I Love Candy Commercials

I love watching candy commercials, I love them because they're colourful, often creative, and the make me hungry.  Allison regularly tells me that I'm prone to do whatever commercials tell me to do, more and more I'm incline to agree.  I say this because I just read the article below and I want a bag of M&Ms more than you can possibly imagine.

Click here to read about the folks who do the voices on candy commercials.

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We All Have a "Gut Brain"

I just read a very fascinating article about some food scientists at Nestle that want to develop food that makes you feel more full for a longer time.  The goal is to curb your appetite and help people eat less.  Most interesting is the information about a part of your body that they call the "gut brain".  Apparently our stomachs have 500 million nerve cells, the same number of nerve cells as a cat has in their whole brain.  I'm not sure if this information makes me happy, or slightly afraid that my stomach has the brain power to revolt.

Click here to learn more about your "gut brain".

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Are You In Oklahoma?

If the answer is yes, and you plan on staying for the rest of this week, you might want to check out  the Norman Chocolate Festival on Saturday.

Click here to read more about the festival.

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Valentines Spending Will Be Up This Year

According to statistics people, spending on Valentines will be up this year.  Now I'm just as much a sucker for a fake holiday as the next guy, but I'm not sure if spending more says I love you any more than just getting the right thing.  I'm also thinking if the right thing gets more and more expensive every year, then maybe that's not the right someone.  Look at me, I'm the Valentines Day Grinch.

Click here to read more about Valentines Day spending.

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New Nutri-grain Bars... Toasted?

The other day at the grocery store, Allison and I cam across a new variety of Nutri-Grain bars, chocolate.  Now the very idea of adding chocolate to anything is a guaranteed improvement, but Allison came up with a plan that might make these even better.

The idea was simple, would the chocolate Nutri-Grain bar taste even better toasted?  The first challenge we had was trying to figure out how to toast them up.  Unfortunately for us, all we have is a standard two slice toaster (we have an oven, but that seemed like way too much work).  So Allison carefully placed our bars into the toaster and our second problem arose.

How long does one toast a Nutri-Grain bar?  We figured that a couple of minutes would do, we also figured this would be something we would keep a close eye on.  I can only imagine that a burnt Nutri-Grain bar doesn't taste good at all.

Our third problem was one that need a bit of forethought.  We figured that the action of the toaster popping would probably destroy the bar.  We decided that the best way to deal with this was to set the toaster for a very long period, and when we felt it was ready, gently easy them up holding onto the button.

Strangely, the experiment went without a hitch.  They came out just a little toasted and nice and warm.  Best of all we learned a wonderful lesson as well.  As it turns out Nutri-Grain bars toasted, are fantastic.

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New Review, High Energy, World Moving Really Fast...

This weeks review gave me a rush like I would never believe.  Strange how sensitive I am to caffeine, you would expect someone, like me, to have a tolerance for high energy things.  But give me a little too much caffeine in just about any form and I'm shooting off the walls, and fairly useless for most of the day.  But I don't have to worry, in no time I crash like a rock and sleep like a baby.

Click here to read this weeks new review.

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More Flavour Predictions For The Future

Bell Flavors & Fragrances, Inc has announced what it feels will be the popular flavours this year.  Most of the flavours on the top 10 list where fairly predictable, however I am really happy to see "sweet potato" on the list.  I'm hoping that this particular flavour trend might finds its way into the candy market.

Click here to check out the list.

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Hoboken Has A Sweet History

Who knew that Hoboken was really such an important part of candy history.  According to the article below Tootsie Rolls and Twinkies owe much of their history to this city.  And that's only the beginning, it appears that Hoboken is really a candy friendly town all around.  Best of all if you want to learn more about it, there's an interesting looking exhibit going on at the Hoboken Historical Museum for the next 6 months.

Click here to read more.

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New Combos... Not Sure About It

Apparently the folks that make Combos have come out with a new flavour, Buffalo Blue Cheese.  Now I've never tasted these Combos, but I have to say I'm not really interested either.  This might possibly be one of the worst taste ideas imaginable.  Can you see how I feel about blue cheese?

