Cleavland Area Chocolatier Doesn't Use Nuts Or Milk

I love it when a chocolatier sets out a goal and achieves it with great success.  The Chocolate Emporium in Cleveland decided that it would make kosher/vegan no nut chocolates and apparently it's not only a success technically, business wise they're also doing well.  They only manufacture dark chocolate and their whole facility is totally nut free.

Click here to read more.

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Pure Chocolate In Italy

I just read this article about a problem they're having in Italy dealing with how they label their chocolate.  Apparently Italy has created new standards for how chocolate can be labeled as "pure chocolate".  These new standards conflict with rules that the EU already has about chocolate standards. This begs one giant question for me, "the EU is really worried about chocolate standards?"  Now don't get me wrong, I love high standards on chocolate, but who knew that high quality chocolate was also a focus for a huge conglomerate of European countries.

Click here to read more about Italy's chocolate problem.

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Small Company Survives

Have you ever had a Mallo Cup?  I had one many years ago, I can't really remember what I thought of them either.  I should probably try and get my hands on one for a review.  I only mention all of this because I just finished reading the article linked below and it seems like a really interesting company that makes them.  They're doing their best to not sell out to larger companies even though they've faced a heck of a lot of problems recently.  It's nice to see small companies surviving in the candy industry, after all they help make new and creative candies that shape the industry.

Click here to read about the trials and tribulations of a small candy company.

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This Month Is Peanut Butter Lover's Month

Here's the 30th and final reason (although I'm sure there are many more) to love peanut butter:

Peanut butter cookies.

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Strange Cereal Box

Nothing makes me happier than opening a new box of cereal.  The first bowl of cereal is the freshest bowl you'll get, and at this point you're not sick of that cereal yet.  It's a pretty good feeling.  However while attempting to open this particular box I came across the strangest box design I've ever seen.

First of all there was some kind of triangular shaped perforations on the side of the box that didn't make sense to me at all.

There was also this strange perforated slot on the back of the box that didn't seem to make any sense either.

But the strangest part of all is the flap on the top didn't have a slot so you could close it back up.  Instead I just transfered my cereal to another container, threw out the box and decided that this kind of mystery was too much first thing in the morning.

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Feeling Tired?... Eat Chocolate!

A new study has just come out that says the polyphenol found in some chocolates may in fact fight off chronic fatigue symptoms.  I also believe that chocolate fights off symptoms of chronic laziness, chronic grumpiness, and chronic need for something tasty, however I have no science to back up these claims.

Click here to read about the fight against chronic fatigue.

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California Knows Their Gingerbread Houses

I've always admired how nice the architecture is in California.  I mean look at the Golden Gate Bridge, Mann Chinese Theater, those houses from "Full House".  I admire the fine candy selection and quality that comes out of California as well.  So when I read this article about how many places are creating awesome gingerbread houses all over the state, I wasn't really that surprised.

Click here to read about California gingerbread houses.

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Couldn't Make It To The Dover Downs Chocolate Festival

Don't be too sad, neither could I.  However Monique Felder-Grant managed to make it, and she wrote all about it.  I'm happy she had a good time, but jealous that it wasn't me having a good time instead.

Click here to read more.

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New Candy Store In California

The economy is down, people are trying to get by, but candy stores are popping up all over the place.  Many say that during bad economic times candy is a great way to enjoy a little happiness and I agree.  Also if you're having a tough time of it right now and you need a little extra money, maybe opening a candy store might be right thing for you to do.

Click here to read about the new store in California.

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This Month Is Peanut Butter Lover's Month

And here's reason number 29 to love peanut butter:

It smells better than peanuts.  Sure I enjoy the smell of peanuts, but for some reason peanut butter smells a little better.

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Sun Chips Really Loud Bag

A few weeks back I reported that Sun Chips had a problem with their new compostable bag.  It was reported that the chip bag when crinkled was so loud that it actually disturbed people.  It was so bad that they decided to stop using the bag, in the US at least.

Well thanks to my crack Canadian corespondent I managed to get my hands on one of these bags.  So now I can answer two questions I've had about this new package.

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The first is how loud could it really be?  The answer.  Incredibly loud, I thought at first it was kind of extreme to discontinue a package just because it was loud.  Then I heard the bag for myself and I'm blown away at how loud it really is.  The audio file above gives you only a sample.

