Tell me your favorite candy and the nastiest candy on earth.

-- Anonymous, July 17, 2000

Answers

My current fave candy is chocolate-covered cherries. (But the ones with the clear liquid, not the white stuff.)

The nastiest candy I've ever eaten is Circus Peanuts. Or maybe black licorice. (Sorry, Nicole!) However, I'm sure there's way nastier stuff out there that I've never tried.

-- Anonymous, July 17, 2000

Nastiest candy first: Those peanut buttery chewy things that people pass out at Halloween that are wrapped in orange and black waxed paper. I would choke on these things from those little nutty bits.

I love black licorice, actually anything with anise flavor in it. Mmmm...Jaejermeister.

My favorite candy would be the huge box of Jelly Bellys with the instructions on it for making all of the different goodies. Like two chocolate and two peanut butter for a Reese's Cup. The margarita flavored ones are quite kick-ass too.

-- Anonymous, July 17, 2000

Nastiest? I seem to recall a candy bar called Zero that totally sucked. Oh, and I hate that confection called Divinity, blech. Oh! And I hate hate hate Jolly Rancher hard candies! The fruit flavors are way too strong and they're so hard and sticky they will pull your fillings out!

Gwen!? How could you not like Circus Peanuts? I tell ya, nothin's better'n a big fistful of Circus Peanuts and a tall, frosty glass of eggnog. Mmmm..... :-) :-) :-)

Favorite? I've always liked Snickers and Baby Ruth candy bars. Boring, huh? Actually, from time to time I've GOT to have a Payday or a Butterfinger or Raisinets or Whoppers. And if you're talking desserts, give me a flourless chocolate cake with two espressos and I'm in heaven....

-- Anonymous, July 17, 2000

Gwen, I hate black licorice too! But I love red licorice though - it has such a non-descript taste, red does. It isn't cherry, it isn't strawberry, it's...just...Red. I also love gummy bears, but not the cheap Trolli gummy bears - I love the Haribo gummy bears. And gummy coke bottles.

Candy corn sucks ass.

-- Anonymous, July 17, 2000

I now love Creamsavers even more than Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and M&Ms. I never thought that a hard candy would replace my first two loves, but it has.

-- Anonymous, July 17, 2000

Tootsie rolls! *drool* There's always a bowl of 'em at work and I can't stop eating them!

-- Anonymous, July 17, 2000

No! Candy corn is good! Y'all don't listen to Nicole!

And don't forget to put your un-favoritest candies.

-- Anonymous, July 17, 2000

Nasty:

^Banana Bikes (taffy that is banana flavored in the sense that, when eating it, you think immediately: "this tastes *nothing* like a banana"). ^All other fake banana-flavored candy. ^Any candy with wet stuff in it (choc-covered cherries, and so on). ^Fudge, any flavor, after the first bite. The texture is just gross. ^All the stuff listed at http://www.bad-candy.com

Nice:

^Snickers ^Chocolate-covered raisins ^Twizzlers ^Reeses Peanut Butter Cups ^Puppy Chow (the thing you make with Chex, chocolate, peanut butter, and sugar -- may not actually qualify as candy, but I'm including it anyway)

-- Anonymous, July 18, 2000

Favourite: any hard sweets, and Reeces Peanut Butter Cups.

Least favourite: hard gums. and Jolly Rancher. Yuck!

-- Anonymous, July 18, 2000

Turkish Delight is my least favourite candy, ever. I never thought it was possible to make me spit chocolate out of my mouth, but Turkish Delight lasted about a nanosecond before it ended up in the bin. My husband loves it, though.

I love Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, only if I can have a big (32 oz) cup of skimmed milk with them. Yum. Those Sam's Choice Peanut Butter Cups are actually better, though, I think. And someone got me a box of Marks & Spencer Mint Chocolates for my birthday, and I knew I'd eat loads if I let myself, so I pawned them off on my husband. (Normally I would have inhaled them, but it was a very sugary, rich weekend.) Creamsavers also rule my world, but alas they don't sell them here.

-- Anonymous, July 18, 2000

Oh, and what Gwen said. Circus Peanuts and black licorice are fucking nasty. Also, Black Jack gum.

I love me some teaberry gum, though. It comes in soft pink packaging. If anyone knows what I'm talking about and wants to send me some, email me!