Click here to read more about them.

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Love buns - a baking diversion

School has been owning my life for the past little while. Today, despite the looming deadlines I decided to bake something. For me baking is a good form of relaxation therapy.

One of my favourite cook books is Feast by the lovely Nigella Lawson. I've never really seen her tv show, so I'm not sure what her celebrity persona is like, but her books are thoughtfully written, beautifully photographed, and generally comforting and inspiring. Today as a way of procrastination I decided to make "Love Buns". The name alone cracks me up, and that was reason enough to make them.

The icing is a meringue cooked over a double boiler. I imagine this would be easy to whip up (literally) if I had an electric mixer. However, due to limited space and a certain amount of stubbornness on my part I am armed with only my trusty IKEA whisk. So this icing turned out to be quite the workout.

The final result was worth it. These might be lunch.

Something To Warm You Up, And Scare The Daylights Out Of You

This is totally a new approach to selling hot chocolate.

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Give Belgians Some Credit

You would be amazed at how many great foods come out of Belgium.  I'm not just talking about fancy-dancy foods either, some of the staples in North American food culture where either created, or perfected in Belgium.  Check out the article below and pay respect to a fine culinary culture.

Click here to read about Belgium foods.

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Barry Callebaut Isn't Worried

One of the biggest chocolate distributors in the world isn't worried about the cocoa problems brewing in Africa right now.  They figure they have enough cocoa in reserve to make it through the drought.  They're not the only ones claiming this either.  Some say that although cocoa prices have gone up recently, the rise has hit it's peak.  That means that chances are you're not going to see a significant increase in the price of chocolate treats.  Here's hoping.

Click here to read more about Barry Callebaut's stance on the cocoa industry.

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Quick Facts About Chocolate

Not interested in studying all there is to know about chocolate, but you want to impress your candy fanatical friends?  Well here's a list of 10 quick facts about chocolate that will sure to impress even the greatest chocolate minds.

Click here to read the facts.

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Why Is This A New Invention?

Boing Boing has posted a picture of what I can only describe as the greatest idea that should have been invented 20 years ago.  It's a frozen pizza that comes packaged with a sheet of frozen cookies for desert.  It's the perfect meal and desert combination and I'm hoping it's easy to prepare as well.

Click here to check it out.

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New Years Resolutions Contest

Dove is offering a prize to you, yes you.  All you have to do is tell them that you've stuck to your New Years resolutions... Wait a minute, New Years was less than a month ago.  Is it really a prize winning situation if you can stick to something for only one month.  Now I'm sure the prizes are spectacular (since Dove chocolate is pretty awesome) but I wonder how deserving people are for only keeping it up for such a short time.  I say the winner should be someone who has kept up their New Years resolution from 1995 till now.  That's a feat worth talking about.

Click here to read more about the Dove contest.

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More Bad Chocolate News

With a ban on exports in the Ivory Coast, chocolate producers are having to make other plans to meet demand.  This could lead to an increase in chocolate prices fairly quickly.  If you're too look at a silver lining, it could also lead to chocolate producers looking to other areas to buy their cocoa beans, and that could lead to new flavours and new markets for the chocolate industry.

Click here to read more about the ban.

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Candy Making Is Science

Most people think that all cooking is pretty much the same, but that's not true.  A cook (like one at a restaurant), can if they choose, experiment with recipes with little to no problem at all.  A baker has to be a lot more strict because certain chemical reactions in the oven can change a recipe dramatically.  A candy maker is even more extreme, and it requires a great knowledge of chemical reactions and food science.  The article below is about a candy maker from Rhode Island’s Sweenors, it really gives you an idea of how perfect your candy making environment and your knowledge of candy science must be to make it work well.

Click here to read about this candy maker.

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Top Hat Kid Buying Chocolate

Was there really a time when kids would wear top hats?