The second question I have is how compostable are these bags.  To answer this I've decided to cut up my bag and toss it in with one of my potted plants.  I'll check in on it once in a while and we can see if it actually breaks down.

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Movie About Candy Making

I just read an article in the Washington Post about a documentary dealing with great candy chefs.  It sounds like something I'd have to watch with lots of snacks in front of me.  The thing is, whenever I watch shows/movies about food, two things happen to me.  First of all I get really creative in the kitchen for the next few days, secondly I get hungry while watching.  More importantly I get hungry for the food they're making.  I guess I'm just really susceptible to food on TV.

Click here to read about the movie.

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I'm Up Late With a New Review

It may not appear that I'm up late, but that's only because the blog is on Eastern Standard time, however I live in Athens time, about 7 hours ahead.  I couldn't sleep because I realized that I had forgotten to update Candy Critic this week.  I was in bed, tossing and turning, until the guilt gave way to me getting up and posting a new review.  I also wanted to remind all you kind folks that it's still not to late to enter the Candy Critic/Yummy Earth holiday candy giveaway contest.  You can click here for more details about the contest.

You can click here if you want to read the latest review.

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This Month Is Peanut Butter Lover's Month

Here's reason number 28 to love peanut butter:

It's sticky... sure sometimes that can be a pain, but if it wasn't then it would stick to so many other things and make the perfect flavour combinations... Think about it.

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This Month Is Peanut Butter Lover's Month

Here's number 27 in reasons you should love peanut butter:

Candy and peanut butter holiday combinations.

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Giant Oreo Christmas Tree

I could go into great detail about how much I'd love to eat the giant Oreo cookie Christmas tree adorning the lobby of the Dover Downs Hotel & Casino but instead I'll just complain that they're wasting cookies one something other than eating.

Click here to read about the 21 foot Oreo cookie tree.

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Chocolate Hippo For Christmas?

When I first started reading this article about a Cleavland chocolate company making Hippos for Christmas I really couldn't figure out why in the world someone would come up with this idea.  Then I read the story of how the idea came to be and it put a smile on my face.  I don't want to give too much away (you should read the story yourself) but a hatred for Christmas and a twisted sense of humour are involved.

Click here to read about the origins of the Chocolate Hippo.

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This Month Is Peanut Butter Lover's Month

Here's another reason to love peanut butter:

It was invented by George Washington Carver, the man knew peanuts, and invented peanut butter.

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Black Friday Got You Down

Well if you're feeling a little low today and you need a pick me up, and if you happen to live in Burlington Vermont, then you might want to go for a free hot chocolate this weekend.  To help cheery people up Lake Champlain Chocolates is having a hot chocolate tasting this weekend.  I'm not really sure if "Black Friday" is something many people think about anymore, but any excuse to try some hot chocolate is OK in my book.

Click here to read more about the hot chocolate tasting.

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Peanut Butter Boppers

I can't say I've ever tried "Boppers" and apparently it's not discontinued.  Too bad, it looks interesting.

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At Story About Candy, Thanksgiving traditions, Halloween, and Christmas

It seems like a story that involves all of those topics might be a little busy to read but it's not.  In fact it raises some questions I have about humanity and why in the world some people think it's OK to give kids really old candy... Like they won't notice.

Click here to read the story.

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It's National Cake Day

So finish all that "Black Monday" stuff and eat a piece of cake!

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Happy Thanksgiving All You Lovely Americans You

To celebrate this great holiday I've decided to first of all remind you that there's still time to enter the Candy Critic/Yummy Earth Candy contest.  You an read details about how to enter and what you have to do to enter here.  I also thought I'd share this link about the science behind pumpkin pie increasing the male sex drive.

Click here to read the story.

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Cameroon Cocoa Goes Green

The Cameroon government is now looking to develop environmentally friendly ways to dry cocoa.  I'm not really sure what tools are normally used in this process now, but I imagine at some point during the history of human existence they used to use the sun.  So this idea isn't as much new, as it is retro.

Click here to read more about the Cameroon cocoa drying idea.

