groveland elementary school in Minnetonka. As with each new school year I was nervous and shy, wondering if would I find a new friend, would I fit in? I was placed next to a new girl in the school – Goldie Reinhardt. Oh, what an exotic name. Goldie, like her name had a round chubby face, and curly golden hair. I liked her immediately and we became fast friends. I was so happy!  Shortly after school started I was invited to play at Goldie’s house after school.

At Goldie’s house her mom gave us a bag of strawberry string licorice. Wow, this was a new experience for me. We took the string licorice and made necklaces and bracelets comprised of multiple knots. We would proudly wear the “jewelry” as we danced around the house (yes, my dancing career had started by then!). After displaying our fine wares we would eat our jewelry. If you have done this before you know that “knotted” licorice tastes better and different than the stringy part. I swear it does! Try it if you don't believe me. The bag of licorice would quickly disappear as we continued to eat what we made and soon it was time to go home.

But when my mom came to pick me up and saw where Goldie lived she immediately drew conclusions on not only Goldie, but her family as well. Goldie’s family lived in the basement apartment of a pink house in the “older” part of Minnetonka. I wasn’t sure why my mom didn’t like Goldie and her family – I thought the pink house was awesome, and her mom gave us licorice to play with.  I guess that was my first experience with discrimination. I’m not totally blaming my mom, I know she is a product of her generation, but my heart broke a little bit that day. I just didn’t get it. While Goldie and I continued to be friends, over time the friendship faded, more than likely because I wasn’t always allowed to play with her. Then Goldie’s family moved outside the school district and that was that.  To this day, it still makes me sad that I lost a friend.

That experience intuitively made me sensitive to any form of discrimination. You may not know this, but we raised our three kids while living in an apartment. We didn’t have much money, but we raised three beautiful, smart wonderful daughters. When I would see the parents of my daughter’s friends treat us “differently” I thought back to how Goldie and her mom must have felt. It simply isn’t right, people shouldn’t be judged based on the balance of their checkbook or their address. I am so incredibly proud of my daughters and how they didn’t let the fact that we didn’t have a lot of money affect them, actually, they wore that like a proud badge.

So forever, string licorice reminds me of my friend Goldie Reinhardt. It is a sweet memory for me.

My love affair with jelly beans begins!

I have loved-loved jelly beans my whole life. Anyone who knows me knows I look forward to “jelly bean season” like a runner prepares for a marathon! Plus, my closest friends know I always have a bag of Jellys Bellys with me at all times (my love affair with Jelly Bellys is more recent, more about that in a later post). But how and why I started really loving jelly beans wasn’t because of Easter, it began when I started getting allergy shots. How is that for an unlikely beginning!! 

When I was in elementary school I had allergies, and after having an allergy test it was determined that I needed weekly allergy shots. Like any kid, getting shots were not fun, let alone once week!  My mother would drive me to Wayzata every Saturday morning for my shot. I’ll never forget that first time when the nurse pulled up my sleeve and administered the shot. I was nervous and apprehensive, which I swear made the shot hurt that much more. Ouch!  Not fun. But to my surprise after the shot she pushed forward a candy jar full of jelly beans! These were the big, Brach jelly beans: red, purple, pink, orange, green, white, yellow and black! Oh heaven. As she pushed the jar toward me so I could take one (yes, only one – c’est impossible!) I reached in and pulled out the one on top – a big purple jelly bean. It was love at first bite.

Suddenly the torture of having a weekly shot along with the added mandatory misery of sitting around for 20 minutes to make sure there wasn't a reaction to the shot wasn’t so bad, because I was guaranteed my one rationed jelly bean! Each week I silently prayed a purple one would be on top and was invariably disappointed if I ended up with a green or yellow one.  Red was my second favorite color, with the white one a distant third (for some reason the white ones always seem strangely exotic to me – maybe because for being such a plain color they taste so good?).  To this day, 40+ years later, those are still my favorite three colors!  Hmm, why do I associate the Brach jelly beans with a color and not a flavor? Don’t know, don’t care, just give me my purple jelly bean!

My Early Years

When you are young you don’t always recognize that grandparents are special, that they can shape your lives in ways your parents can’t. Little things even after all these years will come rushing back to me – whether it is hearing my grandfather’s voice in my head when I am walking “pick up your feet when you walk” or my sweet nanny’s loving nature, always happy to see you and when it is time to leave she would stand in the driveway waving goodbye with a handkerchief with tears in her eyes as we drove away. I love those memories.

But when I think about my earliest memory of sweets it is with my Grandfather Curry or “Papa” as we called him. I was probably 8 or 9 at the time. On holidays we would pile into the car and drive to St. Louis Park, up the scary steep driveway and pull into my grandparent’s house. The Curry’s always had “pop” for us kids – I remember drinking ice cold Bubble Up and relishing each sip. The kids would all go downstairs to the basement and play pool and drink our pop. Oh, how I loved the sweet bubbles tickling my throat with each swallow. I always wished I could have more than one bottle. I suspect I snuck an extra one now and again too! But it was Papa’s crystal candy jar that I remember the most. It was always filled with spiced gumdrops. I love gumdrops – especially the white peppermint ones or the red cinnamon ones, or the green spearmint ones…. Okay I love them all, I admit it.

While my siblings played pool downstairs I would sneak up and stand around the candy jar until my grandfather spotted me. Papa would lift the latch of the candy jar for me and there would be the luscious gumdrops, recently replenished just for me. One, two, three, I would take, he wouldn’t care, because of course that meant he could take one as well – always the orange clove one (my least favorite). I think he did it so I could enjoy my favorites! Here is a picture of that candy jar. It was truly the one item I wanted from their estate after they were gone. It is fragile and I am often afraid to use it. But some day when I have my grandkids of my own I will take it out and fill it with gumdrops just like Papa used to do!

Welcome!

I am officially over the hill, there is no way around it – my children are grown, my skin is starting to sag, my peak earning years are behind me – yet I feel as young as ever, my spirit is youthful and spry, I am happy despite my waning years. Why? Because of my life long love affair with candy. It is true. Sweets have helped form who I am, people tell me I am sweet – but that isn’t the reason, candy makes me happy, gives me comfort at times when I am lost. It is home for me. As I get older I find myself indulging my sweet tooth without guilt, but yes, with moderation (depending on the time of year of course. More on that later). Recently I thought is there a pattern here? Why is candy so important to me? So I started to think back over my years, my formative years, my childbearing years, my workaholic years, to today and decided to write my memoirs, but with candy as the central theme. So here we go, grab a coke, a butterfinger or a bowl of jelly beans, sit back and enjoy!