On a recent vacation in southeastern Tennessee, in which I must have wandered starry-eyed through at least a dozen fudge and candy shops, I kept bumping into these Lollipops from Blanton’s Candies. When I’m on the prowl for new sweets, lollipops don’t often register on my “intriguing candy” radar, probably because I prefer to chew my hard candies rather than suck on them. I find the crunch much more satisfying than the dissolve. But these lollipops caught my attention because of their beautiful, shiny appearance.
I loved the bright, cheerful, whimsical colors. When I picked one up for closer inspection, I noticed that all of the sticks were printed with the name and address of a local Tennessee candy company, Blanton’s Candies. I always like to try locally made treats, so I decided to sample a few of these lollipops. I had my choice of perhaps twenty varieties, but I picked only four: grape, orange cream, cotton candy, and candy corn.
Wouldn’t it be cool if there was a brand of candy that was actually good for you and did more than just cause your teeth to fall out? Unfortunately, no such candy exists, but the folks at Hillside Candy have come awfully close with their “healthier-for-you” Go Naturally hard candies. These organic bad boys are free of gluten, free of preservatives, and made without high fructose corn syrup. Recently, two new flavors, Blood Orange and Ice Mint Mango, have been added to the Go Naturally line-up, but without all the unhealthy-but-delicious parts, do these candies taste any good? They do! The Blood Orange flavor tastes like… well… oranges. I’ll admit, I’m not quite sure how blood oranges differ from regular oranges in terms of flavor, but if this candy is to be trusted, blood oranges are sweeter and less tart.