This Week In Candy

So much going on this week, I don't know where to start!

First of all it's Mango season where I am right now.  I love mangoes, but I don't really know how to eat them, and I mean this in two ways.  When I do just sit down and eat one, I often make a huge mess and will inevitably have to clean my shirt afterwards.  I also don't really know how to cook, or make treats out of this yummy fruit.  So I've decided to try out a few recipes, and see how it goes. (I'm sure I'll post pictures on Twitter and Facebook)

I'm also planning my next great adventure, this time we're going to Sri Lanka.  It's my first time visiting this awesome looking island, and I'm not really sure what to expect.  I've heard the food is good, and the tea plantations are supposed to be amazing.  If anybody out there has any must eat places or foods, let me know.

Later this week I'll be posting an interesting article on the many varieties of hagelslag available in the Netherlands.  For those that aren't in the know, hagelslag is basically chocolate sprinkles you put on your buttered toast.  It sounds kind of crappy, but when you use the right toppings the results can be amazing.  The Dutch people take their hagelslag very seriously, and this week I'm looking at a few varieties to see which is the best.

This week on Snack Facts, our Instagram feed, we're looking at the raisin.  Probably the most polarizing of all dried fruits.  I've known people that threatened bodily harm if they were even forced to be near one.  However they're also one of the most popular chocolate covered dried fruit in the world. If you want to learn more about these dried grapes, you can follow Snack Facts on our Instagram feed.  If you don't use Instragram, you can also follow Snack Facts on our Twitter Feed and Facebook page as well.

On top of all of this awesome stuff we're working on, this week we're celebrating licorice... well sort of.  Every day for 40 days (except when I forget), I'm eating a single piece of licorice.  The idea is to try and get over my dislike of this very popular candy one piece at a time.  Also, this week we're having a review-a-thon, and you guessed it, the topic is licorice.  Everyday this week we'll post a new licorice review (many are the pieces of licorice I'm tasting every day).  You can click here to read today's new licorice review. And if you want to keep up with the rest of the new licorice reviews, and see what kind of licorice I'm eating every day, you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, or Tumblr.

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This Week In Candy

This week at Candy Critic we've got two main goals, writing and taking pictures.  We just finished a fun shoot on the subject of OREO cookies, I'll explain more about why we did that later.  We also have a shoot planned on the subject of dates (the fruit not the social interaction) and sprinkles.  We were hoping to get an article up this week to go with the sprinkle photos, unfortunately it looks like that's going to take a little more time, but it should be up next week instead.  Writing wise it's all about keeping up with this blog, and our social media sites, writing a few travel pieces, and most certainly working on the book.

Last week we also started a new project on our social media pages (Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr) on the topic of licorice.  As you know I was greatly inspired on my recent trip to Holland, and I decided to try and get myself to like licorice (I normally hate the stuff).  I figured the best way to do this was through repetition.  So until July 4th, I'll be eating one piece of Dutch licorice every day.  I've got a bag with various different salt levels and strengths, and I'll just randomly pick one out and eat it every night.  Every time I do this, I'll post a picture and let you know how I feel, maybe I'll even use emoticons (this is a jump for me).

The OREO cookie shoot today was all for this week's posts on our Intagram feed called Snack Facts.  This week we'll look at the classic cookie with the cream in the middle.  If you're interested in having fun Snack Facts sent to you every day, make sure to follow us on Instagram.  If you don't use Instagram, you can also follow Snack facts on our Twitter feed and Facebook page as well.

This week's new review on candycritic.org is a Japanese candy that lived up to every expectation.  If you like your lemon candies to live up to their sour reputation, you might want to check out this review.  Click here to read the latest super sour Japanese review.

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This Week In Candy

This week has started off on the wrong foot.  As of Saturday evening I've been fighting a cold that snuck up on me and leveled me out.  I had grand plans to start this week off with all kinds of fun projects, but alas I've been stuck in bed most of the time.  I've decided that I should take a few minutes to let you know what we have planned this week, but please keep in mind that some of it might be posted a little later (such as today's "This Week In Candy" post) in the day.

