I seriously love marshmallows. Maybe it’s their association with summer and autumn campfires, hot cocoa, and Rice Krispie squares. Or maybe it’s just their incredibly light, fluffy, gooey texture and delicious vanilla flavor. (Though “vanilla” is often used as a shorthand for “boring,” is there honestly anyone who doesn’t like the flavor?)

So I was totally jazzed to discover Mitchell Sweets All Natural Chocolate and Vanilla caramel-coated marshmallows at Hammond’s Candies’ All Candy Expo booth – one of the nicest-looking booths at the show, I might add – alongside an array of gorgeous handmade candy canes and lollipops. Because if there’s one thing I love more than marshmallows, it’s caramel. And chocolate. (OK, that’s two things.)

Individually wrapped in waxed paper, the rectangular marshmallows have a chunky, rustic look, bearing borders of vanilla and chocolate-flavored caramel respectively. They have the appearance of having been cut from a big log of caramel-coated marshmallow (and if you can think of a stickier, messier job than coating a log of gooey marshmallow in hot, sticky caramel, I’d like to hear it). The ingredient list is pretty simple, but not as simple as you’d expect from something bearing the name “all natural” (which, admittedly, doesn’t mean an awful lot these days). Are coconut oil, corn syrup, and invert sugar “natural” products? For that matter, is gelatin? Regular sugar? Who knows?

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I’ll be honest with y’all – when I think of high-end chocolate, Russell Stover isn’t exactly the first brand that springs to mind. It’s grouped in my mind with companies like Palmer and Allen as lower-end chocolate companies that probably aren’t doing much worthy of a serious Candy Addict’s notice. But then I started to read reviews of their chocolate-covered Easter egg lineup – really good reviews.

So, this post-Easter sale season, I decided to pick up a couple to review. Although the eggs are available in several varieties, including the ever-popular caramel egg, being the mallow junkie that I am, I went for the marshmallow and marshmallow caramel varieties.

These aren’t the 3-D Creme Egg-type eggs (though Russell Stover makes those too), but the larger flattish kind (like Reese’s Easter eggs). About three inches long, they’re wrapped in brightly-colored (some might say gaudy) metallic wrappers. Here’s how my chosen flavors stacked up:

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One of my favorite meals is a plain old hamburger and fries. So when I saw that the Giant Size Mallow Burger was reviewed, I had to go out and try the Mallow Fries. Because what’s a marshmallow burger without any marshmallow fries, right?

At first look, I like the way they are packaged in a typical fry container. Surprisingly, they even look like fast food french fries – wrinkly ones that have been sitting out for a while that we all seem to have the misfortune of getting in our drive-thru bag.

The fry container holds about ten nice-sized marshmallow fries. It also comes with a packet of sour strawberry candy gel that’s supposed to look like – yep, you guessed it – a packet of ketchup.

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I am fairly certain that marshmallow is the greatest substance in the entire universe. Why marshmallow hasn’t been given a Nobel Awesome Prize is beyond me, but perhaps the best way to celebrate the greatness that is marshmallow is to revel in the explosion of marshmallow goodness that normally takes place around Easter time, when eggs, chicks, bunnies, and other delightfully adorable things all take marshmallow form to bring joy to millions.

I am always on the lookout for random marshmallow candies (preferably chocolate-marshmallow candies, as they are the best) so I was intrigued when I came across an Elmer’s Heavenly Hash Egg, a delightfully old-school confection that I had somehow managed to miss over the past 28 years of my life. But after having one, I can tell you this: I shall never go without an Elmer’s Heavenly Hash Egg again. EVER.

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I am, admittedly, not a big fan of sharing. At the risk of making myself appear greedy, selfish, and all-around less likable, I will openly acknowledge here that my own personal philosophy is that every effort should be made to minimize the amount of sharing one ever has to do. Sure, there are exceptions when sharing is okay – sometimes even nice (think first-date milkshake with two straws, cable bills, and household chores) – but as a general rule, I think it’s best avoided.

When I received my generous shipment of Ugly Truffles and Damn Good Cookies from Chocolate Gourmet, however, I immediately recognized that the only way I’d be able to review such a quantity of treats in a timely manner, without making myself deliciously ill, would be to invite my friend, a sweet-toothed vixen herself, over for a night of eating chocolate. And oh, what a night it was.

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