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Booze In Chocolates

This Australian article brings up some interesting points about chocolate treats (or any candy treats) containing alcohol.  Now in Ontario Canada it is not legal for non-licensed business to sell booze.  This includes grocery stores and pharmacies (except in designated areas).  However I've seen booze filled chocolates on the shelves next to other treats many time in these stores, is this legal?  Do they make these chocolates with less or no booze, in which case why would you want to drink them?  I'm not saying I don't agree with booze filled chocolate, I just don't understand the rules about selling them.

Click here to read the article from Australia.

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Chewing Gum Might Make You a Superstar

A new study out says that chewing gum is actually good for you.  It apparently strengthens some face muscles and in some cases relieves stress.  This might be why some famous sports figures chew the stuff while they play.

Click here to read more about the awesome power of gum.

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Do You Want To Work For a Candy Company?

Well this interview in the Globe and Mail might give you some ideas as to the real life workings of corporate candy moguls.  The article features an interview with the communications manager at Mars and asks her what it's really like to work at a place that makes candy.  It seems like a pretty cool place to work, and it must be true considering two candy companies (including Mars) have been rated the top places to work in Canada.

Click here to read the interview.

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Don't Eat Mothballs

The EPA has just put out a warning about a particular brand of mothballs that looks just like yummy, yummy candy.  So if you find yourself at a store and you're wondering if that bag of candy might in fact be mothballs, better to play it safe and go for something else.

Click here to read more about the warning.

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This Month Is Peanut Butter Lover's Month

Here's reason number 25 to love peanut butter:

When you clean dishes with peanut butter on them, if the water is hot enough, the whole kitchen smells like peanut butter.

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Peanut Butter Crunch

I completely forgot that Cap'n Crunch has a peanut butter flavoured cereal.  You don't really find Peanut Butter Crunch in Canada or Athens, so it's easily forgettable.  I only know about it because when I was a little kid I used to watch a station out of Buffalo NY and they would have ads for it and I would beg and beg for it.  My parents decided that driving for a couple of hours in order to get their kid a really sugar filled cereal was not a good idea.  Is it too late to call children's aid?

Ad found on Vintage Ad Browser.

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Chocolate In Paris

If you're thinking of visiting Paris and you're a chocolate fanatic (I'm guessing you are if you read this blog) than you must read this article from the LA Times.  It's an in depth look at some of the better chocolate shops in Paris, and a must use guide for any chocolate fanatic.

Click here to read more about chocolate in Paris.

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Another Candy Robbery

I don't want to throw around the word epidemic, but I've started to notice a lot more candy store robberies lately.  Is it me, is it the news, or are there really more people stealing candy.

Click here to read about the latest robbery.

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Harry & David Still Giving Candy To Troops

A few years back Harry & David Chocolate created a campaign to send chocolate bars to the military with every bar purchased.  Well two years later and they've said they will continue to do so for at least the next year.

Click here to read more, and go buy a bar for the troops this Christmas.

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Candy Prints From bewarethecheese.com

Due to the move to Greece I was forced to shut down any photo sales on bewarethecheese.com until I could get things sorted out with distribution.  Well I've started to get things up and running, with the addition of new format for the prints (posters).  I've also decided to feature some candy prints regularly on this blog, just in case you feel the need to buy a poster, 8x10 limited print, or greeting card you can always click here.

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Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate Croissant

On one of our adventures in Athens, Allison and I decided to pick up a little chocolaty snack.  We found what can only be described as the perfect way to decorate a croissant.  Sure I've seen chocolate filled croissants, and I've even seen chocolate covered croissants.  I'll even go so far as to say that I've seen chocolate covered croissants with chocolate filling.  So what could be an improvement on this idea?

How about adding another layer of chocolate on the outside.

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This Month Is Peanut Butter Lover's Month

Here's reason number 24 why you should love peanut butter:

One of the only condiments that goes well on bread, and on an apple.

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New Candy Store In Aiken

In my attempt to mention every single candy store I find on this site I present the newest store to hit Aiken South Carolina.

Click here to read more about it.

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Predicting the Future

Food Navigator has a great article about how some companies are finding ways to predict the future of snacking trends in the US.  I myself have a method of predicting the future of snacking trends, and I'm going to share it right now.  The first thing I do is attempt to sample every single snack available in the whole world.  I taste, and I taste until I have a pretty good idea of what tastes like crap and what tastes good.  Then I ask my friends what kind of candy they like.  I collect my data and simply ramble on about whatever is in my head at the time.  Sure it's not 100 percent accurate but neither is this scientific study either.