-- Anonymous, July 18, 2000

M & M's. The plain chocolate ones. They're the perennial favorite. I've been on a Maple Nut Goody jag lately, though. And Canada mints.

Worst candy: this isn't fair, but if you leave Gummi Bears in the car they will melt and meld into an amorphous mass. I always bring a small piece of candy when I pick up my daughter from daycare, and one day, I left the bag of gummis in the car. I tried to fake it and twisted off a piece of gummi melt which she initially thought was great. A few seconds into it,though, and it was deemed disgusting. She was right, I tried some, too.

Oh, and Necco wafers. They're bad. My parents bought some a couple of years ago to give out at Halloween, and they found most of them pelted back at their house the next day.

-- Anonymous, July 18, 2000

I'm a Spree girl. Some of the worst candy I've ever had came from South America. They have a lot of candy that is, well, pot-pourri flavored. The one I had was lavendar. About the only thing I can think of that was worse was, once when we were on a family vacation out west they had this Pioneer Shop where they sold oldfashioned horehound candy, this stuff that's made from horehound tea and corn syrup. It was foul.

-- Anonymous, July 18, 2000

Yum, Spree! Yuck, Necco wafers!

-- Anonymous, July 18, 2000

Maggie, maybe you should send us all Creamsavers. I've never seen them either. I could eat an infinite supply of M&Ms. I'm a hard- core chocoholic. Go to M&M's web-site, http://www.m-ms.com, and you can order 40 lbs boxes of them in colors that aren't normally available (hey I'll split them with everyone). I had these thin wafer things rolled into straw size and filled with hazelnut and chocolate filling. They were just DIVINE. But M&Ms are still my favorite. Good peanut brittle can't be beat. Black licorice-yuk, it gags me. Black licorice proves that we must all preceive tastes differently. I saw this segment on some news show that in some candies colored red, the red coloring is due to little red bugs-yuk, yuk. I forget what it is called on the ingredients list. Anyway, now I check out my daughter's red vines to make sure they're red 'cause of red dye # whatever. Talking about candy is NOT helping my weight loss program. Off to a different forum.

-- Anonymous, July 18, 2000

About the red coloring: 'Cochineal extract is a coloring extracted from the eggs of the cochineal beetle, which lives on cactus plants in Peru, the Canary Islands, and elsewhere. Carmine is a more purified coloring made from cochineal. In both cases, the actual substance that provides the color is carminic acid. These colorings, which are extremely stable, are used in some red, pink, or purple candy, yogurt, Campari, ice cream, beverages, and many other foods, as well as drugs and cosmetics.'

The Japanese have strange ideas about what constitutes candy. I had squid ink balls once. Not very tasty. On the other hand, I developed a masochistic yen for plum candy. It starts off VERY salty, then bitter, then pungent, then it's SOUR as all hell, and if you'ver managed to hang on through the rough parts and not spit it out, THEN it's sweet. After working so hard to get there, the sweet stage is WONDERFUL.

I like 'black licorice' only if it is really anise. If it's really licorice, I can't tolerate it. Yuck. Flavigny anise candy, which some people compare to sucking on a bottle of perfume. Violet and rose are my favorites.

Anything coconut makes me want to puke. Even the smell. Even the sight of little white curls of coconut in adverts for Easter rabbit cakes. *hork*

Drost pastilles are WONDERFUL and I wish I could find them. These come in a little heaxgonal tube, and they are often two flavors, half and half, in one disk of candy (like dark chocolate with milk chocolate/rum, or white chocolate with dark chocolate/orange). I miss them. Lindt isn't quite the same, but the liquidy caramel Lindt bars are fab.

Necco wafers are gross. Not to be confused with Necco biscuits, which are also gross but which make a surprisingly elegant, quick, easy, fast, yummy dessert with whipped cream. (Get a pack of chocolate Necco wafers for each dessert you want to make, and whip up some whipped cream. Add liquer if you like (I like Bailey's and Kahlua). Layer the cookies vertically with whipped cream, then cover the whole mess and crumble the inevitable broken shards from the package on top and then freeze overnight. Remove, slice at an angle, note that you have made a very elaborate layer cake. Enjoy. It's called Zebra Cake. You're welcome. It impresses the hell out of people if you put it together neatly.)

