54 replies to this topic

[RebeccaT]

My poor mother-in-law. She still hands out that nasty peanut butter taffy, you know, those nasty rounds of chewy gross-ness wrapped in orange or black waxed paper? Poor hubby used to get made fun of for that, and he insists that he is scarred for life. Doesn't she get that the peanut butter taffy is what's leftover in the bottom of the bowl three weeks later, because no one likes that stuff???

[laniloa]

Might be blasphemy to some, but I prefer the candy corn with the chocolate tips over the white tips. Muuuuch better.

[LaurieB]

I'm with you on the chocolate tips.

[reesek]

My poor mother-in-law.  She still hands out that nasty peanut butter taffy, you know, those nasty rounds of chewy gross-ness wrapped in orange or black waxed paper?  Poor hubby used to get made fun of for that, and he insists that he is scarred for life.  Doesn't she get that the peanut butter taffy is what's leftover in the bottom of the bowl three weeks later, because no one likes that stuff??? 

mary jane's? charleston chew?

[RebeccaT]

mary jane's? charleston chew?

Nope. I finally found them, they're called Peanut Kisses. Here's a pic (hope I can get this to show up)

[Gifted Gourmet]

At last! A resolution to the problem of leftover Halloween candy!

the Boston Herald offers solutions

your excess Halloween candy. But a person can only eat so many straight-up sweets, and somehow it's hard to just toss it in the trash. Well, you could try cooking with it. It's not really such an outlandish idea - since you'll probably have it hanging around, why not try it? If nothing else, it's a conversation piece: Who'd ever guess that the secret ingredient in your special cappuccino is a peppermint pattie?

Check out these recipes:

BUTTERFINGER CRUMB CAKE
GUMMI SAVERS NUT AND CRANBERRY SNACK
PEPPERMINT PATTIE CAPPUCCINO
BLACK & WHITE MOUSSE (Three Musketeers)
SNICKERS BAR CHEESECAKE

[hillvalley]

The father of one of my students walked into his parent/teacher confrence last week with four shopping bags full of candy Everything from rollos to pixie sticks to junior mints to candy bracelets to smarties to almond joys

We have the stash hidden in the classroom. If the kids only knew! Granted, by the time they find out about it on Friday the stash will be much smaller

Edited by hillvalley, 24 October 2004 - 04:30 PM.

[M. Lucia]

I had the exact same thought as elfin!
The rest of the year I barely eat candy, but Halloween rolls around and I just have to have some.

I love the candy pumpkins (candy corn shaped as pumpkins) which can be harder to find these days (I've already stashed some away). I also like caramels, mint patties, and jelly beans.

I bought those gummies shaped as hamburgers and hotdogs for kids this year.

Interestingly, a friend of mine had bought some "indian corn" the other day and the second ingredient (between sugar and corn syrup) was edible shellac! What is this?!

[Dr. Funk]

My wife gets Snickers and Heath miniatures and any leftovers go into the freezer. There's nothing like a frozen Snickers.

[Shannon_Elise]

Candy Corn, love the stuff, I'm in the white tip camp. The pumpkins are heaven, eaten very slowly and allowed to melt. Although I don't really like the Brachs version, they taste too waxy.

I love everything about Halloween, in fact this year I offered to let my sister and her husband both takes the kids trick or treating so that I could dress up and hand out candy.

Shannon

[Gifted Gourmet]

Sweet treats, then and now

1880s Wunderle Candy Company creates candy corn. In 1898, Goelitz Confectionery Company began making candy corn and has made this Halloween favorite longer than any other company.

Don't know about you but it is time to wax nostalgic about those Goo Goo Clusters and Necco Wafers...

[Kris]

I love Halloween. It's July and I'm already thinking about the costume I want to wear this year. Mind you, I'm 35 years old.

Anyway, when I lived at home with my parents and outgrew trick-or-treating, I started handing out candy to the kids that would ring our doorbell. I always bought the "good" candy, which to me was miniature chocolate bars like Snickers, Milky Way, 3 Muskateer, et. al. I always hated getting cheap candy as a trick-or-treater, so I remembered that as a candy giver.

