Lindt chocolate is what I consider a higher quality chocolate, definitely better-tasting, more “sophisticated,” if you will, than Hershey or M&Ms chocolate. Of course, if you put the words “Swiss made” on anything, I get a little dreamy eyed. To make things even better, Lindt chocolates are available at common stores like Wal-Mart and Target. That means when I go grocery shopping I can buy whole wheat bread for my health and premium chocolate for my happiness. Lindt is like the best of both worlds – high quality and affordable.

When I found out Lindt would be sending me a milk chocolate bar to review, I was excited but then promptly forgot about it. (Just like I forget to put the clothes in the dryer when they’re finished washing…) When the bar arrived, I was surprised and a little apprehensive to see that they’d sent me their new Raisin & Nuts Classic Recipe bar. I, uh, don’t like raisins… but I do like nuts! I can handle this.

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Before attending the All Candy Expo, all the registered press people were sent dozens and dozens of press releases from various companies advertising their products and inviting us to drop by their booths. That is where I first heard about Landrin Waferatto USA.

The company’s roots date back to the nineteenth century when Georg Landrin began preparing confections for the Imperial Court of Russia. The reputation of his delicacies spread throughout the country and Europe, earning his products notoriety for their quality ingredients and taste.

Landrin USA was recently founded with the intent to market a line of truffles with designs and packaging inspired by couture fashion and art – i.e., appealing to women. I remember checking out some of the photos from their press release to discover all their boxes adorned with orchids, chiffon prints, the elegance of a perfume box, and they somehow unfolded into vases when you opened them.

Elaborate much? Maybe. But the principal and design is aesthetically sound, which is why it’s a current silver finalist for two of the 2009 Sofi Awards (Specialty Outstanding Food Innovation). But part of me didn’t want to like these. They were too pretty. They were too girly.

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To me, one of the most exciting announcements at this year’s All Candy Expo was the addition of three new additions to the Pieces lineup. Never knew there was a Pieces lineup? Well, there is now, with Hershey’s Special Dark, Almond Joy and York Pieces joining the familiar Reese’s. But are these new additions worthy successors to the mantle of everyone’s favorite candy-coated peanut butter treat? (The Hershey’s folks threw in a sample pack of Reese’s Pieces too, so I’m doing a bonus review of those as well.)

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It’s not often that a candy makes me turn to Google for a definition, but that’s what happened when I got these Woodhouse butterfly bars as a gift.

I got two flavors: lemon pink peppercorn, which I could handle, and “Raz el Hanout.” I am pretty sophisticated about world cuisine, but this was unfamiliar to me.

It turns out that this bar is not, say, named after a famous Middle Eastern pop singer, which was my first guess. Raz (or ras) el Hanout is a spice blend used across the Middle East.

Despite years of eating various sorts of Middle Eastern food, I had never run across this flavor, so I had no preconception about how it would go with chocolate. My prejudice lay instead in my previous experience with Woodhouse Chocolates – I decided in the end that they were more pretty than they were my favorite taste experience. Would these be the same?

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I am a native So Cal boy. As such, See’s Candy was a staple of my youth, along with In-N-Out and Thrifty’s Ice Cream. And it’s true what they say: You never know how much you care about something until it’s gone! Well, after moving to Austin, I now know.

I recently got into graduate school and needed to fly to Los Angeles to tie up some loose ends. Yes, picking up my diploma (finally) and seeing the family were all very important things on my to-do list, but there was one that was above all the rest.

I remembered the Awesome Nut & Chew Bar from Steve Almond’s latest additions to his Candyfreak candy list. He was in love. How could I not plan a trip to California just to try one?

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