Chocolate Printing

I was at work today enjoying some fun sized candy bars when I came across this perfect little Milky Way. Why was is perfect? Not because it had the exact right amount of caramel, or chocolate, or malt-nougat (FYI: Milky Ways are named after the wildy popular milkshake, not the Earth's galaxy as I used to always think) It was perfect because of the perfect squiggly lines on the bottom. Not only do they look awesome, they taste awesome. Sure, you might say that a little "chocolate printing" doesn't change the actual taste of chocolate, but I disagree. It's the experience of imagining where those little lines came from, appreciating the work that went into making them, and I just swear those lines add a little extra chocolate crunch when you eat them.
 

Milky Way Chocolate Printing

  

When I was younger, I remember thinking that these lines held some kind of importance, like they were the chocolate bar's heartbeat, or if you pieced 100 candy bars together so the lines matched up it would reveal a secret message, or that I had gotten a special candy bar off the batch that somebody "bumped" into during the production line. Now that I'm older and wiser, I know that those lines come from machines similar to this:

but it's still fun to imagine right?

These next two were a little more beat up and the printing wasn't so much defined. They still tasted pretty good, but they didn't have my "chocolate printing" so they weren't perfect.

3 Musketeers



Snickers



Some candy bars don't have the squiggle lines, they have dots. These are still pretty good, and I can appreciate the texture, but honestly--nothing beats the squiggles.

Heath

So next time you open up a chocolate candy bar, check out the bottom and appreciate the chocolate printing. :)

Candy Construction-Pirate Ship

As promised, I have the update for our candy construction project inspired by National Candy Day and Sharon Bowers' book, Candy Construction. During the project, I was reminded how powerful a child's imagination is. I was prepared to 'plant' creative ideas into my niece and nephew's minds to build a pirate ship with candy, but they proved to be the more creative than I even was! Here's the finished project:

I wanted to start with a simple project to get our creative juices flowing, so we built snowmen out of Rice Krispie treats. (If you don't know how to make Rice Krispie Treats, 1) that's sad. 2) check out their website and make some now!)


We just mixed all the ingredients together, let it sit for a few minutes, then globbed a pile on a piece of wax paper for each of us. After forming the balls for the snowmen, we used little candies to decorate the little men. Kenna, who is 3 years old, just really wanted to press every pice of candy into her "snowman". Kellan, age 5, was a little more concerned about the shape of his snowman who wouldn't stand up, so he instead made a "turtle". The whole time, I was thinking that we should be on one of the Rice Krispies commercials on TV...

Snowmen and other candy creatures

Snowman? 

Kellan said that their snowmen "melted". How cute :)

We found out that the Rice Krispie Treats were a little too soft to form into a ship, so we waited about 10 minutes until I could mold the general shape of a ship. Then we had to wait again until that hardened. I thought I was impatient when it came to making candy, but try to get a 3 and 5 year old to be patient while waiting to play with (eat) a table full of candy!!

Finally-decorating time! Peanut butter served as a good glue to stick the items to the ship. I put Sour Gummy Life Savers, Skittles, Starburst, Nerds, mini marshmallows, graham crackers, lollipops, candy sticks, Fruit Roll-Up, whoppers, Mike n' Ikes, candy cigarettes, and candy corn in bowls, and had the kids' halloween candy stash on the side in case we needed more candy. You can never have enough candy if you ask me :)

Lollipop Island
There really is a Nerds treasure inside of the treasure box!

You can see the ship itself, plus we made a lollipop island off to the side where the gummy bears live, guarding the Nerd treasure. The water, a mixture of Skittles, M&M's, & Almond Joy pieces is where the Swedish Fish live--the pirate's main food source of course. The pirates are made up of marshmallows, licorice, and a peach gummy. They stand up with the support of toothpicks, the only non-edible part of this whole project. On board the ship are Whopper cannon balls, Peachie plates (to eat their fish on), candy corn cannons, and marshmallow lights. I tried to explain that pirates probably didn't have electricity on their ships, but that triggered a whole series of "why" questions about electricity that I wasn't prepared to answer, so we settled on the idea that our pirate ship had magic marshmallow lights. It's about creativity right?

