Monthly Archives: December 2006

Candy Addict Site Redesign Update – We Need A Designer!

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logo

As I mentioned before, I hired a web designer to revamp the site’s look. Well, it turns out now that he can’t do it – life got in the way for him. So, I’m looking for a new site designer. If you or someone you know would like to do it, let me know and I’ll give you the detailed specs. I am willing to pay – I have some money I put away for the site design, so if I pick your design, I’ll pay you and give you a permanent link in the footer of the site as long as your design is in use.

Email me directly for all the details, money info, etc. What I am looking for is a complete WordPress theme that I can just drop in and switch to with little tweaking by me. Alternately, if anyone knows of a good place online to get in touch with some WordPress theme designers (a forum or something), let me know about that too. OR, if you know of a good WordPress theme designer that you have used in the past, let me know how to get in touch with him/her.

Just for reference, here is the design that the other designer mocked up and I agreed to (with some tweaking). I couldn’t decide if I should make this a “contest” where people could submit designs and I would pick the winning one, or if I should hire someone outright. I’m leaning more towards the “submit a design and if I pick yours you ‘win’” idea, but I have no idea if anyone will even respond to this call for help. It’s hard to have a “contest” with no entries.

Help us out! Leave a comment or drop me a line. Let’s get this site cleaned up and looking top-notch like it should be!

UPDATE: It looks like we have a designer! Details/preview soon!

candy, sweets, WordPress, theme, themes, WordPress theme, designer, theme designer, web designer

Peculiar Pop Rocks Facts

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Pop Rocks book

No other candy has served the American imagination more than Pop Rocks. Okay, maybe the stories surrounding M&Ms could compete with the ones spawned from Pop Rocks, but you have to admit, dying from ingesting candy and Coke is pretty remarkable.

What’s just as remarkable is the real life history of Pop Rocks, told in a book by Marv Rudolph called Pop Rocks: The Inside Story of America’s Revolutionary Candy. The Boston Globe did a short Q & A with the author, and here’s what he had to say about the famously fizzy candy:

Q You write that when food chemist Bill Mitchell invented Pop Rocks, he wasn’t trying to make a candy.

A He was trying to carbonate Kool-Aid. He first made a carbonated ice. They actually made a product out of it. Imagine a hockey puck that was made of carbonated ice, and they would coat it in chocolate. A customer would drop it in a glass of milk, and it would bubble and they’d have an instant ice cream soda.

[...]

Q How long before the exploding kid rumors started?

A It must have started within six months. Their consumer hot line was going 24/7. People would go, “Are you the company that killed that nice little boy?” And right around that time, there was a rumor about spider eggs in Bubble Yum.

[read more]

What I found most interesting was the fact that creator Bill Mitchell is also credited with inventing Jell-O and Cool Whip. Truly a culinary genius!

Buy Pop Rocks online:

candy, sweets, Pop Rocks, PopRocks, urban legends, retro, nostalgia, book, books, trivia

Confessions of a Candy Addict in The Village Voice

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Village Voice Candy
(Photograph by Jen Davis, for Alex Cao Studio; hairstylist: Steve Kong, for winstonwest.com; makeup artist: Elisa Flowers, for BA Reps; food and prop stylist: bettinafisher.com; all candy provided by sweetlifeny.com; production/casting: winstonwest.com; model: Kamela, APM Model Management)

Last month I was contacted by Jessica Jones, a writer from The Village Voice. She was working on an article on candy addition and she wanted to interview me about candyaddict.com and my “addiction”. We arranged a time for her to call and we talked for maybe 30 minutes via phone. The article was published online today and is a very interesting article on true candy/sugar addiction, even if none of my interview made it into the final draft.

candy, sweets, Village Voice, VillageVoice, news

Candy Cane Facts, Trivia, and Urban Legends

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Candy Canes

‘Tis the season for this Christmas candy favorite. Take one look at Candy Addict, and you can see wildly different incarnations of candy canes: in Hershey’s Kisses, in Tootsie Pops, in Pop Rocks, and even as Christmas tree waterers. Even though they’re available in many other flavors, the classic, nostalgic candy cane will always be made of peppermint.

We eat these every season, but have you ever wondered where the candy came from? The Candy Cane Urban Legends Reference Page at snopes.com clears up a few myths about the candy cane. Candy canes were apparently already in existence as a Christmas treat by the late 17th century. Popular tradition holds that the shape is meant to represent a shepherd’s crook. According to an article from The Quad-City Times, candy canes started to show up in the U.S. in the early 20th century. The world’s longest handmade candy cane was made by Paul Ghinelli of Leslie, MI. His cane was 58 feet and 2 1/4 inches!

Peppermint is a special flavor, traditionally linked to the winter season. It’s cool and comforting, and a perfect compliment to hot drinks like cocoa and coffee. And one final fact: the average 5-inch candy cane contains 50 calories and no fat or cholesterol! So eat up! At least it will keep your breath nice and minty for that special meeting underneath the mistletoe.

candy canes, candy, holiday, christmas, christmas candy, peppermint