I like chewy candy like JuJy Fruits. Ju Ju Bees, however, will yank your teeth/fillings/braces out. Bad ju ju indeed.

I do not like sour gelatin candy and think the bottles with gummi worms in them are the nastiest.

-- Anonymous, July 18, 2000

Milla, the chocolate wafers and whippped cream is also called Icebox Cake - my grandmother used to make them for us and she said her mother made them for her, and damn are they good! I never thought of putting liquor in the cream though - thanks for the suggestion!

-- Anonymous, July 18, 2000

I would gladly send out Creamsavers except that they aren't available in Canada. I rely on the kindness of my American friends to get them.

I don't like Turkish Delight or chocolate-covered candied ginger. What a waste of chocolate.

I forgot about Turkey Bones which a friend who lives in Utica once sent me. They are sticks that are about four inches long and they have a beige, hard candy coating and they are solid chocolate inside. Man, they're good. Paging Kim, have you ever heard of them?

-- Anonymous, July 18, 2000

When I was an assistant manager at a gourmet restaurant, I'd go in early and make Zebra (Icebox) Cakes with a variety of alcoholic liquers and we'd sell the hell out of them.

I'd make them all the time except [a] Necco biscuits are hard to find and [b] I share my tiny freezer with two other women, neither of which would [c] help me eat the thing. *oink*

-- Anonymous, July 18, 2000

Circus peanuts, Necco wafers and black licorice are *all* good, y'all. Nothing beats the sugar rush from a banana-flavored marshmallow shaped like a giant peanut! I will concede, however, that this may not be to everyone's taste.

The all-time best candy in the world is the Snickers bar, followed closely by peanut M&Ms. However, I have to admit that there is very little chocolate in the world that I wouldn't eat.

The worst candy is "Bit-O-Honey," which I've only ever eaten (and regretted) when it was in my Halloween trick-or-treat bag many, many years ago. Nasty stuff. *I* give out Snickers and Milky Way at Halloween. (And then eat the leftovers. Bad, bad Tracey.)

-- Anonymous, July 18, 2000

Favorite Candy: So many. I love candy. Orange Tic-Tacs are especially good.

Least Favorite Candy: Musk Flavoured Lifesavers, the Australia Delicacy. Seriously, ew.

Though their Smarties more than make up for it.

-- Anonymous, July 18, 2000

I love smarties! I always eat them in pairs; it's a ritual. Lindt milk chocoalte with orange or pistacio filling is another yummy treat. Packed with peanuts, snickers really satisfies. I always feel like a nut so I enjoy an almond joy regularly. Pixie stix are fun & so are wint-o-green lifesavers & cinnnamon bears. Anybody remember lik-m-aid? It's like little packets of kool aid with a sugary stick to lick and dip in the powder. I never buy it anymore but have fond childhood memories of it. Here's what sucks: circus peanuts, anything marshmallow (especialy peeps), anything with synthetic banana or watermelon flavor, and those aforementioned chewey generic Halloween candies. Oh, and Godiva is okay but overrated. I'll take a whitman's sampler instead any day.

-- Anonymous, July 19, 2000

I think Smarties are gross, too. Don't shoot!

Did you ever do the thing with Wint-o-Green Lifesavers, where you chew them in the dark and watch the sparks in each other's mouths? That always fascinated me, but then I'm easily entertained...

-- Anonymous, July 19, 2000

Yeah, Jackie D, Wint-O-Green sparks! Great fun, especially when you demonstrate for someone who just doesn't believe it'll happen.

I, also, am easily amused.:)

-- Anonymous, July 19, 2000

Peeps do not fall into the gross category, not if you know how to eat them the right way. First, you have to wait till a store is clearing out their Easter candy. Buy up all the discount Peeps you can get your hands on (OK, not the purple ones. The purple dye tastes funny.) Then, one box at a time, tear off the cellophane and put away. Eat one full week later. The little chickies will be stale, and oh-so-chewy!

Aged Peeps are an acquired taste, like fine wine.

PS: I know it's weird, but my mom taught us all this trick years ago, in what I now realize was an attempt to slow down the consumption of our Easter baskets. But these things stick, OK?

-- Anonymous, July 19, 2000

I'm going to weigh in on the Peeps are icky side.. Same with Smarties. blech. There should not be pineapple flavored candy, period. When I was a kid I used to eat St. Josephs Children's Aspirin (orange flavor) like they were candy... Til my mom found out and freaked.

