Halloween Candy Recipe: Puppy Chow

Puppychow Bowl

One of my favorite candies is one you can make yourself. Commonly called Puppy Chow, this concoction – which requires little baking or time – can also be found at Christmas time with names such as Reindeer Food or Kibble. This sweet treat is a Midwest standard at church bazaars, elementary school craft shows and homemade Halloween parties, so you know it’s gotta be good.

Let me tell you from the start that Puppy Chow is some weird-looking stuff. There’s a reason it’s named after pet food. The finished snack is muddy brown with a white chalky-looking coating. But while this treat may not look very appetizing, once you get over its challenging appearance you won’t be able to stop “chowing down.” Kids love it, and can make it themselves with a little help from an adult. Even as kitchen-challenged as I am, I can whip up a batch in a pinch.

Continue reading

Candy Review: Necco Smoothies

Necco Smoothies

Yes, it’s a classic American institution. But you have to admit: the New England Confectionery Company, better known to you and I as the folks behind Necco wafers, produces some of the driest, dustiest candy on the planet. Necco Wafers are the candy left at the bottom of your Halloween trick-or-treat bag after all the good stuff is gone. On Valentine’s Day, there’s one guaranteed way to make sure your sweetheart gets the wrong message: Give her a box of chalky, stale Conversation Hearts. LUV U? I don’t think so!

So, with low expectations I cracked open a package of Necco’s Smoothies. They’ve been around for a few years, but I can’t say that I’ve noticed them before now. Similar in size and shape to regular Necco Wafers, the Smoothies are supposed to remind one of smoothie drinks, those ever-popular concoctions of health clubs and veggie bars. I find this claim on the Necco company’s part to be the overstatement of the century. Let’s just say, if Smoothies are reminiscent of anything, it’s heartburn medication, in sorta fruity flavors.

Continue reading

Candy Review: Toblerone’s One by One

Toblerone Onebyone Package

Go ahead and twist my arm. Make make me review Toblerone’s One by One, a tasty treat manufactured by one of my favorite chocolate companies. In fact, make me review the One by One assortment as often as you like. These little chocolate pyramids are every bit as delicious – and in some cases even more so – as their better-known bigger cousins.

Remember those dark days when you could only find Toblerone candy in an airport’s duty-free shop? Well, we’re living in enlightened times; those dang delicious bars are everywhere now, from your local gas station to the supermarket down the street. But that doesn’t mean that the candy’s quality has diminished. Toblerone bars are still made in Bern, Switzerland, where they have been produced since 1908.

It’s true that nothing is better than Toblerone’s super-sized 10-lb. jumbo bar, large enough to knock a home run not only out of the park but into outer space, too. For more modest appetites, though, Toblerone now offers the ‘One by One’ five-variety pack. This pack contains a treat for every rabid Toblerone fan: snack-sized individually wrapped triangles of five versions of the company’s chocolate.

The mini-review? Each variety has its own charms. Some are outstanding. Others are a bit below average. But it’s like buying a greatest-hits album: you’ll love some songs, and you’ll tolerate them all.

Continue reading

Candy Review: Hubba Bubba Strawberry Gush Glop

Hubba Bubba Glop Package

While it may not have been an altogether satisfying experience, reviewing Hubba Bubba gum’s new Strawberry Gush Glop – pieces of gum that resemble strange red chicken eggs – did at least bring back some sweet childhood memories.

Back in middle school we had a candy dealer who would sell us pieces of original Hubba Bubba (or its archrival, Bubble Yum) for 25 cents each. Everyone wanted that gum. It blew the biggest bubbles of any gum on the market. And it was so sugary that it could rot your teeth before you even got it out of your pocket. I still remember blowing bubbles as big as my head behind the teacher’s back in the sixth grade. Fun stuff!

(Of course, there were those rumors in my school playground about spider eggs being found in the gum… but, really, what are a few spider eggs when the gum they’re in is so delicious?)

So, memories at the ready, I decided to give the newer Hubba Bubba product a try. Way to ruin my childhood memories, Bubba folks. Now, I understand that Hubba Bubba is targeted to kids, not to adults. But still.…

Continue reading

Retro Candy Review: Valomilk

Valomilk Logo

Here’s some advice: don’t try to eat a Valomilk when you’re driving. One bite through that chocolate shell and you’ll have liquid marshmallow dripping down your chin and onto your clothes. I shudder to think how many accidents have been caused by drivers frantically wiping Valomilk filling from their shirts.

For candy fans, the Valomilk, created in 1931 by the Russell Sifers Candy Co., is one of the top treats on the market. If you’ve not experienced the joy of biting into one, I don’t know what to tell you. Well, I’ll tell you this: a Valomilk puts the mass-market Mallo Cup, which it resembles, to shame.

Continue reading