If you were "naughty" you had to walk to graham cracker plank
--see the pirate floating in the background.

The best part of this project, like I said earlier, was just watching the kids come up with their own ideas and creating a story for each pirate and each piece of candy they placed on the scene. It may not look perfect like the example in the book, but my first experience of candy construction with my niece and nephew was perfect in my book (or should I say blog?)

Arrr!!!
Kelso the Pirate

National Candy Day!

Happy National Candy Day!!

Many would argue that this holiday should coincide with Halloween since that is when all the treats get divided out to the children. But November 4th it is. Many would also argue that candy is associated mainly with children, wrong again. 65% of America's total candy consumption is gobbled up by adults (I'm guessing I'm a solid 2%!).

Sadly, I forgot about this holiday until my good friend, a dental hygienist at that, texted me last night asking what fabulous plans I had for the holiday. I promised her I would come up with something "fabulous" so the cranks upstairs started turning...

I have a book full of candy construction ideas that I haven't gotten to try yet, and I get to babysit my wonderful nieces and nephews today--this could be it! This book gives ideas and instructions on how to build animals, buildings, scenes, anything you want out of pure candy! Even more perfect--the kids already have stash of candy leftover from Halloween that we can tap into :)

This book will be our inspiration :)

Check back tomorrow to see the results of our National Candy Day project. I promise I will post (I know I haven't been keeping up with the updates lately).

Happy Candy Day!!!

Halloween Candy Buy-Back

I'm baackk! It has been entirely too long since I've "dished" on my candy adventures and I appologize to any readers (anyone?...) who has checked back this last month to find nothing. Lame.

Anyhow, don't worry, I've not abandonned my love of candy--just my love of using my free time to blog :) I put together another candy buffet for a wedding, have been experimenting with gummy worms, made some tried and true treats that I've shared previously, been plotting my halloween candy for trick-or-treaters, and of course consumed my fair share of candy.

Today though I want to share what I get to do at work next week. Take candy from kids!!! Don't worry though, it's for a good cause! Every year Heartland Smiles, along with Operation Gratitude, hosts a Candy Buy-Back. We give kids $1 for every pound of candy that they bring into the office after trick-or-treating. We then send all the candy to our active soldiers overseas. It's a great way for kids to give back to our troops, save their teeth from too many cavities, and make some moolah while they're at it.

Last year Operation Gratitude collected nearly 225,000 lbs of candy!!! That's a lot of hooch! :)

Check out their websites for more information, or better yet stop by my office next week and donate some of your candy, I promise I won't eat it (that's not saying I won't be eating my own candy out of the secret stash in the clinic though!!)

www.operationgratitude.com
www.halloweencandybuyback.com

Photos courtesy of Halloween Candy Buy Back Program on Facebook:

Sea Salt Caramels - Take One

I finally found time last night to get back to my candy making adventures and settled on some Sea Salt Caramels. My aunt Tia makes really great caramels and brings them to my grandparents house almost every Christmas-I knew it would be tough to top hers, but I gave it a shot.


Not that I'm making excuses for how these turned out...but I am. I don't have the nicest stovetop (it's settings are high and off), I don't have the nicest pans (thrift store purchase!), I only have two hands, and I apparantly forgot to go grocery shopping this month (it's like I was on a diet or something...) 


Okay, so maybe I just wasn't as prepared as I needed to be for this recipe... Whatever the reason, these didn't turn out perfectly on the first try.


Here's kind of how to process went:


1. Wednesday: Went to grocery store to get supplies. Got home, didn't have evaporated milk. Didn't want to go back to store, so I went to bed.


2. Thursday: Went to grocery store, got a can of evaporated milk, didn't have any cash so I used my credit card for a $1.05 purchase.