-- Anonymous, July 19, 2000

Gardanna, my little brother and I used to do that with the children's aspirin, too! And with vitamin C tablets. Mmmm, St Joseph's aspirin. (I'm having a Homer Simpson moment, here.)

You know what else I love? Chupa Chups. But only the ice cream flavoured ones, or the Banana Chocolate. I hate hate hate banana- flavoured anything, but somehow Banana Chocolate Chupa Chups are just right. I only have them once every couple of years, but I love them.

-- Anonymous, July 19, 2000

Oh no, Mary Ellen. Aged Peeps are the gross kind, not the sticky gooey ones. I've had far more aged Peeps than fresh ones and the aged ones are indeed a completely different beast. They form a crispy-crunchy shell but then it's like eating a reconstituted solidified sugary substance that really shouldn't even be here.

-- Anonymous, July 19, 2000

oh my god, I too was a children's aspirin snarfer! And I was just telling my mom the other day that now I find myself eating Vitamin C tablets exactly the same way-- only, with Vitamin C, I learned (the hard way) that even though the body won't absorb excess Vit C (ie, you can't overdose on it), it WILL rebel if you eat too much of it. I was chowing down on 500mg tablets, I ate like 8 or 9 of them one night, and the next day I paid for it with gnarly stomach cramps and intestinal Distress. So I had to get rid of the bottle, because I couldn't resist eating them like candy.

-- Anonymous, July 19, 2000

I'm feeling the luv, especially with the graduating from St. Joseph's to the Vitamin C tablets(!). I can't buy them anymore. I think it's a tart vs. sweet thing, maybe? My nephew got ahold of some children's vitamins once and ate the whole bottle like candy..which my sister thought was no big deal because I used to do that all the time with the St. Js, but then he got iron poisoning and had to get his stomach pumped and it wasn't at all funny. Watch out for that. It sucks.

-- Anonymous, July 19, 2000

Pass Me Some: anything chocolate Make Me Hurl: anything fruit-chewey

Ok, it goes beyond that, but in a nutshell them there's my thoughts on the matter. I cannot STAND jelly beans, gummie anything, starburst, those weird half-slices of orange/lemon/limes with sugar all over them. There are people at work who are addicted to gummie things and I hate the sound they make reaching into the bag and then smacking and chomping, ick ick ick. I also really hate all black licorice flavored stuff, and I don't really like chewing gum. Mints are okay for bad breath, but I don't consider them candy. Jawbreakers are dumb, hard candy is only for sugar emergencies, and the same goes for Tootsie Rolls.

I LOVE chocolate, all kinds except the cheapie stuff that comes out at holidays (foil covered eggs, santas, coins, etc). I worked at a bakery in jr. high and the owner would chop off a hunk of chocolate from these huge slabs from Switzerland so I could gnaw on it all day and so I would stay out of the cookies. I used to daydream as a child of a world made of chocolate where you could take a bite out of a wall and it would spontaneously regenerate. I also decided as a child that, when I became an old lady, I would make bowls of chocolate frosting using my grandfather's recipe and would sit in front of a tv and eat it with a spoon -- my reasoning at the time being that when I was old it wouldn't matter if I became grossly overweight! Ha!

I don't dig fruit filling in fancy chocolates (no surprise there), but caramel is cool. Maple overpowers the chocolate so I'll pass on that. White chocolate is NOT chocolate and should be outlawed. Nasty. But say hooray for Snickers, Mounds, Chocolaty Payday, Hersheys, M&M's, Reeses, Dove chocolates, Hershey kisses, chocolate milk, chocolate pudding, chocolate ice cream...be it milk chocolate or bittersweet...bring it on!

Fond memories from childhood, must mention: candy necklaces, that lick a stick stuff, pixie sticks, candy dots on paper, jolly rancher sticks, and these weird things made of some meltaway cookie stuff that was formed in the shape of an ice cream cone with an actual ice cream flavor to the part that formed the ice cream ball...also Bottle Caps, Pop Rocks and the wax bottles with liquid in them. These things no longer thrill me but once I lived for them.

-- Anonymous, July 20, 2000

Yum, Dove. I wish Dove bars didn't melt in extreme heat, or else I'd be having them shipped to me on a weekly basis.