Ad found on Vintage Ad Browser

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It's National Chocolate Cake Day

I'm not sure if the picture above qualifies as a cake, mainly because I don't really know the parameters for what defines a cake.  But really the important part is the chocolate... isn't it?

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Chocolate Myths Debunked

It's truly amazing the types of myths that are surrounding what I can only describe as the best sweet treat ever discovered.  People approach me all of the time with crazy stories about chocolate, most often about the health benefits or drawbacks.  The site below helps to clear up a few myths that I've heard about chocolate, although there are many more, so I hope they write a sequel to this piece.

Click here to read about chocolate myths.

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Brits Like Chocolate

According to the extremely obvious article below, British people really like chocolate.  Most apparently enjoy milk chocolate but the number of people that like chocolate in general is staggering.  According to the survey in the article, only 1 percent of people polled said that they didn't enjoy chocolate.  Now this makes sense to me, all one has to do is sample any British chocolate bar and you too will know why they love chocolate so much.

Click here to read the article.

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Just Thinking About Caramel

For some reason I just can't get the image of caramel oozing out of a chocolate bar out of my head.

Click here to buy a copy of the print above.

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Almonds Aren't Just Tasty

Now with the benefits of modern science Almonds have been discovered to contain many more properties than simply tasting yummy.  With all of the modern science dedicated to food production, science has discovered new ways to use the almond to help make other foods better.  I wonder what George Washington Carver would think about all of this?

Click here to read more about the Almond.

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New Zealand Says Prices Will Go Up

Yesterday I posted a few articles about the estimated increase in the price of cocoa for the upcoming year.  I also posted a link, on the same post, to a story where German confectioners claimed that there would be no increase in the price of chocolate.  Well it appears that New Zealand confectioners aren't so sure.  In fact they're predicting that chocolate could go up as much as 15% in the next year.

Click here to read about New Zealand chocolate prices.

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It's National Peanut Brittle Day!

What could possibly be better than taking a super brittle (hence the name) treat and putting crunchy nuts on top?

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Learn About Chocolate

If you're not really familiar with the history of chocolate and the Aztecs, these two sites are chock (oh the pun opportunities here) full of interesting information.  The first deals with the role of Aztec women and how they may have created/discovered what the cocoa bean had to offer.  The second is a simple list of quick facts about cocoa and its history, this kind of information is great if you ever find yourself stuck in a candy trivia challenge.

Click here to read about how women may have discovered chocolate.

Click here to read a few fun facts about chocolate.

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If You Like Punk Music and Snacks You'll Love This

This truly brings together two of my favorite teenage things.  I believe it's the beginning of a new series of meme's where you create a new Black Flag logo from things that rhyme with "black".  Already created is "cat" flag among others.  I felt however, that this one was worth mentioning on this site.

Click here to see where I found it.

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Cocoa Prices

According to many news sources the prices of chocolate may be taking a sharp increase in the near future. The main reason comes from political uncertainty in areas that produce most of the worlds cocoa.  Some have argued that part of the problem in these countries can actually be traced back to the production of cocoa, others disagree.  All I can say for sure is uncertainty seems to breed caution in the global market, and caution often leads to price increases.

Price increases in the cocoa market can lead the chocolate makers into one of two directions.  They will either increase the price of chocolate, which in my opinion is the best option.  Or they will decrease the amount of cocoa in their product, which in my opinion is a horrible idea.  I think if things get worse people should brace for higher priced cocoa and take this opportunity to enjoy cocoa as an indulgence.  Eat smaller amounts, but make sure the stuff you're eating is of high quality.

Click here to read one report about cocoa prices.

Click here to read another.

Click here to read an argument from German Confectioners that claim things will be OK.

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This Could Be The Greatest Food Mascot Ever

I'm not saying that I'm an expert in food mascots, but in my experience I've never seen anything as great as this hot dog man carefully placing ketchup and mustard on himself.

