Julie’s Corner Store in Lacon, Illinois isn’t your typical candy shop. In fact, it’s not a candy shop at all. In addition to fudge, the store sells everything from antiques to reproduction tin toys to tools (I saw sandpaper for sale!). You can bet the fudge is just as interesting as the store.

Julie’s uses fresh ingredients and real butter and cream. I got a nice review pack from them with a variety of flavors: chocolate peanut butter, chocolate, vanilla praline, orange creme, and chocolate mint. The box reminded me of something you’d get at a beachfront candy store, the kind of place that has hand-pulled taffy and seafoam candy.

Read More »

You may have noticed that we here at Candy Addict go a little nuts over the Hershey’s Limited Edition Kisses. Well, a good friend of mine recently went to Hawaii, and she brought back a bag of the Hershey’s Kisses with Macadamia Nuts. I haven’t quite figured out if these are limited edition or simply limited to sales in Hawaii.

These Kisses feature Mauna Loa macadamia nuts (Hershey’s acquired Mauna Loa in 2004) and were first introduced in Hawaii in 2006. There’s a milk chocolate and dark chocolate version. Happily, I got the milk chocolate version!

Okay, here’s where I fess up that I am not a huge lover of macadamia nuts. Given a choice, I would generally select a non-nut version of a candy, but if I have no choice? Bring on the macadamia nuts! Now, in my favor, these Hershey’s Kisses with Macadamia Nuts don’t boast a strong nutty taste. You might think these Kisses would have a whole nut in the center, but then you would be wrong! These milk chocolate Kisses have teeny little chunks of macadamia nut in them. They are so minuscule, in fact, that they are practically negligible. I do think, however, that there’s a hint of macadamia nut in there that lends a subtle, nutty flavor to the creamy milk chocolate.

So, these might not knock your socks off if you’re a big fan of macadamia nuts, but they are still tasty and will appeal to a large audience.

• Hershey’s Kisses website

Buy Hershey’s Kisses online:

• at Candy Direct
• at Old Time Candy
• at Amazon.com

My friends often wonder how I can consume so many sweets and not weigh a million pounds. Well, I run. But here’s something they might not know – I eat candy when I run! Back when I trained with some ultrarunners, I learned to eat while running. Typical endurance foods such as PowerBars just didn’t taste that great to a Candy Addict like me, so I started taking more appealing yet equally energy-boosting treats, such as Snickers bars, red licorice, M&Ms, gummi bears, and ooh, Jelly Belly jellybeans!

Well, manufacturers of energy foods have gotten smarter, and they’ve started producing endurance treats that actually taste good (that means they taste like candy). Clif, the makers of Clif Bar, have developed a carbohydrate and electrolyte replacement product called Shot Bloks that are rather like gummi candies. Offered in a number of flavors, including strawberry, cola, orange, lemon lime, and cran razz, these little cubes are designed to give the athlete a boost of energy. Some of them contain caffeine, but all boast organic brown rice syrup and are sweetened with organic evaporated cane juice.

Read More »

I am always on the hunt for new and interesting candies, which means waiting in line at the supermarket isn’t all that painful for me, since there are plenty of candies to study. Most of the candies by the checkout tend to be mints, gums, or otherwise intriguingly packaged candies, and for some odd reason, most of the candies I snag there end up in the car. It’s car candy, which means I don’t eat that candy anywhere else but in the car, and frankly, it doesn’t really taste right if I don’t eat it in the car.

The car candy category for me is comprised of some gum (usually in a nice container) and minty-ish or fruity candies. I am particularly partial to Ice Breakers in the fruit sours varieties or the Life Savers Fruit Tarts.

Read More »

I’m an easy target for the impulse buys at the grocery store checkout counters. I think it’s a good time to scan the candies and see if there’s anything new, and then of course if something catches my eye, I have to try it. Take, for example, these Ice Breakers in Iced Tea Lemon flavor. I have long been a fan of Ice Breakers candies, and I usually have a container of the Ice Breakers sours in my car. I am also a fan of black tea, so these Ice Breakers sure seemed like a winning combination!

Read More »