What Flavor is Pink?

My favorite candy season is upon us - actually it started the day after Valentine's day - Easter candy!!!  I need to devote a whole post to Easter candy, and will soon, but today, while enjoying a few "classic" Brach's jelly beans at work, I asked myself "what flavor is pink?" I love pink (and white, for that matter) jelly beans, but pink is not an easy color to discern like the red, green, orange or yellow ones are.  So naturally I Googled the question.

I was suprised by the number of other inquiring minds out there asking the same question (including the additional question what flavor is white?).  Unfortunately, these were not of much help because they were focusing on Jelly Belly's and as you know, Jelly Belly has colored diagrams and flavor charts, so that was of no help.  So I decided to go to the source itself - Brach's website (yes, I know, DUH!!). 

Here is the answer:  Pink = strawberry and White = pineapple

I guess when you see it in writing it is a bit easier to identify the flavors, though the pineapple flavor was a surprise!  I admit, however, I am still a bit perplexed over pink!

There you go!   I don't know about you, but I feel a lot better now!!

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!

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!