After my stint with the artisan Wiseman House Chocolate products, I thought it would be nice to distance myself from the upper echelon/expensive side of Texas confection and return to the classic stuff I can find in my local drug stores.

By the checkout register of Walgreens, I spotted an assortment of Texan candies that are from all over the state. There were fudges, brittles, and peanut patties, but my sights were set on a product I hadn’t consumed in a while.

I had never heard of Dickies candy, nor of their parent company Tyler Candy Co. (or even Tyler, TX for that matter), but I was drawn to their Pecan Roll – even if it was because of their mascot of an elephant draped with the flag of Texas… possibly the official candy of the Texan republican party?

I had never eaten a pecan roll, but it seemed similar to those Yule Logs I find around Christmas, just this time covered in pecans instead of walnuts and minus the candied fruit.

Read More »

My awesome friend Greg from Houston and his friends are total foodies. What does this mean? That they are willing to drive 3.5 hours from Houston to attend the Austin Hill County Food and Wine Festival, even if it means driving through a hurricane to get there.

I am not a big fan of wine – with the exception of amazing New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs – but if there is gourmet food, then count me in! So we arrived at the festival Sunday afternoon, and as I was swishing my glass of overly sweet champagne in desperate need of a little O.J., I spot a chocolate booth.

Wiseman House Chocolates, a local Texas chocolatier, stood at the front of the main tent and just dared you not to stop by with their elegant display of product and fully uniformed workers. I sauntered as quickly as one can in 90ºF with a glass of champagne in hand, eager to pick at the lovely samples they were doling out.

Read More »

My love for Atkinson candy is well documented. But until now, I have only sampled products that encompass ingredients they are known for. What I mean by this is that Atkinson primarily centers its products on coconut, peanuts/peanut butter, and various nuts. Of course other candy companies use these ingredients, but few do so to the extent that Atkinson does.

But there is more to the Atkinson family than those staple ingredients. You see, the full name of Atkinson is Judson-Atkinson. That is because Atkinson has acquired many candies companies over the years, including fellow Texan confectionery Judson Candies, in 1983.

Judson Candies has the distinct honor of being able to claim that it pioneered the sour ball. Creator J.W. Judson was attempting to create a tart jellybean, and in the process he developed cherry sours in 1910.

There are several varieties of sours out there, but I decided the best to sample was Judson-Atkinson Assorted Sours mix because it included cherry, the original sour, as well as four other flavors.

Read More »

There are certain things indigenous to an area that non-natives are bewildered by but which the locals view as an every day occurrence. Kinda like if you were to visit Australia and saw a Kangaroo running across the road… you would probably be rather enthralled while an Antipodean would treat it as you might treat a deer.

The candy equivalent of this for me is a confection known as the peanut pattie. I never knew such things existed before my move to Texas. Since moving to the Lone Star state, I see them everywhere. Gas stations. Drug Stores. Vending Machines. It’s so prevalent that it’s not even limited to one distributor, as several varieties have caught my eye.

Unsure of which brand to purchase, I went with Goodart’s Peanut Pattie. My logic was the following: there’s a female peanut mascot on the wrapper lifting weights. What does that have to do with good candy? Probably nothing, but I couldn’t resist hilarious thoughts of Mr. Peanut trying to ask this character out if he saw her at the gym, and I bought the candy purely because of successful advertising.

Read More »

Though I feel my heart is already promised to The Atkinson Candy Company when it comes to Texan candy, I realize there are many other small manufacturers littered across the Lone Star State. Often, I see the products of these other companies near the checkout aisle of drug stores or on the countertops of gas stations. It’s hard for independent companies to afford shelf-stocking fees, so I assume this localized display is one of the few ways they can afford to compete with the big three.

On a trip to a Walgreens, I spotted this tiny, square praline piece of candy in a wicker basket. Truthfully, I had come to buy a bag of Twix, but this cellophane-wrapped candy seemed like the dog in the pound nobody adopts because it’s not a purebred. Well, there was no way I could let this mutt/piece of candy just sit there. It needed a good home/stomach.

The candy turned out to be called a Chewy Pecan Praline, which is manufactured by the Kay Klauber Candy Factory from Columbus Texas. I had a good feeling about this candy right away. I have always been charmed by candies whose names nonchalantly tell you exactly what you’re about to eat, instead of trying to trick you into purchasing them with some brand name that is never as tasty as the name implies.

Read More »