By now all our European and other non-US readers are wondering what the big hullabaloo is about conversation hearts. If you didn’t grow up in the US getting at least one Valentine with one of them stuck to a tear-out Mickey Mouse card every year, well, you would understandably be a bit lost. Lucky for all of you, I discovered a pretty good European equivalent!

At a local candy emporium I found a roll of “Giant” Love Hearts, made in the UK by Swizzles-Matlow. Upon untwisting the cellophane tube I found myself wondering if they were as good (as bad?) as Necco’s version. Appearance wise they are different – a round disk about 3/4 of an inch across, it’s got a heart relief-stamped into it. The hearts all have the appropriate messages, “True Love” “Be Mine” and so forth. There are a few modern ones, too, with “Email Me” and “Fax Me” – not to mention some seriously odd ones like “Be My Icon” (and lay on my desktop?!)

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As everyone knows, Valentine’s Day is one of the Big Four for Candy Addicts. Along with Christmas, Easter and Halloween, it’s a ready-made excuse to indulge in our favorite pastime – candy! This year, Candy Addict has brought you everything from conversation hearts to chocolate skulls and chocolate covered fortune cookies.

If you’re feeling a little bitter, try some BitterSweets and inject some humor into your holiday. For the more traditional among us, a heart-shaped box filled with delicious dark chocolate covered strawberries might be just the ticket. Or, go with something new and unusual – All Green M&M’s are sure to please, and who could resist a chocolate love fish?

Don’t forget, Valentine’s Day is in only one short week; time to get those orders in and make sure you’re not stuck empty-handed on the big day! Oh, and if you were among the lucky few to receive a chocolate fish… just remember, it’s the thought that counts, right?

chocolate, Valentine

I am a sucker for heart-shaped boxes. When I was younger, my parents would always give me and my sisters our very own heart-shaped candy boxes on Valentine’s Day, which made me feel special and happy.

I can’t really explain it, but I honestly think candy tastes better when it comes from a heart-shaped box.

Maybe it’s the idea that love came along with the candy. Or maybe a heart-shaped box just looks bigger than a regular box, and the idea of more candy (more candy!) just makes everything in the world better.

I was stoked when my shipment from Emily’s Chocolates arrived: when I tore open the cardboard box, I was thrilled to see a giant, beautiful heart-shaped box. The box was tied with a lovely green ribbon, and filled with dark-chocolate covered strawberries.

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Two years ago this time, Brian was bringing you news of a new Valentine’s candy made just for the dejected singles among us, BitterSweets. Being a dejected single myself, I jumped at the chance to sample this year’s batch.

Now, I know you’ve seen those little heart-shaped candies imprinted with messages that always seem to circulate around Valentine’s Day. In fact, you may even have hazarded to taste one. If you’re like most of the universe, you learned your lesson then and there. It turns out candies with sweet sayings on them tend to have little flavor in them.

This is where I have to admit that I actually like conversation hearts. Yes, that’s right world, I have bought them simply to consume rather than to share. It seems that I once got a strange batch that was, for some unknown but likely toxic reason, easy to chew. Ever since then, I’ve been seeking out that elusive texture. Unable to find it again, I guess I just learned to enjoy the tooth-breaking snap of the regular hearts. Of course, that’s only if I can manage not to gag on the cutesy little sayings stamped on each one. Now, finally, I have an option that allows me to enjoy the hearts while staying well within my comfort zone of sarcasm and general anti-Valentine’s Day-ness.

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Now that the Christmas decorations are finally back in storage, it’s getting to be that time of year where we’re bombarded with the next Big Holiday theme: roses, lips, hearts, and an overabundance of EVERYTHING pink and red. And while some people find pink and red to be inspiration to get amorous, there are also those of us who’ll be inspired to get, well, nauseous. Let’s be honest, here. Love is a pretty complicated emotion, right? So, why is it so difficult to find a way to celebrate love in a way that’s more inspiring than that same old, tired heart-shaped box of candy?

The people at M&M’s obviously feel the same way, because they have a refreshingly new take on Valentine’s Day. As we previewed back in October, M&M’s is proclaiming green to be the new color of romance. This Valentine’s season, we’ll be seeing all-green packs of M&M’s. This probably also means we can expect Ms. Green to appear in her sassy white boots all over billboards and on TV.

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