Despite being siblings, my brother and I had differing opinions on everything. He was a Los Angeles Dodgers fan while I preferred the Angels. He liked sci-fi stuff, and I… well, I just didn’t like/understand it.

And even on Thanksgiving, the day of the year where all families sit down together, he and I were contentious. You see, my mom had this tradition where she would let one of her kids pick the dessert to create. He always wanted pumpkin pie while I craved blueberry cheesecake. It was always a tempestuous dinner if your dessert wasn’t picked.

All these years later, I still like my preference over his, but in honor of the spirit of Thanksgiving, here is a candy recipe that combines both loves: A blueberry pumpkin cheesecake fudge bar that I call the Harmony Bar.

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I enjoy the limited edition Hershey’s Kisses so much that I bestowed the silver medal to them on my Top 10 Best Spinoff Candy list. The varieties they release aren’t always amazing, but when they are, they are.

Lately, there haven’t been very many releases since the 100th Anniversary passed, but every now and then I see a new flavor on the market that I eagerly purchase. For Halloween, they have reissued Candy Corn Kisses (no!), Caramel Apple Kisses (I haven’t been able to find these), and Pumpkin Spice Kisses (on sale this week at Target for two dollars a bag).

Oddly enough, the same day I came across the Pumpkin Spice Kisses, I happened to spot Raspberry Special Dark Kisses at Walgreens. There was nothing Halloween or Autumnal about this bag to indicate why it was being released at this time, but one should not question gifts from the candy gods.

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It’s finally October, fellow Candy Addicts, and we all know what that means! Halloween, the best holiday ever, will soon be upon us. Halloween not only marks the opening of “candy season” here in the U.S. but it also allows the shelves of our favorite stores to be filled up with treats to tie us over in the meantime.

I went out in search of some of these early Halloween candies and rounded up a few to share with you here. Isn’t it nice of me to do all the foot work for you? I certainly plan on putting this knowledge to good use: making sure I greet Halloween properly with a sugar-induced coma!

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One of the few things I have a terrible time resisting is a new experience, especially when it comes to candy. I came across the Holiday Creme Savers at the grocery store this week and saw that “Pumpkin Pie” was listed as a flavor (a vice of mine)! Well before I knew it, the package found its way into my cart.

The packaging is very festive and beautiful, it caught my eye right away. A beautiful red shimmery base with green and gold accents. The three holiday flavors are clearly displayed on the front: Gingerbread, Eggnog and Pumpkin Pie. Considering I’m a huge fan of pumpkin flavors and gingerbread (I could give or take Eggnog) I knew I was in for something yummy.

Upon opening the package I immediately noticed an uneven ratio of the three flavors. The inside contained roughly 60% gingerbread, 30% eggnog and 10% pumpkin pie. I understand how distribution is never completely even, but I was hoping for more of the pumpkin pie flavor. A shame!

Here’s how the flavors rate:

Gingerbread: comes in a red wrapper with a gold gingerbread man on it. The candy itself is the standard smooth semi-circle shape, with a creamy white base with brown swirls. It really tastes of a gingerbread cookie! It’s pleasantly sweet without overdoing it. It has a nice slow melt and creamy texture just like all its relatives in the Creme Saver family. I’m now very glad that a majority of the bag is this flavor, yum!

Eggnog: Comes in a golden wrapper with red mug design on it. The appeareance is similar to the gingerbread, except the swirls are a nice golden yellow. It’s sweet with a very strong buttery rum flavor. Actually, let me rephrase that, it’s a very strong rum flavor with a sweet, sort of chemical aftertaste. There’s also a hint of nutmeg in the aftertaste as well, but it’s very subtle. You’ll really enjoy this one if you’re an eggnog lover, but I could take it or leave it.

Pumpkin Pie: The one I was looking forward to! The wrapper is green with a golden slice of pie on it. The candy has a beige base with dark orange swirls. The flavor is……strange. It didn’t taste of pumpkin pie at all when I popped it into my mouth, nor by the time I finished it. It tastes sweet, with some odd hint of a floral essence, then finally a peppery/clove/nutmeg aftertaste. I felt like I was sucking on a holiday potpourri. Most disappointing.

Overall, I think the Holiday flavors are worth buying. The Gingerbread and Eggnog flavors are pretty tasty, it’s just the pumpkin pie that really lacks. These would look beautiful in the candy bowl at work or a party. Just don’t wonder why only the green ones (yet again, right?) are leftover.

• Creme Savers Website

Buy Holiday Creme Savers Online:

• at Candy Direct
• Buy other flavors of Creme Savers at Amazon

More candy articles about: candy, sweets, holiday, festive, lifesavers, pumpkin, egg nog, gingerbread

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Ahh, Japan, the land of seasonal treats! The pumpkin, so revered by the Japanese as the quintessential autumn vegetable; it can be boiled, roasted, baked, steamed, and mashed up with pounds of sugar and turned into a seasonal candy!

I was recently in Japan, and a friend casually let it slide that pumpkin-flavored KitKats were available in stores, which of course then turned into a quest to find them. After searching through candy aisles at various convenience stores (amazing candy selection at Japanese convenience stores!) and supermarkets, I finally found them at, yes, a convenience store! The happy pumpkins on the package led me to believe these were for Halloween, which is not really celebrated in Japan, but hey, if there’s a chance to produce and market new goods, why not?

First, the aroma–the KitKat doesn’t smell particularly pumpkiny. It gives off a slightly fruity scent, kind of like how those raspberry-filled Russell Stover candies smell. I thought the KitKat might be orange in color, but it looks like an ordinary KitKat. One crunch in, and, well, it doesn’t really taste like pumpkin, either. It does have a less chocolately taste than a regular KitKat with perhaps a hint of uh, je ne sais quois. I find that the pumpkin-flavored KitKat is neither delicious nor repulsive. Maybe if I stare at a pumpkin while eating the KitKat, it will taste more like pumpkin?

• Nestlé Japan web site
• Buy Japanese KitKats at JList

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