On our Snack Facts feed (available on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook) this Wednesday, we're going to start off our count down to Halloween list of facts.  Also, many of you may not know that we also have an Pinterest gallery, on this gallery you can see all of the latest treats we've reviewed.  Finally, last week we started posting all of our newest link discoveries on Facebook, as well as Twitter. So far we haven't had any complaints, so we're going to continue, please let us know if any of our social media changes drive you nuts.

Today's new review is brought to you by the creators of Codhoppers, one of my favorite Canadian made snacks ever.  Did they improve on their already awesome candy, you'll have to click here to find out.

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This Week In Candy

My friend Randi posted a photo of what I can only describe as either the best, or worst name ever for a doughnut shop.  If you don't get the joke, chances are you may not want to. If you're too young or conservative to get it, then the first thing I can tell you is don't Google the name of this place (without the word doughnut).  While the name of this place is a little... edgy? The donuts look fantastic, and I think I may have to stop in this summer when I'm back in Toronto.

Make sure to check out our Instagram feed this week, also known as the "Snack Facts" feed, because we're looking at famous snacks that taste like oranges.  It's amazing how many famous treats taste like orange, and how many of these treats have some interesting histories.  If you're not on Instagram, we also publish our Snack Facts onto our Facebook page, Twitter feed, and our Tumblr feed.

The time for my triumphant return to Canada (for a little while) is near.  While I'm all excited about trying some classic treats from my past while I'm there, I'm also interested in trying some new things as well.  The problem is, I haven't really been keeping track with what's new in Canada.  If you happen to know of a new fun snack, candy, or junk food that I can't miss, make sure to let me know.

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This Week In Candy

This is the week where I hunker down and really start to write.  I have a big writing project that I'm starting in earnest this week, and I also have a few smaller blog projects to finish up as well.  It's all going to be about me, and the written word.  While I can't really give too much away on any of these projects, I can tell you that the big writing project is all about chocolate, and the smaller projects for the blog will be coming this summer.  I'll also be interested in getting as much help and feedback as I can as these projects come along, so I'll be dropping random questions on our Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr sites as I go.  You might be able to piece together an idea of what I'm working on as I go.

So last week we posted yet another edition of the Junk Fud podcast with our pal Brent.  I'm going to do everything in my power to set up a few more of these over the next few months, since I have such a good time making them.  I may do an interview, maybe I'll record myself writing a review, and maybe I'll just rant about something again.  I have nothing solid yet, but that's often the best way to go into these things.

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This Week In Candy

Easter is coming.  I understand that the bunny is... What does the bunny do to prepare?  I know Santa has his workshop and his elves, but what does the bunny do?  Does he make the chocolate?  If so, why would he make chocolate versions of himself for people to consume?  Also, how does the Easter bunny get around?  I've never heard of an Easter sleigh, you'd need snow on the ground for that to work.  The Easter bunny is a real mystery to me, but I can't complain, because I always love the treats he brings.

All this week we're going to be celebrating Easter, our Instagram feed will be looking at Easter facts. The blog will have all of its regular posts, with an Easter twist.  And as you'd imagine, this week's review is a fun Easter treat.  It's an East-ravaganza this week at Candy Critic.

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This Week In Candy

Today I'm going to let you know about a little something about a project I'm working on.  I'm presently writing the second, more detailed, pitch for a book about the history of chocolate.  Right now I'm researching everything I can on the subject.  It's a pretty big task, but it's remarkably interesting as well.  I've decided that I'm going to post my progress on this blog now and again, as well as ask any questions I might have on the subject.  If you happen to fancy yourself a chocolate expert, even if you're not a professional chocolate maker, I'd like to hear from you.

It's also the time that I announce that I'm leaving Greece.  In about four months I'm moving on to a new and fun destination.  I'm not sure when, if, or how I'll talk about my new home, but things will change for sure at Candy Critic.  There's also going to be a transition where I'll be back at home (Canada) for a month or so.