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Sexy Ad For Cinnamon Buns

Apparently new Cinnabon locations are popping up all over Athens, and they seem to be advertising to a certain demographic as well.  I'm not saying that I'm offended by this, I'm just saying that it looks more like an advertisement for a sexy radio station than a place to get cinnamon buns.  Although when it comes to pastries I think cinnamon buns rank number 2 on the list of most sexy.  Number one has to go to "sticky buns", trust me just do a google search for them.

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Continuous Innovation

According to some new research this is the best way to sell gum.  A study done recently says that most people buy gum on impulse and most want to try something new and different.  That means that there is very little brand loyalty in the gum world.  My opinion of brand loyalty is simple, I have virtually none.  There are certain brands that produce things I like, so I will often check them out, however I will change my mind on a whim.  Particularly with candy, I want new, I want good quality, and I want fun, I don't care who makes it.

Click here to read the statistics about gum.

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Marshmallow Recipe

I just came across an interesting recipe.  It's a recipe that didn't really make me want to make the product, but instead made me think about the product.  The recipe is how to make home made marshmallows.  It made me think about one strange fact dealing with these puffy treats, did you know they had ingredients?

Click here to read the recipe.

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When I first saw this article about eating junk food in front of the television I thought it was kind of obvious.  It claims that eating junk food in front of the TV is not good for you.  Well duh, I thought.  Then I read more, apparently one of the bigger problems is that watching television might actually affect your ability to judge how much you've already eaten.  This pretty much doubles the danger, not only are you not exercising, but you're also over stuffing your face.

Click here to read the article.

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Some Valentines Statistics

These holidays really seem to stack up quickly.  The minute I finish celebrating Christmas I have to start thinking about Valentines Day, and in no time Easter.  If you're wondering what to get that special someone on Valentines Day you might want to read up on the holiday to help you out.  Your choice is to either go with the popular/traditional choice, or go out on a limb and try something creative, either way, good luck.

Click here to read some Valentines statistics.

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Oranges in Winter

Winter can be quite cold and grey if you're not lucky enough to be in the warmer parts of the globe (the Mediterranean seems nice). Luckily with modern food transportation we can get food from anywhere at any time of the year for extremely low prices, and citrus can be just the thing to brighten up the day.

It's National Peanut Butter Day!

So go out and get something filled with peanut butter... or cover something with peanut butter, both will do just fine.

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Turkish Baklava

One of the lesser known facts about Baklava is that Greece isn't the only place in the world that makes it.  Nope, in fact some say that Turkish Baklava is better than the Greek stuff.  Now I wouldn't go walking around Athens saying to out loud, unless you want to get yelled at, spit on, and maybe beaten up.  But recently I received a gift from a friend visiting us here in Athens, it was a box of Turkish baklava.  At first sight I have to say it was pretty impressive, so many shapes colours and textures to behold.

It had a selection that looked pretty similar to the stuff that I find here in Greece.

But it also had some baklava that I couldn't possibly describe.  I have to admit, variety wise this collection is pretty diverse, maybe even a little more diverse than the stuff I've seen around Greece.  Taste wise though, I'm not as impressed, there's not as much spice and not nearly enough sweetness.  It's pretty much a bit of philo dough with a whole lot of pistachios.  I'll reserve my judgement as to which countries baklava is better, at least until I try more.

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Today Is National Pie Day... And To Celebrate, Here's a New Review

It would have been really cool if I had somehow lined up today's review to National Pie day by reviewing some kind of pie product.  The problem is I really don't think that far in advance, often the "holidays" dealing with candy are as much a surprise to me as it is you (I assume).  I have a special calendar of events and each day I check it, when a cool holiday that I feel is relevant pops up I post it.  So instead of a pie related review, today you get a minty review.  I guess a mint might be nice after a slice of pie, but really I'm just grabbing at straws at this point.

Click here to read the review.