3. Got home, started mixing supplies together, put on stove. Realized I didn't have any vanilla extract. Found some rum instead. :) Problem averted.

4. Try to prep pan with wax paper. Find a 5 inch piece left in on the roll. :( Mixture starts boiling out of my largest pan.

5. Try to pour some mixture out onto cooling pan. Works for about 20 seconds, then starts boiling over again. Find another smaller saucepan and split the mixture into two pans. 

6. Realize that I can't monitor the temperature of each and stir each constantly with only two hands. Pot #2 starts scorching (which is why you need to constantly stir)


7. Realize that my cooling pan is now covered in watery, not-yet caramely liquid. Quick wash the pan and re-spray with pam while the caramel scorches some more.


8. Drop the candy thermometer into the caramel, making it impossible to read or fetch out without burning my fingers.


9. Give up. Pour out both saucepans into the cooling pan. Set scorched pans aside.

10. Try to find something to mix with my rum for a nightcap drink. All we have is milk and water. Find a bottle of wine. Pour a glass. 

Yummy "Pasque" wine made right here in
Vermillion at Valient Vineyards.

11. Notice the kitchen filling with smoke from the scorched, unwashed pans. Do the dishes. Enjoy more wine.


12. Realize I forgot to add the sea salt to my sea salt caramels. I grind some on the top while it's already in the cooling pan. Good enough.

11. Friday morning: Caramel still sitting in cooling pan in the kitchen. It's probably going to stay there for awhile...


All in all, the taste of the caramel didn't turn out too bad, just didn't quite get the texture or the color. I won't post the recipe on here until I get it right, but don't worry, I'm hoping to give this one another shot this weekend as I'm headed home to visit my parents. That way I can make a mess of my mom's kitchen and possibly enlist my aunt Tia's help. I'll keep ya posted on the results :)

Candy Diet - Day 7

It's finally Day 7 of eating only candy for a week!


Breakfast started with my chocolate covered fruits. These have been good to me during this diet--making me at least feel like I'm getting some fruit (when in all actuality it's nutritional value is about that of a gummy fruit snack). They are pretty tasty though, and it's neat how they color the chocolate according to the color of fruit for easy identification: blue:blueberries, orange: apricots, red: cherries, white: strawberries.

My lunch consisted of a GIANT roll of Smarties, and a TINY bottle of Dr. Pepper (jelly beans that is). Candy companies have been playing with the scale of foods for may years. There's just something about life-size things that are made into minis that makes me smile. Check out my Strawberry Gentleman post for more miniature-ized candies.

Interesting play on scale

This might give you a better idea of the
size of these GIANT Smartees

I was jiving with the mini-movement, so I continued it for supper. How appetizing does a hot dog, a hamburger, and some fish sound right now?? Pretty darn good to someone on a diet! So I ate it. It's okay though because it was candy ;)

Delicious 3-course meal 

Doesn't look as filling in full view!
I supplemented with about 20 more Swedish Fish to make up for it :)

Dessert was a Nik-L-Nip mini drink. These wax bottles are filled with sweet juice. I've never understood why people like these... Maybe it's a texture thing (I've never really been sure if I'm supposed to chew and eat the wax or spit it out) but I could only make it through one "bottle" of my five-pack. So if anyone DOES like these and would like to come over and claim the remaining four-you are more than welcome!!

I don't know who else sells bottles in 5 "paks" instead of 6...
maybe it's a new thing.

My leftovers...wax is NOT candy! Don't eat it!

Of course today, and throughout my whole diet I had little munching candies stashed everywhere in my house, car, purse, work, etc for when the hunger cravings hit me. Who am I kidding..I always have that! Overall though, this candy only diet ended up being a lot easier than I first expected, and the fact that I lost almost 7 lbs in one week makes this diet just as legit as any other gimmick out there. I'll admit that this is the first time in my life that I have actually stuck to a "diet" for more than one or two days. It sucks. I've always been in the mindset that in life you should never deprive yourself of things that make you happy--just make sure to enjoy in moderation. 