This week we're going to bring back our daily Snack Fact on our Instagram feed.  We took the week off in Venice, and frankly forgot to post last week, but we're back with all kinds of crazy snack facts.  This week also marks the re-birth of the Junk Fud podcast.  The initial plan is to release two episodes a month.  Some will be short little stories and informative facts (delivered by yours truly), others will be interviews and chat sessions with my friends.  We'll be sure to post them all on the blog when they go up.

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This Week In Candy

This week is going to be about popcorn.  I wanted to write about what I consider to be the latest and greatest popcorn innovation since the microwave bag. So that article will be going up later this week, the future of popcorn is here my friends.  I also wanted to show off my latest 8-bit t-shirt design, as you can imagine it's popcorn themed.  Finally I wanted an excuse to eat a lot of popcorn this week, so enjoy popcorn week here on the Candy Critic blog.

If you're not following us on Instagram, this might be a good excuse.  We've just started a new segment on our Instagram account called our daily Snack Fact.  Every day we'll post a new fact about the snacks we love to eat.  We'll look at the history, science, and general trivia about all the junk food we love to eat.

On a technical side, we've been messing with our various feeds lately trying to make sure there is no doubling up or missing links.  This is a process that takes some time, and we're still working out the bugs.  Hopefully we'll have it all working perfectly very soon, but we appreciate your patience as we're working it out.  On a side note, any tips you might have on this subject are greatly appreciated as well.

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This Week In Candy

What a fun week we have in store.  First of all I'd like to announce, officially, a contest we're having with our good friends at candycrate.com.  For the next two weeks we are going to be singing the praises of cool retro candy.  Best of all, the folks at candycrate.com are going to give one of our lucky winners an awesome box filled with retro candy.  That's right, one lucky winner is going to win a box of candy for free.  This box has everything from an Abba Zaba to Walnettos (What's this Walnettos are this week's review?!!), and everything in between. You can read all about which fine treats you'll be getting right here.  So how do you win this awesome prize?  It's actually very simple, tell me what candy treat has the best memories for you, and why.

A crack team of candy enthusiasts will go through the entries and pick out the one that tugs on our heart strings the most.  That person will win the awesome box of candy provided by the fine people at candycrate.com.  You can enter by sending us a message here, leaving a comment anywhere on this blog, dropping us a line on our Facebook page, on our Google+ page, or if you can cut it down to 140 character our Twitter page.  Feel free to get creative, if you want to shoot a video on YouTube, or take a series of photos, that's fine too, just include the link.  The key is to make sure we can get back to you, so make sure we can contact you via social media, or e-mail.  If we can't contact you, and you give us a beautiful story, we'll have to give it to the guy with the second best story instead.  The contest ends November 20th at midnight, so you have time now, but it will run out quickly. The only bad news is that this contest is limited to folks living in USA and Canada only.

So as you can see from this awesome announcement, we're going retro for the next little while, that means I have to pull out my Hammer Pants, and Blue Blockers.

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This Week In Candy

For a good portion of this week, there is a good chance I will be completely away from any kind of Internet connection.  That doesn't mean there won't be posts on this blog, it just means I won't be posting much extra content this week.  I'd like to tell you that I'm off on a candy adventure, but I'm taking a week off of sweets and doing some manual labour instead.  That's how a Candy Critic takes a vacation, it's a little backwards, but it is rewarding.  I don't think I'll be posting a Candy News segment this Friday, or I don't think the social media pages will be doing much more than re-posting blog posts, but you never know.

While I'm on my adventure I'm going to be doing a lot of thinking, and most likely a little writing.  I've got a few fun articles I want to post here, as soon as I finish writing a few magazine pieces I'm working on.

On the subject of social media, I've started using Vine lately, and I've made a few movies, I think you can find me as candycritic.  If you've been following us on other social media sites, you may have noticed our new (well brought back) segment "Chris stuffing his face".  I've toned it down a bit lately, with fewer shots of my gaping mouth, but I'm still eating all kinds of fun things that I love to share (Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook).