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Rules For Selling Girl Guide Cookies

I just read an interesting article that talks about the etiquette of selling Girl Guide Cookies.  I have to say the first paragraph of the article

"This is the time of year when the Girl Scouts offer up Thin Mints, Do-si-dos, Lemon Chalet Cremes and Samoas – ah, Samoas, with their mad scientist blend of rich chocolate, delicate shortbread, gooey caramel and chewy coconut!"

makes me think of one more rule that should be heavily enforced.  Always make sure that if you have a box of cookies, share some with your favorite Candy Critic.

Click here to read the rules.

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I Just Read About a Fire In a Dutch Cocoa Plant

Fortunately the damage seemed to be fairly minimal and no one was hurt.  The thing I want to know is, how good did that fire smell?  I wonder if it smelled like chocolate being baked in a giant oven?  Can you imagine, of all of the factories to burn down a cocoa factory would give off the greatest smell ever.

Click here to read more about the fire.

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Ketchup Robot/Monster

I can't say that I understand the scientific importance of this invention, or even how it will change the world.  I can say that I'd love to have one, but only if I had another robot that would clean up any ketchup messes left behind.

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Bill Murray Eats Red Hots

Apparently while giving a speech at the NBR Awards Bill Murray decided that he should pop a few Red Hots candies.  The speech was for director Sofia Coppola and I couldn't think of a classier way to give any speech.  Every article I read about Bill Murray just makes me smile a little more, his enjoyment of Red Hots makes me even happier.

Click here to read about the speech.

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More Chocolate Science

It appears that scientists have found a way to see exactly which mineral are in a particular batch of chocolate.  Apparently the method allows these tests to be done with little to no damage to the chocolate as well.  This is important because it might start to clear things up about the actual health value of any particular batch/brand of chocolate.

Click here to read more about the science.

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Jelly Belly Peas and Carrots

Jelly Belly has just introduced their own version of "Peas and Carrots" candy.  This isn't a new treat by any respect as I remember trying out this mix when I was a kid.  It just appears that Jelly Belly is going to make an attempt at their own version.

Click here to read more about this strange treat.

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Hiding Drugs In Candy

For some reason the drug culture seems to think that it's a good idea to hide drugs in candy.  Now I can't argue that just about anything is better with a candy coating, but hiding drugs in candy makes me a little mad.  Candy already has a hard enough time dealing with people saying it's unhealthy as it is, tying in the possibility that it's a great way to hide drugs only makes it worse.  And then you get situations, such as the one that happened in Denver recently, where kids accidentally think that the candy is harmless, only to find out it's laced with drugs.

Click here to read about the incident in Denver.

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Gummy Vitamins and Bubble Gum Aspirin

Over the last decade or so I've noticed an increase in the availability of vitamins and other pharmaceuticals in candy format.  The article below looks at these candy type drugs and asks the question... why?  Does making these candy themed drugs actually produce better results than standard pills, or is it just a way to get people to take their medicine?

Click here to read more.

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Food Museum is Having a Sweet Show

I've never visited the Southern Food and Beverage Museum and frankly I've never even heard of a "Food and Beverage Museum", but it sounds like a great place to check out.  Now would also be a great time to go because they're having a special show all about sugar, and this Sunday they're celebrating with some free treats.

Click here to read more.

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Cadbury and Kraft, It's Been a Year

It was about a year ago that Kraft purchased the British confectioner Cadbury in one of the biggest deals ever made in candy history.  Well it appears that after the dust has settled there are a few people that aren't feeling very good about the way things have worked out.  Former Cadbury executives are apparently sad about the deal, and Craig Sams founder of Green and Black's (a Cadbury and now Kraft owned company) is disappointed with where his product is going.  Personally I'm a little shaken by a few of the factory changes, however I'm not noticing too much change in the product yet.

Click here to read a look back at the last year at Kraft/Cadbury.

Click here to read an article about Craig Sams.

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Candy Shows Like Crazy

It seems to be the season for sweet food shows.  Over the last few days I've found out about a bunch of shows either going on now, or coming soon.  Food shows are so much fun to visit and you get to try out treats that are so unique and more often than not the quality is exceptional.  If you can make it to any of the shows listed bellow I highly recommend it.

