A New Greek Candy Review

I know that many of my North American readers are going to be a little upset at the idea of posting a non-US or Canadian review this week.  After all, both countries are celebrating their national days this week, and I'm even Canadian.  The problem is, I didn't really think the idea of posting 2 months of Greek candy reviews all the way through.  I'm also a stickler for following through on things that I promise.

Click here to read our latest Greek candy review.

This Week In Candy

Well I just literally got off a plane from a short trip to Cyprus.  As you can imagine I came across a lot of really interesting fun snacks in this awesome country.  A few of them are pretty much what you might expect, but there's also a few that are pretty surprising.  I hope to post a roundup of my adventures later this week.

This week on Snack facts, we're celebrating all things Canadian.  Sorry Americans, I know that the 4th of July is coming up, but as long as I hold a Canadian passport, I've got to celebrate Canada Day as a priority.  So all this week we'll be looking at some pretty interesting Canadian Snack Facts.  Make sure to check out our Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook feeds to learn a daily fact about snacks.

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Candy News

Barry Callebaut is opening a chocolate school.  Looks like I need another degree.

I find this picture of the Green M&M to be very disturbing, and it's official.

A new Harry Potter addition has been added to Universal Studios in Orlando, and you better believe that they have some pretty cool treats.

So you think cutting a cake is easy?  Well chance are you've been doing it wrong the whole time.

Did you just eat an entire pint of ice cream, does your head hurt?  Here's why.

Speaking of ice cream, have you ever tried any of those artisinal flavours out there.  Think you could identify what flavour they are without a tag?  Well these kids couldn't.

If you want to keep up with all of the daily candy news that we come across as it happens, follow us on Twitter.

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Friday Candy Video

Who knew that Brazil had such a range of really strange snacks.  This might mean that I have to take a field trip to South America, but I think I'll wait till this whole football/soccer thing blows over first.

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Classic/Creative Candy Advertisement

Since this week we're starting our list of classic candy films, I thought I'd look at an advertisement featuring two of the most candy related films ever made.  We'll they're sort of two films, really they're just one... it's a little complicated.  I'll have more about this next week when I feature both of these movies on our Cool Candy Thing post.  For now just enjoy the retro cool of the old Willy Wonka poster, and the artsy weird of the current one.

I found this poster here.

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Stuff I Want To Try

Lazy Sunday Ice Cream - Ben & Jerry's - I like the Lazy Sunday video, and I like Ben and Jerry's ice cream, so it's gotta be great. - Click here to learn more about this treat.

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A Cool Candy Thing - Movie Edition Part 1

To start off our collection of candy movies, we're going to look at famous kids movies about candy.  Keep in mind that not all of these movies are based in candy, however candy does play a big role in the story.  Each trailer will feature a quick review, if I've seen it, and a quick what I expect it to be about, if I haven't.

Wreck It Ralph


 I'm kind of amazed that I haven't seen this movie before, it's got a candy world, lots of retro video game reference, and it's a cartoon.



Chitty Chitty Bang Bang


 Did you know that the same guy that wrote this movie, also wrote the James Bond novels (Ian Fleming).  While many people don't think about this movie as a candy movie, a candy (toot-sweets) play a huge role in the story.



Hop


I haven't seen Hop and I'm not sure if I ever will.  It's not that it looks like a really bad movie, I've just never thought of Easter time as a time to watch movies, and that's the only time this movie is relevant.



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Gummy Bear Shirts - Baby Gummy Bear

Baby Gummy Bear Tshirt by candycritic
Make a tee shirt design from Zazzle.

For the next few weeks, every Tuesday we're going to feature one of our many cartoon themed gummy bear t-shirts.  From what I understand, some pregnant women have cravings, and sometimes those cravings are for certain sweets, like chocolate and gummies.  So if you're a pregnant lady, or if you're the husband of a pregnant lady who's craving gummy bears, this might be the perfect shirt for you.

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The Oldest Sugar Ever In Our Greek Sweet Review

In my opinion, and in the research I've done on the subject, honey is the oldest candy ever.  It was probably the most obvious source of sugar in ancient and pre-historic times. Other than a few stings, it was the easy to harvest, and requires almost no manufacturing at all.  The best thing is, we still use it today.  We have the technology and know how to harvest and create all kinds of sweeteners, yet we still go back to the original fairly regularly.

Click here to read today's Greek honey filled review.

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This Week In Candy

Well we're back from our vacation, it was nice and relaxing, and now it's time to get down to business.  To start off, this week's Snack Facts are going to be all about cookies.  Cookies are not only one of the best snacks ever, but they're also often a great ingredient for other snacks, like a Twix bar.  Make sure to check out our Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook feeds to keep up with our daily posts.

