The Healing Power of Sweets

I woke up this morning feeling a little down, I had good news to share and was sad my mom wasn’t here for me to share it with her.  I am always surprised when the loss of a parent hits as hard as it does.  Admittedly, not a most positive way to start my day (though a nice hug from Steve helped!).  Then at work a co-worker brought in some candy to share from her trip to the UK.  I thought that was nice, but gummy bears – yawn – not overly excited.  Then she gave me the bag to open, inside was a delight of gummy candy from Haribo – miniature cola bottles, little bears, red hearts with a foamy underbelly, diamond rings, and most delightfully foamy fried eggs!  Immediately my mood changed and I felt giddy with excitement, the first thing I thought was “oh I wish I had a dollhouse” these miniature candies were just too cute! 

It got better!  I bite into the egg, tasted the foamy goodness of the “egg white” then encountered the lemony “yolk” and immediately sounded like Duff Goldman from the Food Network describing what I was tasting.  Yes, my co-worker did give me a strange look, but I didn’t care.  When I told her I was feeling kind of blue about my mom this morning she gently pushed the bag of gummies toward me and said take all you want.  For the record, I did show some restraint, but it was just what I needed to turn my day around.  Never underestimate the healing powers of candy – no matter how old you are!

Sweet Jules Caramels

Wow, is all I can say!  You absolutely have to try these caramels.  

Check out their website at: http://www.sweetjulesgifts.com/

I happened to stumble upon these mouthwatering caramels by accident.  A friend of mine who knows I love anything sweet brought me a sample.  At first I thought, that was nice of her, but caramels?  I can take or leave them.  That was until I tried my first one!  One bite and I am completely hooked.  Seriously, hooked. 

These are my favorites – dark chocolate & salted pecan.  Think of it – bite into buttery caramel pecans, if that wasn’t heaven enough, the caramel is topped with dark chocolate.  The perfect trio of delightfulness!  My other top favorite is Fleur de Sel.  This is a caramel with hand-harvested French sea salt.  The combination of sweet and salty is out of this world, simply out of this world!  Other noteworthy ones:   Beer & Pretzel (yes, that is right), Sicilian Orange (you absolutely need to try this one), or Bananas Foster (doesn’t the name just make you smile)?  The best part – is that each caramel is color-coded so you always know which one you are biting into. 

I have a secret stash, just for me.  I had to hide them from my husband because he doesn’t appreciate the subtle flavors and gooey goodness like I do (that is my excuse and I am sticking to it)!!

Friends!

The power of friendship is something very strong.  I have few friends, mostly because I am an introvert and enjoy time alone and tend to spend time only with those who matter most to me – my family.  Because of that I don't expect a lot from people, but when someone is nice to me I am always surprised, definitely pleased and a little sad that I don’t make more effort to expand my circle of friends.

Lately the power of sharing my love for candy has widened my circle of friends which is delightful, but also a little scary because I still suck at being a friend.  Laura, a co-worker of mine, was spending the Christmas holidays in Ireland and promised to bring me back some candy.  I was hopeful, but didn’t know what to expect.  Well, I was completely gobsmacked (yes, note the nod to the use of the British word, but not to be confused with Willy Wonka’s Everlasting Gobstoppers) when Laura brought me this massive bag of candy from Ireland – many of which I have never seen before, and many Cadbury brands (the real Cadbury, not the new fake version).  I don’t think she even had an inkling of how much that meant to me (again, not comfortable when people are overly nice to me), and how much I enjoyed savoring each individual piece, delighting in their newness!  I felt quite special!

Then just a few weeks ago, another co-worker Elena, this wonderful woman who is originally from Russia, promised me some Russian candy if I helped her with a project.  Yes, bribery works when candy is involved (though I would have helped her regardless!).  She followed through on her promise and brought me this box of Russian chocolates – one of her childhood favorites!  By the way, the candy is semi-sweet chocolate with a marshmallow center – different than Brach’s marshmallow eggs, more exotic in taste! Again, I was a little uncomfortable with the attention, but secretly pleased that she went out of her way to do this for me. 

What I realized that from these two experiences is that friendship can be a very simple undertaking.  It doesn’t need to involve grand gestures or long term commitments or promises, but can be easy and without structure. It is about finding things that connect you to the other person – even something as simple as chocolate – and without much effort that bond is formed and you will be forever linked. 

Yes, it is true – there is candy I have never had before

I have been in a candy rut for a while now.  I have become complacent, sticking to the familiar: jelly bellys, tootsie rolls (chocolate and vanilla), my usual seasonal favorites (salt water taffy, candy corn) and so on.  Then I received a package from my sweet sister-in-law Pam, that was full of candy from a store in Salt Lake City – some that I am familiar with (e.g., Necco’s, salt water taffy) and some I have never heard of or seen before (e.g., Cherry Cocktail, Idaho Spud, Chick-o-Stick).  In fact, this photo contains those wonderful specimens, including additional ones that I received as gifts.  Also, notice the Candy jigsaw puzzle from Colleen!!!  I started working on it today and the whole time I kept thinking  - oh, I love that; oh, I haven’t had that for years, and even oh, I have never had that before!  So, I decided 2015 will be all about trying candy I have never had before.  First I will start with the goodies Pam sent me – starting with Idaho Spud (that one is just too interesting not to be the first one!) and then I am officially on a quest to try candy I have never had before (of course along with my staples, I mean, come on!). 

Food Network magazine had an article in their December issue on Sweets From Every State. Check it out: http://goo.gl/M16t0i.  I am going to use that as my inspiration to get started and we will see where this takes me.  I will report back with the hits and misses.  I just love an excuse to not only try new things, but also to keep my sweet tooth satisfied! 

Sisters!