Click here to read about the Fancy Food Show

Click here to read about the Firehouse Art Center’s Chocolate Festival

Click here to read about Chocolate decadence 2011

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Crazy About Cotton Candy

I just found this great photograph of what appears to be a padded cell (like one from an insane asylum) padded with cotton candy.  I've never wanted to be clinically insane more than right now.

Click here to check out the photo.  Link Via The Candy Store

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The Man Of Decadence

I've never really thought about this too much until I saw this advertisement but who in the entire world would you say is the most decadent ever.  More importantly if it was Henry the 8th, would he choose to eat Skor bars?  I mean of all of the candy available in the whole world, is the Skor bar really the most decadent?  I'm not saying it's not, I'm just saying that the competition would be steep.

Ad found on Vintage Ad Browser

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There's An iPhone App For Everything

Even controlling your own chocolate manufacturing plant.  The folks at Tcho are now using an iPhone to control many of their machines at their San Fransisco chocolate factory.

Click here to read more about it.

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Remember Summer?

I love the way summer colours mix with the bright vibrant colours of candy.  I've attempted a few winter scenes in the past but they just don't go together as well as nature in full bloom, and a shinny sweet treat.

Click here to buy a copy of this photo.

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Flaming Cupcakes

I don't normally like to post recipes on this site, mostly because I suck at baking and they only make me feel inadequate.  However I think a recipe for "chocolate cupcakes with flaming strawberries" is well worth the exception.

Click here to check out these cupcakes.

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Happy National Popcorn Day

This evening I have a plan.  My plan is to invite my buddy Alex over to my house, purchase a large amount of junk food, and watch cartoons and movies.  Now to make sure this day is appropriately festive, I'll have to make sure that popcorn is served.  The problem is decided what kind of popcorn treat I should deliver.

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What State Do You Eat

This funny little graphic has been popping up around food blogs and websites over the last few days.  Basically it's a look at what foods represent which states.  I've heard a lot of Americans complainning about the food that represents their state, but I haven't heard much from people who don't live in the US.  What I want to know is, if you where going to move the US, which state would you want to live in, based on this graphic?

Click here for the graphics source.

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The First Cinnabon In Athens

Athens is really starting to get into the North American food court world.  Only moments after opening the first Taco Bell in Athens, in the same mall a few meters away, the first Cinnabon opened up.  All in all the experience was OK, except for the long wait.

The reason for the wait wasn't because of any long lineup, it had more to do with the inexperience of the bun cookers.  We even got a glimpse of cinnamon buns exploding into twirly towers while waiting for our hot buns.  Was it worth the 20 minute wait?  For now I might say no, but in a few years when I'm craving these things like crazy I just might change my tune.

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Don't Be Bitter

Seriously, don't be bitter anymore.  Apparently science has come up with a simple little pill that blocks our taste buds from tasting bitter flavours.  I've heard about a few other pills and elixirs that block certain types of flavours from entering your pallet but I've never tried one myself.  I'm kind of tempted, mainly because I want to suck on a lemon and see what it really tastes like.

Click here to read more about the bitter stopper.

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Irony In Candy

In what I can only describe as the greatest irony in candy history, there has been a huge recall in Toxic Waste Candy.  It would be totally amazing if the recall was because the candy contained some form of toxic waste, but instead it's just lead.

Click here before you bite down on your candy.

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Exotic Flavour, Gum, and Chocolate will All be Popular in the Future

What do you think will be popular in the future of the candy world?  The article bellow talks a little about predictions for the next few years of candy, and it looks pretty good.  The thing is, I'd rather read a little bit about the future of candy in say, the next 30 or 40 years.  What do you think will be the state of the candy world in 30 years?

Click here to read about candy for the next few years at least.