This week we're starting a feature on our "Cool Candy Thing" posts all about candy themed movies.  For the next 4 weeks we'll post a list of movies featuring a candy theme, some more obvious than others.  Make sure to check out those posts Wednesday right here on this blog.

Finally, this week we're continuing our Greek candy reviews to count down our time here in Greece.  Soon it's back to Canada for a while to pick up some tasty North American treats.  Then we're off on another adventure that we'll talk about more later.

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Candy News

Tiny art painted on snack food makes me appreciate the fine art, and it also makes me hungry.

Stupid or genius, covering yourself in a Mentos and jumping into a pool of Coca-Cola, you decide.

Indonesia is the third largest producer of cocoa, and finally they're starting to eat the stuff.

Some people make beautiful art out of food, others make beautiful art that look like food.

Someone invented a machine to automatically feed you Doritos, and it goes horribly wrong.

According to a new study, there's a connection between eating candy and stress.

The Cherpumple sounds like a really lame cartoon character villain, but it's actually one of the best dessert ideas ever.

If you want to keep up with all of the daily candy news that we come across as it happens, follow us on Twitter.

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Friday Candy Video

I love watching popcorn pop.  It's one of the most entertaining snack foods ever.  The science that is going on to take a small kernel of corn and have it explode into a ball of puffy white goodness is astounding.  If you don't believe in evolution then you should read about how popcorn pops and tell me that natural selection hasn't left us with one of the coolest foods ever.  Although I guess natural selection doesn't have as much to do with this as cultivation... so strike that whole evolution comment.

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Stuff I Want To Try

Dragon Berry Ring Pop - Bazooka Candy - Although I've never seen How To Train Your Dragon 2, I'm still down with dragons. - Click here to learn more about this treat.

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Classic/Creative Candy Advertisement

The statement on this advertisement is true, but only before I've started to eat any popcorn.  Popcorn is one of those snacks that when you smell it, and when you know you're only minutes away from enjoying it, something in the back of your mind is saying that you can eat unlimited amounts of it.  Then, after about 5 handfuls of popcorn my mind changes, suddenly it was the dumbest idea ever to get the super large popcorn.

I found this ad here.

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A Cool Candy Thing

Is this a costume, or a dress?  I would say that it's a dress because really you're not disguising yourself as anything, and the dress itself doesn't look like a Twix bar other than having the same colour as a Twix wrapper and the Twix logo printed on it.  Having said all that, I'm not sure if I know any woman (or man) that would wear this to a night out on the town.  It's not really fashionable, and the message it creates "I like chocolate bars a lot", isn't really one most women want to portray in their fashion.

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Gummy Bear Shirts - Gummy Bear Tug-of-War

Gummy Bear Tug-of-War Tees by candycritic
Check out Gummy T-Shirts online at zazzle

For the next few weeks, every Tuesday we're going to feature one of our many cartoon themed gummy bear t-shirts.  This week we're looking at the first gummy bear shirt we ever made, it's a little gruesome, but that's OK because eating gummy bears is a little gruesome as well.

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Stuff I Want To Try

 Ghost Pepper Super Hot Candy Balls - Think Geek - Although I call the "Stuff I Want To Try", I really don't want to try this at all. - Click here to learn more about this treat.

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X Marks The Review

I'm always proud to look over all of the reviews that I've written to see that I have tasted a candy that starts with every single letter of the alphabet. The next logical goal is far more unlikely to complete, tasting a candy from every country in the world.  The goal after that is even less likely, to try every single candy in the world.  The great thing about what I do, I can always strive to complete these goals, and although I'll never complete them, I'm going to have a great time trying.

Click here to read our latest "X" review.

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This Week In Candy

This week I'm on vacation.  That doesn't mean that you wont hear from me, it just means that I've had to pre-post most of my entries this week.  Allison made me promise not to work on Candy Critic for the whole week, so other than uploading a new entry today, I'm going to be keeping a low profile.  Having said that vacations tend to be the place where I discover new treats, so a vacation weeks tends to result in a big week of new things the week afterwards.

Recently a new ice cream store opened up here in Athens.  It's the Magic Pleasure store, and it looks super fancy.  Magic Pleasure is a brand of ice cream, that sells all over Greece, I'm not sure where else it is sold, but it's fairly popular here.  It's a high end ice cream bar that's dipped in premium chocolate and often has fancy nuts and other ingredients mixed in.  This might be the first store they've ever opened here, and I think you can order custom bars.  I guess I know what I'm doing for part of my vacation anyways.

I'm still working on a list of North American treats that I must pick up while I'm there later this summer. Here's my list so far:

Cracker Jacks
Sour Patch Kids
Various M&Ms
Caramilk Bar

If you can think of anything else that should be added to this list (only treats that have not been reviewed on candycritic.org) let me know.