I would have my tape recorder (in later years a CD player) cued up with creepy music playing, have my Jason-from-Friday-the-13th hockey mask on and greet the kids with a bowl of candy in my hand. One year, I gave out pre-wrapped popcorn balls from a company called http://www.popcornfactory.com My sister had gotten 100 of them as a corporate gift but didn't want them. So she gave them to me to use for the trick-or-treaters. They were a BIG hit. Even some of the parents who accompanied the kids wanted one.

I haven't had any trick-or-treaters for several years now because I moved into an apartment building when I married. But when hubby and I buy our house next year, just you wait...I'm going to be ready for 'em!

[Kris]

P.S. - To this day, I must buy a bag of candy corn every October! It's either prominently featuring during my Halloween party or during my Halloween movie marathon weekend (whichever event I'm having in a particular year - it changes).

[LindsayAnn]

My poor mother-in-law.  She still hands out that nasty peanut butter taffy, you know, those nasty rounds of chewy gross-ness wrapped in orange or black waxed paper?  Poor hubby used to get made fun of for that, and he insists that he is scarred for life.  Doesn't she get that the peanut butter taffy is what's leftover in the bottom of the bowl three weeks later, because no one likes that stuff??? 

Shoot I love those..always have. I was that weird kid that WANTED them, I love Peanut Butter and those were one of my fav's...along with Mary Janes...on the plus side I got all of my neighbors (Erin) that I was childhood friends with (since age 7 when I moved into her neighborhood)...and this October I am in her wedding...oh wow we are all grown up now!!!

[LindsayAnn]

Ah yes, and I almost forgot to mention...I too am in the candy corn camp...and I also reside in the cabin of white tip lovers....it jsut tastes the best (although the entire thing is heavely). I love the pumkins as well....candy corn is only a treat for halloween though, whoever said it jsut tastes better in October/November was right on...it must be ripest that time of year *laughs*

[Kim Shook]

My poor mother-in-law.  She still hands out that nasty peanut butter taffy, you know, those nasty rounds of chewy gross-ness wrapped in orange or black waxed paper?  Poor hubby used to get made fun of for that, and he insists that he is scarred for life.  Doesn't she get that the peanut butter taffy is what's leftover in the bottom of the bowl three weeks later, because no one likes that stuff???  

Shoot I love those..always have. I was that weird kid that WANTED them, I love Peanut Butter and those were one of my fav's...along with Mary Janes...on the plus side I got all of my neighbors (Erin) that I was childhood friends with (since age 7 when I moved into her neighborhood)...and this October I am in her wedding...oh wow we are all grown up now!!!

Me, too! But we're not weird - it's the haters that are ! How can you not like peanut butter taffy ? It's sweet, chewy, peanut buttery...all good!

[LindsayAnn]

My poor mother-in-law.  She still hands out that nasty peanut butter taffy, you know, those nasty rounds of chewy gross-ness wrapped in orange or black waxed paper?  Poor hubby used to get made fun of for that, and he insists that he is scarred for life.  Doesn't she get that the peanut butter taffy is what's leftover in the bottom of the bowl three weeks later, because no one likes that stuff???  

Shoot I love those..always have. I was that weird kid that WANTED them, I love Peanut Butter and those were one of my fav's...along with Mary Janes...on the plus side I got all of my neighbors (Erin) that I was childhood friends with (since age 7 when I moved into her neighborhood)...and this October I am in her wedding...oh wow we are all grown up now!!!

Me, too! But we're not weird - it's the haters that are ! How can you not like peanut butter taffy ? It's sweet, chewy, peanut buttery...all good!

Yes yes and the middle's were the best...the real peanut butter (not sweetened with sugar like the taffy exterior), and there were even little gritty pieces of peanuts in there....MMMMM YUMMY.. Now the question remainds were oh were can I find these little gems at this time of the year! I cannot possibly wait the three months till halloween comes around...now that Kim brought up thier magical yummyness!