Click here to read more about the scientific method.

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Candy Billboard With Brown Fingernails

I was at the grocery store the other day and I saw this advertisement for a chocolate cereal.  One of the thing I love about advertising is the little details that are often hidden in the imagery.  For example the nails on the hand in this ad are painted brown, like chocolate.  Now I'm sure this was done in order to push the "chocolate" look of the piece, but I really think it doesn't work at all.  For some reason I think it actually looks kind of gross.  Not in the "poop" way, but I just think that brown nail polish isn't attractive or appropriate to advertise food.  I'm I wrong about this?

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Jelly Belly Covers Themselves In Chocolate

It's funny that I've never thought about covering my Jelly Bellies in chocolate already.  They've only introduced a few flavours with the chocolate coating, but that gives me an idea.  I think I may try and cover a few of the more unconventional flavours of Jelly Bellies in chocolate and see how it goes.  My prediction is chocolate covered buttered popcorn with be fantastic.

Click here to read about the new Jelly Bellies.

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Great Food Photo Blog

Yesterday when I posted that GIF of the cookies baking I decided to dig into the source a little bit and I came across a blog that has one of the greatest collections of food photos that I've ever seen.  It's inspiring, beautiful and it make my mouth water so much.

Click here to check out these great photos.

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This Month Is Peanut Butter Lover's Month

Here's reason number 23 why you should love peanut butter:

Ant's on a log.

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More Candy Crimes

It's strange how many people steal candy, and not just from babies.  I start to get worried when I read about candy related crimes because my cupboard is full of the stuff and I'm not sure if my insurance covers candy theft.

Click here to read about one of the latest candy crimes.

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Educational Institutes Have The Best Warm Drinks

In University and in College I learned very quickly the value of a coffee, tea or hot chocolate.  Today I'm less about the coffee, a little about the tea, but I still love a hot chocolate.  Claire Sibley of Middlebury College did her fellow classmates a huge favour by helping them find the best cup of hot chocolate on campus.  Some of these options sound so good, I'm thinking of enrolling.

Click here to read about Hot Chocolate in Middlebury College.

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Cereal Without the Milk Part: Cookie Crisp

I've decided to start a new, and hopefully regular, feature on this blog all about cereals.  More specifically all about eating cereals without the milk.  There are fewer snacks in this world better than a dry bowl of cereal in the middle of a long work day.

For our first entry we're going to look at a cereal that is based off of an already great mid day snack, Cookie Crisp.  The idea behind Cookie Crisp is that you're eating a bowl of little bite sized chocolate chip cookies (with milk), however these little round disks can hardly be called regular chocolate chip cookies.  They are most certainly closer to a cereal than any chocolate chip cookie I've ever tasted.  That's not to say they're bad in fact they're pretty good without milk.  The only real disappointment has to be the chocolate chips.  I decided to check them out for chocolate authenticity and I was shocked to find out that they're not chocolate at all.  Instead they're just little crunchy brown blobs.  Worst of all these brown blobs don't even really taste like chocolate at all.  I would think that putting real chocolate chips on these would only improve the taste, with or without milk.  So why did they cheap out in this respect?

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Ritter Sport Bars, The Bars Of The Future

Ritter sport has just won an award for a technology that allows them to test the design of their chocolate bars in 3D before going into production.  Now you might think making chocolate bars shouldn't require such super high end fancy dancy machines, but you're wrong.  Every single little detail about so many candies is thought through and tested before it hits the shelves. In many ways these details can make a bar go from good to great.

Click here to read more about Ritter Sports new computer software.

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Another Tasty GIF

They have animated GIFs now a days for just about any subject, and lately I keep stumbling across GIFs that make my mouth water. I've actually sat in front of an over to watch cookies cook, now all I have to do is check back to this blog entry.

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This Month Is Peanut Butter Lover's Month

Here's reason number 22 to love peanut butter:

Because when you can't find it (some places peanut butter isn't very common at all) you'll want it even more.

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Candy Wonderland

The conservatory (the place where you check out flowers) in Fort Wayne Indiana has just opened up their "Candyland" themed show for the holidays.  You may not know this about me but I'm actually a big fan of conservatories.  Whenever I travel I often stop at conservatories and take lots of pictures.  I love the conservatories that have butterflies and other critters roaming around the most.  So decorating a conservatory in the theme of "Candyland" sounds like the perfect mix for the flower lover and candy fanatic in me.