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Candy News

Jason Mecier is opening a show called Candylebrity, and it looks amazing.

NPR has posted two really interesting looks into the candy world.  First is a look at why a package of Peanut Butter M&Ms is lighter than a package of regular M&Ms.

The second article from NPR is a fun, illustrated, look at why chocolate might be better than sex.

Some people argue that candy and beer don't work well together at all, not the Beeroness.

If you want to keep up with all of the daily candy news that we come across as it happens, follow us on Twitter.

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Friday Candy Video

The concept of this commercial is that the biggest complaint parents have of their children eating a bunch of candy is the mess.  This implies that if this kid was not such a slob that he could eat all the candy he wants.  I'm not a parent, but I have two of them, and I'd imagine that they had other things on their mind when they told me to stop eating my candy.

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Classic/Creative Candy Advertisement

Have I ever mentioned one of the most ridiculous advertising campaigns in the history of candy?  I first discovered this campaign while traveling through Australia.  I saw a giant poster advertising a rivalry between the left and the right Twix bar.  It reminded me of a campaign that Shreddies once put out where they had people vote on their favorite shape, squares or diamonds.  These campaigns are designed to be so silly that they're clever, but I'm not sure if they are.

I found this ad here.

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Our Second Review This Week

This is a bit of a special week here at Candy Critic.  Normally we only post one new review every week but this week we had two treats that just needed to be shared with the world.  So we've decided to post them both.  Monday we posted our review of Natasha's Just Brittle, and today we're adding another entry into our all Greek candy review marathon.

Click here to read our latest entry into our all Greek candy review marathon.

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A Cool Candy Thing

You know what would make this lunch box even more awesome?  If it was filled with Jelly Beans.  Imagine the joy of opening a lunch box that was covered with jelly beans, only to discover that it was also full of jelly beans.

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Stuff I Want To Try

Oreo Creme Filled Chocolate Chip Cookie - Nabisco - This treat has been a long time coming. - Click here to learn more about this treat.

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Gorilla Gum

Gorilla Gum T-Shirt by candycritic
Design your own personal shirts online at Zazzle.

I'm not really sure what part of this t-shirt makes me happier, the idea of a gorilla blowing a giant bubble, or the the wonderful shine of the gorilla's bum.

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New Brittle Review

If I think about all of the candy categories with strange names, brittle might be the strangest.  It's one of only a handful of candies that's known by its texture, instead of its shape or contents.  The word "brittle" is also commonly used for things that aren't stable, or weak.  Whenever I give the word "brittle" too much thought, visions of bones breaking come into my head.  The thing about brittle as a candy is that when you bite down it's actually a very pleasant feeling in your mouth.

Click here to read our new brittle review.

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This Week In Candy

Last week I announced the beginning of the Greek candy review marathon.  Unlike our week long review-a-thons that have a new review every day for a week, this Greek candy review marathon will work slow and steady in order spread out all of the Greek candy joy.  Each week we'll be posting a new Greek candy review instead of our regular candy review, this should last for about two months.  This week however I wanted to show off a new candy discovery that was sent to me from the lovely folks at Natasha's Just Brittle as well.  So that means that this week you're getting two new reviews, today is Natasha's Just Brittle, and on Wednesday I'll post the new Greek treat review.

If you've been keeping track of our Snack Facts daily post on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, then you'll know that we've started to develop weekly themes with our  facts.  This week we're looking at hazelnut spreads, not just Nutella, but mostly Nutella.  Every day this week we'll post a new quick fact about a sweet treat that's taking the world by storm.

As you've read above, my time in Greece is quickly coming to an end.  I'm moving someplace new and exciting (it's a secret), but on my way I'm stopping off in Canada for about a month to remind myself how awesome a country Canada is.  I've decided as well to pick up a whole bunch of Canadian treats to review on Candy Critic.  I've noticed over the years that I'm missing a few classic treats, like the Caramilk bar, and I want to rectify that.  I've also discovered that there are a few new treats that I haven't tried yet, I think there are a few M&M varieties I haven't sampled  yet.  I'm going to go on a candy shopping spree, but I need your help, let me know of any Canadian (or even American) candies that I must try.

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Candy News

Canadians busted... smuggling Kinder Eggs.

I've always wanted to try a cronut, but these spam donuts don't seem so appealing.

Huffington Post has a list of amazing ice cream sandwich ideas perfect for keeping you cool this summer.

There's a new Mars store opened at the Paris airport.  I always love the way Mars themes these stores, and I'll be sure to snap a few pictures if I find myself in Paris again.

Here are 4 really good tips for making a great ice cream sandwich, using toast instead of a cookie is still up for debate.