[Ktepi]

Oh holy cow, the grit's the best part.

When I was a kid, I realized that if I learned to love coconut, I could get more candy: because by the end of Halloween night (when I was a preteen, trick or treating was nearly always held on a Friday or Saturday night and we'd have a party at someone's house and stay up all night watching movies), people were willing to trade, say, two coconut candies for one non-coconut candy bar -- two Almond Joys and a box of Dots for a Snickers -- and so on. Anything to rid their bags of coconut that'd go uneaten, or corner the market on Skors.

I still really love Mounds.

[Kris]

Ah yes, and I almost forgot to mention...I too am in the candy corn camp...and I also reside in the cabin of white tip lovers....it jsut tastes the best (although the entire thing is heavely).  I love the pumkins as well....candy corn is only a treat for halloween though, whoever said it jsut tastes better in October/November was right on...it must be ripest that time of year *laughs*

Ditto. Indian corn (now known as harvest corn due to politically correct times), just doesn't taste the same to me. I love those pumpkins as well, although if I eat too many of them my teeth begin to hurt.

As for Mary Janes, peanut butter taffys and other candy of that ilk, those were ones I hated to receive as a young trick-or-treater. My mother loved them though, so she was more than happy to take them off my hands.

When I was a young trick-or-treater, my sisters and I (and the rest of the kids in the neighborhood) would visit the local mom & pop shops looking for treats. One of the best treats was the candy apple we'd receive from Mike's Fruit & Vegetable stand. The cool thing was that parents never had to worry about the apples being tampered with razor blades or poison since everyone knew Mike. So it was okay for us to eat Mike's candy apples before we even got home for mom to check our candy bags. Those were the days!

[Toliver]

I'd seen the store aisles filled with early Halloween candy and started hankering for Payday candy bars of all things. I finally found some and I am now in salty peanut heaven.
It's interesting to compare Baby Ruth bars to Paydays. They're similar in make-up...a nougat-y log center covered with peanuts. But I think Baby Ruth's must have some sort of caramel, too, as they seem far sweeter than the Paydays.
Since I tend to favor the savory, I prefer the Paydays over the Baby Ruths.

What candy are you jonesing for as Halloween skulks onto the calendar?

[Beebs]

Coffee Crisp. Mmmmmmm......

Actually, I'll eat those year-round, but just prefer the snack-size ones so I can eat more of them.

[Shelby]

I never have trick-or-treaters because I live so far out--and believe me, it doesn't bother me a bit because I get ALL the candy

Sitting in a huge bowl beside me:

Skittles
York Peppermint Patties
Whoppers
Starbursts
Reese's Peanut Butter Cups--the normal size, not the little kind. I don't like the small ones due to how hard the chocolate is
Kit Kats

[Jaymes]

Funny about candy corn. It's what I always buy to give out to the little ones.

And that's because I can't stand it. Everything else I buy, I wind up eating myself before Halloween.

And then just have to go buy more.

But candy corn does the trick.

[baroness]

Funny about candy corn. It's what I always buy to give out to the little ones.

And that's because I can't stand it. Everything else I buy, I wind up eating myself before Halloween.

And then just have to go buy more.

But candy corn does the trick.

I find candy corn too sweet and one-dimensional.
But, mixed with lots of salty roasted peanuts, candy corn is dangerous!

[Jaymes]

Funny about candy corn. It's what I always buy to give out to the little ones.

And that's because I can't stand it. Everything else I buy, I wind up eating myself before Halloween.

And then just have to go buy more.

But candy corn does the trick.

I find candy corn too sweet and one-dimensional.
But, mixed with lots of salty roasted peanuts, candy corn is dangerous!

Oh great. Figure out a way to make the one thing I don't like into yet another thing I can't resist.

Anyone else have the problem of eating up all the Halloween candy before Halloween?

Or am I the only one with the willpower of your average two-year-old.