Click here to read more about it.

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Pomegranate Review... and Pomegranate Season Too.

Here in Athens pomegranate season is just coming to a close, so I thought what better choice of organic lollipop could I choose than a pomegranate flavoured all natural lollipop.  I think that pomegranate is truly one of the most under used flavours in the whole world, and maybe after reading this review you'll know why.

Click here to read the review.

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This Month Is Peanut Butter Lover's Month

Here's reason number 21 to love peanut butter:

Covering a stick with peanut butter, then rolling the peanut butter covered stick in seeds and giving it to your hamster.

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This Month Is Peanut Butter Lover's Month

Here's reason 20 to love peanut butter:

Little crunchy bits of peanut.

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Another Facebook Candy Game

I just heard about this new game on Facebook called "Chocolatier".  For the most part it sounds like most of the other games available on Facebook, you design a product, sell it to virtual people, and get constantly asked if you have any friends that would like to play this game too.  I'm not 100% sure this last part applies in this case, I'm just guessing.  The other difference in this game is the amazing ability for you to not only create virtual chocolates, you can make some of you chocolates for real.  I'm sure there are some limitations to what you can make, but it sounds like a fun little addition to the game.  You can order your chocolates and eat them while you sell them to those crazy virtual people infesting your online chocolate shop.

Click here to read more about this game.

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Opening Today

Yet another presentation of Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory.  It seems like there are many productions of this play happening right now.

Click here to read about the Kitsap production of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

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Know Your Slurpee

I just read through this very detailed, very entertaining and very educational history of the Slurpee.  I can honestly say that the Slurpee is in my mind the best adaptation of a drink that I know.  The best thing is not only is it an adaptation of a drink, it's really an adaptation of many drinks.  My favorite flavour will always be every single flavour available mixed together.

Click here to read the history for yourself.

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Holiday Candy Contest From Yummy Earth

How would you like some free treats from Yummy Earth.  Well we've got two bags of their Artisanal Candy drops to give away this holiday season and it couldn't be more simple to get your hands on them.  All you have to do is take any holiday song (Christmas, Halloween, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa...etc) and give it a candy theme.  How far you go with this is really up to you.  You can simply change the title and send that in.  You can re-write some, or all, of the lyrics and send that it.  If you feel really daring, you can perform the piece and send that in.  The most creative song wins the two bags of Artisanal Candy drops from Yummy Earth and my undying respect as a composer of music.

You can submit your entry by clicking here (if you have to send me a video or audio file just  say so in your entry and I'll get back to you).

The only limitation is your imagination... that and you must be a resident of the USA (sorry).

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This Month Is Peanut Butter Lover's Month

Here's reason number 19 to love peanut butter:

Apparently it gets gum out of your hair, although I’ve never tried it.

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Learn About Peanut Butter Jelly Time

For peanut butter lovers month I was going to post the meme "Peanut Butter Jelly Time".  However I thought to be less annoying and maybe even slightly educational I'd post Rocket Booms informative documentary about the origins of this most annoying meme.

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Jelly Belly Menorah

Did you know that all Jelly Bellies are Kosher?  Did you also know that the folks at Jelly Belly are going to set up the worlds largest Jelly Belly filled menorah this year at their plant in California?  Both of these facts are interesting and educational.  One of them is also really strange.

Click here to read more about the stranger of the two facts.

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Candy Tax In Europe

I knew this was going to happen, I knew the minute a couple of states in the US started talking about a candy tax that things would start to spiral out of control.  The two problems with a candy tax are that it's almost impossible to define what is a candy (trust me I've been trying for 10 years) and secondly people think obesity will disappear if you tax candy.  Obesity isn't just a single sourced problem, candy is a part of people's diets, and only a small part that has to be examined with the obesity issue.

Candy is, in my mind, one of the most honest sectors of the food industry on the subject.  No decent candy maker in the world would say that their product is healthy on it's own and a great way to lose weight.  Candy is a treat that should be eaten in moderation and is not the answer to all health problems.  You may think it's odd to make this claim, that candy is "not the answer to all health problems", however many food companies make this claim.  It's ridiculous to assume any one food can make you healthy, and it's ridiculous to assume that any one food can make you unhealthy as well.