Over the years the bonds of family seem to come together and grow apart.  Certainly, as kids all under one roof, the relationship with your siblings takes on a special meaning.  The old adage “too much togetherness is not always a good thing” definitely holds true – especially when nine people are living under one roof.  Then we all grow up, go our separate ways, have kids of our own, etc.  But as you get older one thing becomes incredibly clear – no one knows you better than your sisters!  For example, during our “sisters” book club (comprised of sisters, daughters, nieces and cousins) my sister Kathy knew, without any hesitation, that my favorite childhood book is Flicka Ricka and Dicka and the New Dotted Dresses.  I am still blown away by that – not only is that such an obscure book, there are so many childhood books to choose from!  Sisters also always have your back – both Anne and Kathy know I get stressed over cooking so they always assign the simplest tasks for me at holidays.  And, even more importantly as we care for our elderly mother, it is comforting knowing we have each other to laugh, cry and complain with as we go through this experience together.

 

Okay, by now you are wondering what does that have to do with candy?  Well, let me tell you!  For my birthday Kathy and Anne gave me a gift certificate to Candyland (can’t you just hear the trumpets playing and angels signing when you see the word “Candyland”, I certainly do)!   And to put the candy in – a beautiful, modern and sleek candy dish!  We always get together for our birthday lunches and it is funny, but after I opened my gift, I immediately drifted off thinking of what I was going to buy with my gift certificate!  While everyone was talking I was thinking Chicago Mix popcorn, burnt peanuts, taffy, will the holiday candy be out yet.  Pretty pathetic!

 

But this adventure doesn’t end here – Anne told me today about this place called Minnesota’s Largest Candy Store and how we need to go check it out.  Naturally, I immediately Googled it - http://www.yelp.com/biz/jims-apple-farm-jordan-2 .  It is only open from July through November, so the visit may need to wait until next year, but my sisters and I are definitely going.  My “sister from another mother” – Pam, definitely needs to come to town for this too.  Who else is in?

A blog about sisters, especially my sisters, wouldn't be complete without the following image: 

To Everything There Is A Season And A Time To Every Purpose Under Heaven.

You may think that quote sounds like a passage from Ecclesiastes or maybe even a song made famous by the Byrds in the ‘60’s and you would be correct on both fronts, but for me it also describes my “seasons” of candy and how each one is anticipated, savored, then a little sad as the seasons change. 

Winter – Winter can be a long, solemn period of time.  There are moments of fun like Christmas when all excuses to behave are thrown out the window and one can indulge themselves in all the best the season has to offer: fudge, ribbon candy, candy canes, cookies, peanut brittle, etc.  January quickly follows, but I usually have enough leftovers from Christmas to get me through to February (plus, yes, like everyone else in the world I tend to cut back on the calories come the new year, for a while at least!).  Winter mellows to welcome in Valentines Day, I smile as I type remembering the lovely box of chocolates I experienced last month with its multitude of flavors.

Spring – call me fickle, but literally within a day after Valentines Day I scope out the stores waiting patiently for Easter candy to arrive.  To me Spring and Easter Candy are synonymous with bright, happy colors, flavors, and simply, Joy.  There are certain jelly beans that are available only during this short season so I take full advantage and celebrate every day.  Plus, Cadbury mini eggs come out – need I say more (well, I could since they seem to be at Christmas now too, but I shun them in Winter and enjoy them only in Spring).

Summer – what is it about summer and candy?  There is no special holiday to stock the shelves with fanciful candies.  One would think it is slim pickings for sure.  But for me it will always be about salt water taffy, circus peanuts, peanut logs and candy buttons.  These are the things I enjoyed as a kid and, well as an adult I still do (though it has been several years since I had candy buttons.)

Fall – oh don’t you just love Fall.  Cool, crisp air, excitement of returning to school, and of course Fall candy.  Overlook the obvious Halloween candy, and think of maple sugar candy – biting through the sugar coated maple leaf into soft and oh so sweet maple candy is perfection!   But even I can only have a few, they are very, very sweet!  Fall also brings candy corn, a seasonal favorite of mine (as you know), but here again there are rules, never buy candy corn until mid-September at the earliest, it is a law.

So yes, like the song/bible quote says there is a time to weep (as the candy season fades), and a time to laugh (the first bit of a favorite piece of chocolate); a time to mourn (my pectin jelly beans are gone), and a time to dance – there is always a time to dance (how else does one burn off all those calories!)

Posh Candy

When it comes to sweets, I am definitely a meat and potato kind of a girl – give me a Butterfinger over fancy chocolate any day of the week!  There are certain kinds of candy that are just too posh for me.  For example, Jordan Almonds (you know those almonds that tend to show up at weddings), while very pretty in their hard coated candy shells, are simply difficult to eat and for very little reward.  Give me peanut M&Ms and I am happy.  What about those little silver imperial type candies that make their way onto cakes and cookies?  Sure they are pretty, but have you ever tried eating them?  Totally impossible and not worth the effort. 

Then the ultimate posh candy – chocolate painstakingly painted with gold leaf designs, with very grownup fillings inside.  Sure they are beautiful, almost works of art.  But worth it?  I’m not convinced.  A simple box of Russell Stover chocolate and I am happy as can be!

Fancy candies aside, I should be making my New Year’s resolutions right about now – should I cut back on my sweet intake (no), show some restraint (possibly), try sugar-free candy (hell, no), but instead I am sitting here thinking about the next holiday in front of us – Valentines Day!  I’m looking forward to the first box of candy hearts (you know, when they are still slightly soft – they are the best that way!), along with cherry hearts.  And as for chocolate, you don’t have to bother with an expensive box of chocolates for me.  Keep it simple and I will love you all the more for it!

Happy New Year everyone!