Tonight of course, I will forget that moderation rule and stuff my face with pasta!


Here are my final results for the Candy Only Diet


Weight Change: -2 lbs (Total: -6.6 lbs!!)
Hunger: 5
Candy Love: 9

Candy Diet - Day 6

I've been eating candy for almost a week straight now, and as you can imagine, I've been dreaming of meat. Protein. Bacon? 

Yesterday at the candy store, I found a chocolate bar with bacon in it. For real! A chocolate bar with bits of bacon in it. The back of the package said to enjoy it with all senses, and I can see/smell/taste/hear why. It looked like bacon, smelled like bacon, sounded crunchy like bacon, felt like bacon, and of course, it tasted like bacon. Was it good?? I'm still not sure... I've never been a huge bacon fan, but it seems to be all the craze lately so the candy industry just hopped right on that bandwagon huh?

Bacon+Chocolate=Candy?? Still not sure...

My candy eating days have all kind of run into each other, but if I recall correctly my lunch included some Raisinettes, Kit Kats, and Gummy Worms that I had in my candy drawer at work. Yes, I have a candy drawer at work, and yes I work in a dental clinic. It makes my teeth happy :)


And since I do work at a dental clinic, I had a good snack today: a sugar-free lollipop! We actually have these in the office to give out to kids, so dentist's DO approve of candy!!

Kelso-Tested, Dentist-Approved

Since I work late on Tuesdays, my supper was about the same as my my lunch, except when I got home, I took a quick smoke break.

Just kidding! It's candy cigarettes silly!! :) (I was trying to look "cool" like smokers do...I'd better just stick to candy)

"Just Like Dad" Candy Cigarettes
Although my dad is not a smoker....thanks Dad!!

Day 6 Candy Diet Results


Weight Change: -.4 lbs (Total: -4.6 lbs)
Hunger Level: 5
Candy Love: 9.9


At this point in the diet, I have my first meal all planned out for tomorrow night/Thursday morning at 12:01am. 
Appetizer: Bread and flavored dipping oil 
Entree: Penne & Shrimp in Alfredo sauce 
Dessert: Candy...what else!?!! ;)

Candy Diet - Day 5

Day 5 of my candy-only diet was pretty memorable because I got to make a much anticipated pit stop on the way home. More on that later...


My breakfast of a bag of Skittles was legit. Period. One bag of Original Fruits Skittles contains 50% of your daily recommended Vitamin C. No joke. Check out caloriecount.com to see for yourself! That's like eating an orange, a grape, a lemon, a strawberry, and a lime. Kinda.


My lunch started with a Twix bar, but then got exponentially better when we drove up to Minnesota's Largest Candy Store, aka Jim's Apple Farm, aka Awesome. 

Spotted!! On Highway 169 outside of Jordan, MN.

It was definitely an eye-catcher right off of the highway Here's a description of the place from their facebook page:

"So the story goes... 65 and some years ago Herbert 'Hippy' Wagner returned from serving overseas in World War II and planted the first apple orchard of the Minnesota River Valley of Scott County. After operating a peaceful roadside apple stand for a number of decades, hail and added bad weather hit the home farm hard, and a substitute was necessary to make up for the loss. And so began the candy... Candy Cigarettes! Caramel Apples! Strawberry Rhubarb Pies! 40 varieties of Root Beer! 57 types of Licorice! Pop Rocks! BBQ sauce! Bubble Up! HUGE Puzzle selection! Pickled Jalapeño Eggs! Bacon Band-Aids! Corn Dog Lip Balm! Mother-in-laws Tongue Pasta! Sweet Corn Salsa! Salt Water Taffy! Microwavable S’mores! Mallow Cups! Egg Cream Soda! Soup, Dip, and Baked good Mixes! Teaberry Gum! Giant Jam, Jelly, Preserve, and Fruit Spread Selection! Candy Necklaces! Chocolate Boyfriends! Chocolate Girlfriends! Dark Chocolate, White Chocolate, Milk Chocolate, Chocolate Chocolate!"