Tired of all of the berries available from mother nature, why not make up your own?

There's a new kind of chocolate in town, and it's called Blond.

Police in Thailand nab chocolate thief, apparently there's not much else going on.

If you want to keep up with all of the daily candy news that we come across as it happens, follow us on Twitter.

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Friday Candy Video

I love watching street vendors make candy.  Even when they're not as artistic as the one above, there's something mesmerizing about watching people heat up sugar and turn it into beautiful shapes.

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Classic/Creative Candy Advertisement

All this week we're posting M&Ms facts on Snack Facts (check it out on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter), and I thought I would search out any M&Ms advertising for today's post.  What I came up with was amazing.  I'm not certain that this ad is real, in fact I'm pretty sure it's not, but it is really amazing.  Who would have thought that the red M&M was a communist.

I found this ad here.

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A Cool Candy Thing

All this week I've been researching the history of M&Ms for Snack Facts (you can check out Snack Facts on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook).  It got me thinking about some of the crazy candy machines I've seen featuring the M&Ms characters.  M&Ms are pretty much the perfect candy for a candy machine, and having such colorful characters that are perfect for decorating those machines makes it even better.  I like this machine because it lets me gamble and win every time.

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One Last Plug For Our Sister Site Beware The Cheese

Seriously, if you're in the Athens area, come on down tomorrow night to what's going to be a great show.  Come see some great art, meet the Candy Critic, and maybe score yourself a free treat.  Here's more information about the show:

Come see our final art show in Athens entitled "Αντίο κι ευχαριστώ για τα ψάρια" opening tomorrow night June 4th from 7:30 to 9:30.  On display will be several fine art mixed media pieces, as well as beautiful photographic prints.  The show continues till Wednesday June 11th.  You can learn more about the show here: http://www.bewarethecheese.com/solong/

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Pixalated Popcorn Shirt

8-Bit Popcorn Tee Shirt by candycritic
Look at more Popcorn T-Shirts at zazzle

I just finished watching the movie Frozen.  Wow, it was much better than I ever expected.  What I can't explain is why whenever I watch a good movie, I crave popcorn. The theater mind control people have worked their magic on my feeble mind.  Well if I'm going to give into buying popcorn whenever a good movie is on, I might as well wear a t-shirt that supports my problem.  So if you crave popcorn whenever you see a great movie, why not pick up this t-shirt to show the world how weak you are.

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Stuff I Want To Try

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Oreos - Oreo - If it's done right, it might be the best cookie ever, if it's done wrong, it will disappoint the world. - Click here to learn more about this treat.

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It's The Start of the Greek Treat Reviews

As I mentioned earlier today in This Week In Candy, I'm moving away from Greece fairly soon.  Since I don't want to forget to review any classic Greek treats on candycritic.org, I've decided to dedicate all of my reviews (give or take) to classic and cool Greek candies until I leave.  Today I'm starting with a chocolate company that's very well known in Greece for making fine dark chocolate.  I actually once stumbled upon the factory where these are made, and came across an interesting garden/park on the side of the factory that featured an old bean roaster and bean grinder.  The smell of this park was fantastic too.

Click here to read the first in our Greek Treat Reviews.

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This Week In Candy

I was reading an article recently on improving your blog readership, the article mentioned that the most popular blog posts are posted at 9am in the morning.  Now this does create a bit of a dilemma since blogs can be read all over the world, and it can be close to or just past 9am pretty much somewhere in the world all the time.  I've decided to go with my hometown (Toronto) and say that the regular weekly blog posts will now appear at 9am EST, instead of 12pm.  I'll see how this works out and decide if this will be a permanent thing.  Now back to more candy related stuff.

As you may or may not know, I'm going to be moving soon.  Right now I live in Athens Greece, but soon it's off to new adventures in far off lands.  I'm going to miss a lot of things about Greece, so I've decided that from now until my last week I'm going to post Greek treat reviews.  I'm going to highlight the fun selection of treats that originate from this part of the world, and I think you'll be surprised at the range of candies you can get here.

All this week on Snack Facts, we're going to be looking at facts about M&Ms.  I was inspired to research M&Ms when I decided that these would be the snack of choice at my upcoming art show later this week (more about that below).  I decided to ask my friends (that includes pretty much anybody willing to answer) what they preferred, peanut or plain, and the results where fascinating.  Do you want to find out which was the most popular?  Well you'll just have to show up to my art show then... If you want to learn more about M&Ms, make sure to check out our daily Snack Facts on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

The art show that I'm shameless plugging is in association with our sister site bewarethecheese.com.  I'll be showing some of my fine art and photography stuff for the last time here in Athens.  The show opens Wednesday night and is sure to be a good time for all.  You can click here for more details.

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