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You Can Hide Food In So Many Other Foods

The article bellow brings up a really interesting point about the modern advances in the food industry as of late.  With many of the new technologies out there, today it is becoming more and more possible to bring traits of certain foods into other foods, thus creating a problem with allergies.  For example, say you had a really good noodle, but say a protein from peanuts would make that noodle even better.  Well separating just one protein from the peanut and using it for your noodles is not really a problem with advances in food science.  But if you're allergic to peanuts, you may be allergic to that noodle, even though it doesn't technically contain any peanuts.

Click here for a much better explanation of the problem.

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Americans Are Not Free To Enjoy Kinder Eggs

Most people assume that the USA must have the greatest selection of candy treats in the whole world.  You'd imagine this because frankly they consume a whole lot of stuff, and people who make candy often see the US market as the holy grail of selling.  What few people know is that Kinder Eggs (one of the greatest candy/prize treats ever made) are in fact illegal in the US.  According to the government the little toys inside the treats can be a choking hazard, so no one gets them... ever.  The article bellow gives some fine examples of how much of a problem this is with the folks at the border.

Click here to read more about Kinder Eggs and the USA.

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Fake Cereal Friends

While perusing the grocery store the other day I came across a collection of cereal characters that I feel might require some legal action.  The first one I saw was this strange little clock that looked very similar in design and colour as a certain rooster I know.  I guess it makes sense since both wake you up.

I didn't think too much of this rip off until I found they're frosted corn flakes friend and then I realized that we are dealing with a full on cereal Bizarro world.  I can't help but imagine this guy exclaiming after taking a bit of "Crownfield's Frosted Flakes" that they tasted "Grrrrrrrrrrand!"

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Hershey's Believes in Education

I too believe in education, I even would go so far as to say that I (verbally) support any kind of education that involves making better candy for the whole world.  I put the word "verbally" in brackets because I'm not sure if I have the kind of money to start a scholarship yet.

Click here to read about Hershey giving money towards food education.

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Flavour Change Gum Is Coming

And I couldn't be more excited.  Apparently a British gum manufacturer says that they could have a flavour changing gum out on the market by next year.  I have to admit I'm both excited and skeptical, but that makes sense, I am the Candy Critic.

Click here to read more about this cool gum.

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Magic Milk Straws

I'd never heard of this crazy inventions until I came across this blog post all about "Magic Milk Straws".  Apparently what they are, is straws filled with magic type pellets that dissolve as you drink milk through them and give your milk a blast of flavour.  It sounds pretty cool, and I wonder how many other drink products would be improved with a chocolate jolt.

Click here to read more about these flavour straws.

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What Do You Feed a Nerd?

Topless Robot (yes that's a site name) has made up a list of 10 essential nerd foods.  The list is pretty accurate, and I'm convinced that if I wasn't married I'd be eating many of these foods regularly.  In fact whenever I'm alone for a long period of time, many of these foods become my staples.  The only complaint I would have about this list is too many forms of pizza and not enough microwave popcorn.

Click here to read the list.

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Street Oranges

Here in Athens there are orange trees all over the place, you really can't walk a block without seeing one just growing in the middle of the sidewalk.  All of this citrus growing freely on public property made me wonder, can you eat them?

I did a little research and learned that it is completely legal to pick and eat any fruit that is growing on a tree on public grounds.  I also learned that most of the oranges are a breed of orange that tastes horrible (although apparently good for marmalade).  The other thing that kept coming up when I asked people about the oranges is questions about sanitation, I promptly ignored most of these.

I ignored them because I decided that since it was legal and all, I should try one out.  So one day walking home from a fun adventure, I picked what appeared to be a fairly clean looking orange from a high branch.

The first thing I noticed when I cut it open was the amazing smell, it had to be one of the best smelling oranges I've ever cut open.  However after looking at it I was a little nervous about this stunt.

I took one bite... let me re-phrase that, I sunk my teeth into the first bite, and I was blown away at how sour this orange was.  My lips hurt and remained numb for about 20 minutes or so and I didn't even get a full bit in.  I have never tasted anything this sour in my whole life, and that's saying a lot considering the number of Tear Jerkers I've consumed.