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This Week In Candy

I've decided to bring back a fun little project that I started many years ago, it was called Chris Stuffing His Face.  I used to post pictures on the blog of me stuffing my face with various foods that I was eating that day.  Instead of posting these photos on the blog, I'm going to post these photos on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr instead.  I assume that the number of followers I have will most likely decline, but since I enjoy putting lots of food in my mouth, nothing's really going to stop me.

This week we're also posting our first of many Japanese candy reviews sponsored by the folks at oyatsucafe.com.  They've agreed to keep us in the loop about Japanese treats with a bunch of candies to sample, and I think it's only fair to share the love in return. They've also agreed to give any of our readers a discount with the discount code "candy critic".  So you can learn a little something about a new Japanese treat, and if you think you might like it, you can buy some for yourself at a discount price.

I have a few other small projects on the go as well that I hope to post this and next week, so stay tuned.

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This Week In Candy

I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but we've updated the way our social network sites work.  You can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Google+, and coming soon, Instagram.  Each one of these social media platforms allows you to follow what we're doing in a different way.  Our Twitter account has the most up to date and most regular posts.  If we find an interesting article about junk food or candy, that's the first place we'll post it.  Facebook and Tumblr are updated whenever we post a new blog or review, and fairly regularly with fun little day to day musings.  At this point our Google+ account is getting much use.  We continue to post new reviews, and we also post a few musings now and then, but it's proven to be difficult to work with and we're not sure if we'll continue to use it in the future.  Instagram, when and if we get it working properly, will have a daily photograph of us doing something.  I'm not really sure how it's going to work yet, but I've got some ideas.  We don't want to spam you with too much Candy Critic, so pick a social network and let us know what you like and what you don't like.

Beyond trying to figure out how to make Instagram part of our social media world, we're working on a few articles that we hope to have online soon.  First of all I've developed and obsession with trying to make the perfect batch of popcorn.  We've decided to look at ever aspect of making popcorn and build ourselves the perfect recipe.  If anybody has any suggestions I'd greatly appreciate it.

We're also working on an article about artificial sweeteners.  I know there's a great deal of controversy about how healthy they may be for you, but we're most interested in how they taste.  We're working on a taste test to try and figure out how well some of these sweeteners compare.

Finally, we received a great deal of Glee gum in the mail recently, I believe we might have a sample from each flavour they offer.  We're going to have a taste test to try and find out which flavour tastes best, freshens your breath best, and lasts the longest.

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This Week In Candy

I know that many of you reading this are still stuck in the cold end of February, wondering if the snow will ever end.  But me, I'm already thinking about spring, warm days, cool treats, and iced tea.  I have had such a craving for iced tea, and I realized something, there really aren't that many iced tea flavoured candies out there.  How could one show "iced tea" in candy form anyways.  I would think that it would always come across as just tea.

It's going to be a bit of a slow week on the Candy Critic blog this week, mostly because we're preparing some new material, and we want it to be just right.  We'll still have our regular posts like Candy Art, Classic/Creative candy advertising, and our Friday Candy videos, we're just going to cut back on some of the extras this week.

Finally, we've opened an Instagram (candycritic76) account recently, but we're not really sure what we're going to do with it.  Do you have any ideas, what do you do with your Instagram photos?

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Tuesday's Candy Links

The Guardian looks at social media and candy, did I mention Candy Critic has a facebook and twitter site?

Boing Boing checks out the most fun you could have with an alien and candy hybrid toy.

I've always been told that dogs will die if they eat chocolate, then I'm told stories of people that accidentally let their dog eat chocolate and they survived.  So will chocolate kill a dog?

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A New Way To Play With Your Food

Social networks have created a whole new way to play with your food. Before social networks playing with your food basically meant that you would make believe your gummy bears are test subjects in your evil Frankenstein lab (for example). However today the trend is to give treats social networking identities and allow you to communicate and vote on all kinds of subjects. M&Ms is a great example with their vote for your favorite colour campaigns. Many other candy companies are also doing similar type promotions and they're catching on like wildfire.

Click here to read about a particular campaign from Cadbury.

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