Click here to read about the possibility of a candy tax in Europe.

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Dylan Talks About Her First Million

Here's a fun interview with Dylan Lauren founder of Dylan's Candy Bar.  She really has the right attitude about candy and I'm glad she's doing so well.  Dylan's Candy Bar is a little expensive but the selection is pretty good and the store looks fantastic.

Click here to see/read this interview with Dylan.

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Upscale Treat or Just Really Big Treat?

Dylan's Candy bar in New York is selling what I can only describe as the ultimate gingerbread house.  It seems to be big enough to walk into and it appears to be totally edible.  I think Dylan's should have a similar policy to that of Ben and Jerry's ice cream parlor in Vermont.  If you can eat the whole house in one sitting, you and your friends eat free at Dylan's.

Click here to check out this monolithic candy house.

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Peanut Butter Cake

All this month is peanut butter lovers month and I've decided that whenever I can I'm going to show off the beauty and joy that is peanut butter.  This cake ad is a great example of how one can use peanut butter to make chocolate baked treats even better.

Ad found on Vintage Ad Browser

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This Month Is Peanut Butter Lover's Month

Here's reason 18 why you should love peanut butter:

Buy yourself a really high quality chocolate bar and start dipping.

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Candy Buffets

I just read an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer about the continued explosion of the popularity of candy buffets. I've talked to a few candy store owners who create them and been to a few events that have had them and I can't say enough about how cool they are.  Candy makes such a great after dinner treat and with the range of candy available just about every guest at an event can be satisfied.

Click here to read more about candy buffets.

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Why Do I Love Candy

I just read this really fascinating article from the Wall Street Journal that discusses why we prefer some foods over others.  The article focuses on the physical reason our bodies might crave certain foods, such as texture and flavour preference.  It's really interesting and made me wonder about how some texture and flavour combinations work, while others don't.

Click here to read the article.

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Willy Wonka Playing In Woodburn

I've decided that every time I see a theater production of Willy Wonka, or any other candy related play/story posted anywhere I'm going to promote it.  I figure it's a wonderful combination of art and candy together and frankly that's what I'm all about.

Click here to read about Woodburn's production of Willy Wonka.

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IKEA Soda

My friend Alex (from Sweden) suggested that I try this Swedish soda that we found at IKEA.  He told me that it's only available during the holiday season, and during the holidays, sales of both Pepsi and Coke go down in Sweden.

I picked up a bottle and it was kind of strange.  It wasn't bad but it wasn't what I expected at all.  I figuredit would be a new formula of of basic cola, and it did have a slight cola flavour, but there was more.  It also had a really strong perfumy flavour as well.  It wasn't so harsh like Thrills gum or anything but it definitely had some kind of flowery taste.  I'm not sure what a flowery cola flavour has to do with the holidays but hey it's not a bad tradition in my book.

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La Grange Illinois Knows Candy

For a place that has a population of just over 15 thousand it's surprising to know that they have 5 different candy stores serving their downtown core.  I'm always intrigued with small towns that have lots of places to buy treats.  I wonder what makes one town more candy loving than another?

Click here to read about La Grange.

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Oreo Dipping Spoon Is Genius

I don't like throwing the word "genius" around, but when you click this link bellow and check out the "Dipr" for yourself you might just be blown away.  To summarize what this invention does... It dips OREO cookies in milk and keeps your fingers dry, brilliant.

Click here for more details about the "Dipr".

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This Month Is Peanut Butter Lover's Month

Here's reason number 17 to love peanut butter:

Nutter Butters

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Happy National Fast Food Day

Think I'm going to go out for a burger tonight.

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Interview With a Chocolatier

I always love simple interviews with chocolatiers and fine candy makers.  It's so interesting to hear about where their inspiration comes from and how they do some of the cool candy tricks they do.  In this interview with Chocolatier Oriol Balaguer, I was particularly fascinated to hear about his Pop Rocks chocolates and how he got them to work.

Click here to read the full interview.

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Candy GIF

I can't explain it, but for some reason this GIF really speaks to me.  Maybe it's the nerd in me, maybe it's the candy lover, either way it's funny as heck.

