This past week I had the pleasure of having my father visit for the holidays. It was a great time. We explored the city, dined at my favorite eateries, and enjoyed the sweet tooth I genetically inherited from him by popping into various confection stores and leaving very, very full.

When it was time to bid adieu to him, we pulled into a gas station near my house so he could fill the rental car up and avoid the surcharge. Despite this gas station being located down the street from me, I hadn’t set foot in it a long time, but remember finding a slew of great candy during earlier visits.

As he paid the clerk, I browsed the candy aisle and scanned it for something out of the ordinary. Maybe because it was Christmas Day (I can’t really figure it out otherwise), but there amongst all the different flavors of Skittles sat the newest spin-off, Skittles Crazy Cores.

I first learned about the upcoming release of this candy back in the fall, but I hadn’t seen these in any major supermarkets or drugstores, which made my spotting them in an independently owned gas station particularly Christmas miracle-esque.

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Purpose: Chocolate goes well with many flavors, both sweet and savory. As well as the traditional sweet ingredients, sea salt, curry powder and even bacon can also be found in chocolate bars these days. In the spirit of these unusual creations, the purpose of this experiment is to pair chocolate with new and unexpected flavors in an attempt to discover which ones will provide inspiration to the chocolatiers of tomorrow.

Hypothesis: Some items will taste good coated in chocolate, while others will not.

The following ingredients will be tested in today’s experiment:

Gummy Bears: Will coating this fruity favorite in chocolate create a treat that’s twice as nice? Or will this portion of the experiment “bear”-ly make the cut? (This researcher apologizes profusely and promises to avoid attempting to make puns in the future.) This combination is the same as Muddy Bears, which Heather decided weren’t great but weren’t terrible.

Skittles (Original fruit flavor): Will “tasting the rainbow” still be as delightful an experience when that rainbow is smothered in sweet, sweet chocolate?

Cheetos Puffs: The researcher’s sister swears that in elementary school, Cheetos dipped in chocolate pudding were “like, the best lunch ever.” Will the experimental data support or refute these claims?

Broccoli: A nutritious vegetable, but, to some people, not a delicious one. By combining this healthy foodstuff with chocolate, can science create a treat that will convince kids (and maybe even former US presidents) to eat their greens?

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(photo from Theperilouspopsicle)

Making your own prom dress can go one of two ways: you can end up with a Pepto-Bismol trapezoid with sleeves and a lace doily collar, ala Molly Ringwald in Pretty in Pink, or you might end up with a rainbow-inspired prom dress like the one designed by Theperilouspopsicle, a poster on Craftster.org – a killer candy frock made entirely out of Skittles wrappers.

She claims that it took 15 hours and 101 Skittles wrappers to complete her creation. Apparently, she only likes red Skittles, but luckily her friends were around to help her polish off the other colors in the Skittles rainbow. She also received wrappers from strangers after posting an ad on Craigslist. Candy Addict teamwork!

Have any of you ever seen any prom dresses made out of candy wrappers? If you could design your own, what would it look like? I’d love to try making one, but my prom days are long gone, and I don’t think Atomic Fireball wrappers are really appropriate evening wear material.

Thankfully, there are creative Candy Addicts like Theperilouspopsicle out there to design these candy couture wonders for us. In her post, she says that the Skittles prom dress “looks rather epic on”, and I have no doubt that it does. Anything made with this much love (and this much candy!) has got to be beautiful.

• Theperilouspopsicle’s Skittle Wrapper Prom Dress on craftster.org

At Michael Sheridan’s school, candy sales are not allowed (oh the horrors!). When Michael was caught buying a bag of Skittles from another student he was suspended for a day, barred from attending an honors student dinner, and stripped of his title as class vice president.

Seems a bit harsh doesn’t it? It’s a good thing it wasn’t Big league Chew or candy cigarettes!!!

From the article:

Michael says that he didn’t realize his candy purchase was against the rules, but he did notice that the student selling the Skittles on Feb. 26 was being secretive.

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I can see it now… the other student in a trench coat whispering, “Hey kid – you wanna buy some candy?”

• Full Yahoo news story

(thanks go to Bob from pfdebate.com for the news tip!)

Update: The hapless Candy Addict has been restored to his class president title and cleared of any wrongdoing. See MSNBC’s update on the Skittles Suspension for more details.

Skittles

By now, you’ve probably heard of some sort of candy and alcohol combination. We have covered several takes on the idea, including chocolate wine, a candy cocktail called a Fish Bowl, the infamous Skittlebrau, and a long list of candy cocktails. If you like Skittles, and you like vodka, Jose at Extra Tasty has a recipe tailored to you.

I’m not much of a hard-liquor drinker, so I haven’t tried this recipe, but apparently the key to a tasty drink is keeping the green (lime) Skittles out of the mix. Another key is patience. If you’re in the mood for a quick party drink, the Vodka Skittles recipe is not for you. However, if you’d like to sit down on a Thursday night and get your Saturday buzz ready, here’s your chance:

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