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New Candy Store in Florida

If you happen to be looking for some sun this winter, and maybe a few sweet treats, then it sounds like this might be the place for you.

Click here to read more.

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A New Review On a Winters Day

I know that many of you are in the grips of the cool season of winter.  For the first time ever in my life I'm living in an environment that really doesn't have too much coolness at all.  I'm trying to adapt my diet to the situation but here in Greece it's Orange season and I always associate oranges with summer.  Well at least the candy world doesn't really have seasons... other than holiday treats... and maybe ice cream... wait a minute, there really are candy seasons isn't there.  Now I feel really strange, and I have a craving for ice cream as well.

Click here to read the latest review.

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A Little More Information About The New Reece Mini Cups

As you may have read earlier, Reece debuted their new mini peanut butter cups at CES earlier this month and man are they tiny.  At first I thought it was a little strange, because I thought Reece's already had mini peanut butter cups, but apparently these are even smaller.  In fact they're apparently about the same size as a dime.

Click here to read more about them.

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Popchips And How They Work

I just read this fascinating article about Popchips, or more to the point about the owner of Popchips.  It's a pretty interesting company that seem to really be interested in communicating with their consumers.  Best of all, apparently the owner responds to every single e-mail sent to their official e-mail address.  I'm so tempted to write an e-mail asking if this was in fact him and if he could prove it somehow.

Click here to read the article.

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That's a Wrap... On Science

That might be the worst pun I've ever used in the history of this blog.  The interesting article I found was about how scientist are developing a new type of packaging that would change colour to indicate if food products have gone bad.  I'm not sure if this technology would work for candy, although I hope it does.  It would be great to know if that bag of chips on the shelf is past it's best before date, or that chocolate bar is super stale.

Click here to read more.

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NCA Published Some Stats

The NCA has published some pretty amazing stats about how much the confection industry had spent in 2007 on supplies.  The total estimate is a whopping 4 billion dollars, with 680 million going to buying 2.3 billion pounds of sugar.  That's pretty impressive, I wonder what percentage of this sugar did I consume?

Click here to check out the stats.

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Two Stores Become One

In an interesting and really smart twist, two stores in Wasau Wisconsin have merged to become one.  One of the stores is a candy store, the other is a paper products store.  As the article below says "I have the cards, and he had the chocolate, and I thought to have them both in one place would really be a good move,".

Click here to read about the store.

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Strange Singing Bunny

I'd seen many of the strange Skittles commercials that have been made over the past few years, but this one was new to me.  I'm not sure what to think about it, but I have a feeling that's the point.

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cupcakes

Food photography is a delicious hobby.

I first came across cupcakes from the Sweet and Sassy cupcake shop at the studio opening party of BH Photography. The shop is in Arnprior, they don't have a website (?!) but they sure know cupcakes.

They look sort of like cartoon cupcakes with the swirl of icing on top. So far I can say the icing is delicious (and when you like a cupcake that's critical, since icing is almost half of the experience).

Have a good weekend everyone!

The Candy Business Is Doing Well

According to this really long winded jargony article the candy business is starting to break ground in profitability. Now you may be asking, "what does this have to do with the average candy fanatic?"  The answer is simple, if the candy companies are making money, they're going to invest in was to make ever more money.  In the candy world a great way to make more money is through innovation.  So we candy fanatics in the world get to try some new treats.

Click here if you want to read the jargon.

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Do You Need Therapy?

You could go to a professional and get "real help" dealing with whatever issues you might have.  Or you could go to a candy store, stock up, and read the article below that tells you a little something about yourself based on your candy of choice.

Click here and learn something about yourself.

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If You Live In Sudan, I Have Some Bad Candy News For You

The government of Sudan has decided to block certain items from coming into the country for reasons of austerity.  Now I won't lie and tell you that I completely understand how this works, but if you're in Sudan, I'm sorry.

Click here to read more.

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