That pretty much sums it up, oh except for this:

One of the World's Biggest Gumball Machines!

I scored some sweet treats that served as a good snacks for the rest of the day including a Fresh Divinity, a chocolate bar aka "The Ultimate Balanced Diet", some salt-water taffy,  Bon Bons, and about $20 worth of other little candies to get me through the rest of my "diet".

Divinity candy is made with egg whites & sugar with a pecan on top.
Maybe something to try to make on my own later!

I thought this chocolate bar was perfect for my meal plan.
Very cool packaging--this was all from one candy bar

Watermelon Saltwater Taffy

"Like a kid in a candy store" :)

So Matt has been looking for these candies called Eiffel Bon Bons that the Econ classes sold at his high school for years now. He's never been able to find them, but guess who got some today!? Me :) The reason they are hard to find is that they are exclusively distributed by The Foreign Candy Company in Hull, IA and are sold mainly to student groups for fundraisers. His description of Bon Bons was "a chewy candy with powder on them that are like Skittles in that once you have one in your mouth, you immediately want another one." Sounds pretty good huh?

He was pretty excited!! :)

Day 5 Results:


Weight Change: -.9 lbs (Total: -4.2 lbs )
Hunger Level: 3
Candy Love: 10


You may have noticed that my Candy Love score was a little lower yesterday, but this visit to the candy store boosted me right back up to full power. Two days left. Bring it on.

Candy Diet - Day 4

I'm actually writing this entry on Day 5 of my candy-only diet, but I have been out of town on a mini-vacation/bachelorette party weekend. Definitely a challenge to any diet! So here's my recollection of how Day 4 went down in the legendary candy diet:


Before our big road trip, I perused the gas station for a suitable breakfast. While the other ladies all got coffee and breakfast sandwiches, I snatched up some Gummy Lifesavers. They were pretty tasty, and the circle shapes were also fun to play with!

My skeletor hand with a candy "ring"

For lunch, we stopped at Culver's--it was tough not to get one of their tasty butter burgers, but I did give in and get a Nerds Concrete Mixer, which I understand could be debatable as candy...but hey I turned down a greasy hamburger!! I'm counting it :)

We finally made it to our destination: Valley Fair!! You can bet I had my eyes out for some tasty fair candy....this is what I found:

I ordered my cotton candy on a cone as opposed to a bag because it's just more fun to eat that way, so when the cotton candy lady loaded my cone up with fluffy pink cotton candy I was pretty stoked...until she then stepped over and doubled it up with another coating of blue cotton candy!! AWESOME!! This thing was ginormous, and yes I did share...a little...


Supper was the most challenging part of the day. Cheesecake Factory. They are known of course for their cheesecake, but also for their delicious pasta, which I have been craving all week, and everyone else in the party ordered. I think our waiter thought I was a little loopy when all I ordered was a slice of Snickers Bar Cheesecake for my meal (which also could be debatable as cheating this candy diet, I know, I'm still counting it anyways). The cheesecake was delicious and it came on a plate--it was awesome to eat with a fork for the first time in 4 days! With a few candy exceptions and some Red Vines licorice to keep my hunger at bay all day, I think I did pretty well for "dieting" on a vacation!

Snickers Bar Chunks and Cheesecake
Snickers baked right into Cheesecake Factory's
Creamy Cheesecake and topped with Fudge and Caramel

Since I was out of town, I didn't have a scale to weigh in, but here's the rest of my results:


Weight Change: NA (Total: -3.3 lbs)
Hunger Level: 3
Candy Love: 9.8


A post-note on temptations for today: the gals I traveled with were NOT helpful in the fact that they kept telling me just "Put some Skittles on a hamburger and eat it!" or "Order a steak from the menu and just dip it in chocolate" haha thanks for a great vaca girls, but no thank you for the candied value meal advice!