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More IKEA Questions

Yesterday I posted a blog about why IKEA treats are only available at the end of the store and today I have another IKEA question.  What the heck is a lingonberry.  I understand it's a berry and I also understand that it's probably red.  The thing I can't figure out is why I've never seen one growing in the wild.  I mean Canada and Sweden have fairly similar climates, and I imagine at least one person might be interested in cultivating these very popular berries outside of Sweden.

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This Month Is Peanut Butter Lover's Month

Here's the 16th reason you should love peanut butter:

Abba Zabba

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Are You A Candy Maker?

If you're a candy manufacture and you think you would do well on reality TV then I've got some news for you.  Apparently "The Sweet Life" TV show is looking to cast some real candy makers for their reality show.  It could be a great way to get famous, spread the word about your candy, and maybe change your life forever.  That or you could look like a fool, ruin your business, and lose every friend you have.  Either way it'll be entertaining for me.

Click here to read more about the call.

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Twinkie Diet Works

A man in the US has successfully lost 27pounds on something known as the Twinkie diet.  The Twinkie diet consists of eating nothing but sugary foods, like Twinkies, every three hours instead of meals.  The importance of this one man is that he is Dr Haub, and he's a studies nutrition.  Now as much as I'd like to endorse this diet for everyone, in particular myself, I do realize that it's unrealistic to keep it up and keep the weight off.

Click here to read more about this experiment.

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Smashburger Is Selling Butterfinger Shakes

I love it when candy companies team up with restaurants to create crazy deserts and drinks.  Dairy Queen and McDonald's have been doing it for years with they're famous cool deserts.  It appears that smaller chains are also getting into the act as well.  I've never been to a Smashburger but it sounds intriguing, even more so with a Butterfinger shake.

Click her to read more about the merger.

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IKEA Snacks Frustrating and Fantastic

On recent trip to IKEA I realized how strange a place it can be when it comes to snacking.  I say this because the entire store is filled with snacks that you're not allowed to eat.

Almost all of the jars on display where full of great looking treats, and glued shut.  I say "almost all" because the jar of gummy mushroom things in this photo was open and I had one.

When you finally get through most of the store you come to a restaurant that does have some great food, like this D'aim cake, but none of those cookies or gummy treats are available.  You eventually find that you can only get these treats at the end of the store, having already paid for your stuff and generally just interested in leaving the chaos of IKEA behind you. Why don't they have more snacks available throughout the whole store when I'm tempted by the display models.

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3 Cakes + 3 Pies =

I've noticed that one of the new internet cooking trends is to bake a pie inside a cake.  The idea is to mix two of the greatest desert ideas into one colossal treat.  The problem one faces then is which pie to choose and which cake to choose.  Well the folks that baked the desert in the link below found the ultimate solution.

Click here and see what they did.

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This Month Is Peanut Butter Lover's Month

And here's the 15th reason you should love peanut butter:

Peanut Butter Logs

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Artisanal Chewing Gum

A group of artists/food makers have decided to create the ultimate art/gum food experiment.  They've managed to get their hands on the gum base that makes gum possible and started to create some of the most creative gum flavours ever.  They're also letting everyday people get in the act and allowing customers to make their own flavours as well.  I think it would be a great idea for a gum company to sell plain bubble gum, and I don't mean that pink kind of minty stuff.  I mean non-flavoured gum that people can flavour on their own.

Click here and read more about this great experiment.

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This Month Is Peanut Butter Lover's Month

Here's reason number 14 to love peanut butter:

Giving it to dogs, they make the funniest faces.

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New Review, and it's strange.

Whenever I feel like having a strange day I can always rely on my Asian friends to have a treat that's fun, possibly tasty, but stranger than anything I can normally find anywhere else.  Now I'm not saying that all Asian treats are strange, and I'm also not saying that all strange treats are Asian.  I'm just saying that most Asian cultures are very different and creative with their treats, and I assure you that I love it a lot.

Click here to read this weeks review.

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This Month Is Peanut Butter Lover's Month

Here's reason number 13 to love peanut butter:

Take a little jam, put it on the bottom of a spoon.  Then scoop a ball of peanut butter and put it on top of the jam.  Watch cartoons and enjoy.

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Find Red

M&M's Canada has just started a new contest where one lucky winner could walk away with a new car.  The idea is that through their site using Google Street View one must attempt to find Red.  I checked out the site for a little while but I couldn't find Red anywhere.  I did however manage to find my favorite place to get burritos, my old apartment in Toronto, and my favorite hot do vendor.  Do I win a prize for that?

Click here to try and find Red yourself.

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The New And Improved Mr Peanut?

I just found out that they've decided to give the previously mute Mr Peanut a voice.  The voice they've decided to give him is none other than Robert Downey Jr.  They've also given him a new look to go with his voice.  I have to say that I'm often against the idea of really changing a character that much all at once.  Any creative writer or artist would agree that a slow evolution into a change often makes for a stronger character.

Click here to read more about the "New" Mr Peanut.

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Robots Eat Peanut Butter?

Who knew that robots liked eating peanut butter.  Wow the future is one wild and crazy place.

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Worlds Longest Licorice

Apparently last Tuesday the Panda company made the worlds longest licorice piece ever.  I wonder if they went with red licorice over the black?

Click here to read more about it.

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Old Cake Went Up For Sale

Apparently JFK's birthday cake from 1962 recently went up for sale (or is going up for sale, I'm not really clear about that).  The expected price it should fetch... wait for it... between 5 and 10 thousand dollars.  This only makes me wonder exactly who in the world buys old cakes, more importantly who's been saving this cake for almost 50 years.  Are there antique cake collectors out there?

Click here to read more about the really old baked delight.

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Two Events This Weekend To Celebrate Chocolate

First of all this weekend in New York city you can head down to the "New York Chocolate Show" and enjoy some of the greatest chocolate creations from a city known for it's fine chocolate creations.  It's sure to be a heck of a show and sure to make your mouth water.

Click here to see what CBS had to say about the show.

Click here to read what Fox had to say about the Chocolate show.

Also if you happen to not be in New York this weekend but instead you find yourself in Oregon than be sure to check out the Second Saturday Art Walk at Duffy's Fine Confections.  There will be wine, art, and yes chocolate.

Click here to read more about the Second Saturday Art Walk.

Have a good weekend folks.

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Should We Fear The Loss Of Chocolate

I've been reading many articles (including the two linked bellow) about the possibility that chocolate beans may become very rare in the next few decades.  The fear is that the crop is becoming less and less profitable and farmers are abandoning the crops for higher yield more profitable crops.  The blame is often put upon chocolate lovers of the world, saying that we eat too much cocoa for farmers to keep up at such a low price.  Now I don't disagree that this is a potential problem, however I have a little problem with the economics.  Now if chocolate starts to become a harder product to find, and the demand is really high, then won't more farmers start to get into the cocoa business because it is more profitable?  I'm sure prices will go up a little, and that's fine, but I doubt very much that they'll go up so much, so quickly that no one will be able to afford chocolate at all.  That idea just doesn't make any economic sense at all.

Click here to read one article about the potential loss of chocolate.

Click here to read another one.

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This Month Is Peanut Butter Lover's Month

Here's reason number 12 to love peanut butter:

Peanut Butter Smarties Bar

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Seattle Gum Wall Photos

I'm pretty sure I've posted something in the past about the world famous Seattle Gum Wall.  It's a back alley in Seattle where people regularly stick their pre-chewed pieces of gum to the wall.  Sometimes they turn it into beautiful art, sometimes they just stick it on.  I just came across this great collection of photos of the wall that both make me want to see it in person and also kind of gross me out a little.

More photos can be found here.

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More Peanut Butter Advertising

I figured since it was National Peanut Butter Lovers Month I would post the occasional peanut butter ad.  I challenge anybody to tell me every combination featured on this ad, in particular what are those black bug looking things supposed to be?

Ad found on Vintage Ad Browser.

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Today Is National Sundae Day

Strange that "National Sundae Day" is on a Thursday don't you think?  Maybe it originated on a Sunday but has since kept moving.  Although one would imagine that they could always do an Easter like timing and say it's the second Sunday in November.

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Dam It I Missed Another Chocolate Festival

Apparently I just missed the Binghamton chocolate festival this year.  No one told me about it.  I might have gone, or at the very least wished I could go.  Well maybe watching the video linked to this article might cheer me up a little... nope, just more depressed about missing it.

Click here to read more about the festival yourself.

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This Month Is Peanut Butter Lover's Month

Here's the 11th reason to love peanut butter this month;

Wonder Bar


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