-- Anonymous, July 20, 2000

Just a warning on the candy necklaces:

I wore one once when I went jogging (I had forgotten to take it off) and my neck was blue and pink for a week. Don't wear them in hot climes.

-- Anonymous, July 20, 2000

Laura, you made me remember a childhood fantasy. They used to have commercials showing "the land of Dairy Queen" with soft-serve mountains (watch out for falling peanuts) and rivers of caramel and fudge. It was my fondest wish to visit the land of dairy queen. My younger brother, though, was smitten with the Hidden Valley Ranch commericals. He'd say that when he grew up he wanted to visit Australia, Japan, and the Hidden Valley.

-- Anonymous, July 20, 2000

"pokey for men" -- did you try it? How was it? (I'm not sure if it belongs in this thread, it might be more of a snack.)

I like rich people candy/chocolate. (Made from rich people!) They sell all these amazing hand-made chocolates and candies that are mmmmmm-yummy in little 'shops'. But they cost a frickin fortune. I tend not to buy candy/chocolate bars that are sold in the check-out line because it makes me sad, looking at the bright packages covering a product of pure yuck, to think that rich people don't have to put up with this waxy petroleum stuff.

I want candy parity now!

I once read a book set in the 1920s or 30s where five little kids found a nickel on the street and spent it (a penny each) on confections in a magic candy store. It was a good deal. Each child got a delicious treat plus a chapter-long fantasy. Was it real or were they dreaming? Who the hell cares? I've longed after that candy ever since.

You know those candies (often found in a crystal dish on the knick- knack bedecked side-table of an elderly relative) with a kind of gummy, black licorice centre and then coated with what I can only describe as tiny little balls of powdery peppermint flavouring? Those. I really hate those.

-- Anonymous, July 20, 2000

Pocky (pronounced "pokey") For Men was delicious! It was pretzel sticks coated with dark chocolate. My friend Tara, who lived in Japan for a while, said the men's Pocky was always her fave.

In other Japanese candy news: Hello Kitty strawberry cookies taste shockingly strawberry-ish. Botan Rice candy is gummy but I still like it.

Gerber Graduate's fruit chews for toddlers are the best gummy candies I've ever tasted. They're soft.

-- Anonymous, July 20, 2000

Best Candy on the Planet: Peanut M&M's

Nastiest: "Candy" Corn

-- Anonymous, July 20, 2000

Oh my, Can I just Paul W. you are a special sort aren't you? Week old anything should never be eaten, and PEEPS are just foul to begin with, they couldn't possibly get better.

Those mushy marshmallow peanuts are gross too, but my hubby likes them so they can always be found in our house in some range of decay process, Paul, you're welcome over anytime!

I love Dove chocolate or Little Debbie brownies. I go straight for the chocolate, baby!

-- Anonymous, July 21, 2000

I forgot my absolute fave: dark chocolate covered expresso beans...only you can't eat too many at a time (you'll get the shakes). Seriously good.

-- Anonymous, July 21, 2000

Oh my god. Marshmallow peanuts. I had completely forgotten about them. Its like when youre living your adult life, vaguely aware that you didnt like high school for some reason or another, but you dont spend a lot of time thinking about it and then one day you find yourself on a bus in a different city and youre feeling the breeze from the open window and reading the ads and suddenly you look up and there she is, the bitch who made your life a living hell throughout the tenth grade. And the pain is so real and immediate that you swear you can smell the mingling stench of cheap paint and french fries that permeated the cafeteria. (Not that that happened to me, or anything, its just an example.)

I hate marshmallow peanuts.

-- Anonymous, July 21, 2000

I agree, Rachel. The only good Peep is a sticky fluffy stretchy Peep and not those stale colorful rocks that they turn into when you let them 'mature'. Those things look like they belong on the bottom of an aquarium, under the diver with the treasure chest.

Thanks for the invite! You supply the Circus Peanuts, I'll supply the eggnog! :-)

Oh! Something else I love are those Snickers ice cream bars! Not frozen Snickers (I honestly don't understand the appeal of candy that takes that long to eat, you should be able to wolf it), but the Snickers bars where the nougat is actually ice cream. They are damn near perfect.

-- Anonymous, July 21, 2000

Paul, a woman I work with's husband (did you get that?) works for an ice cream distributor. We have 12 boxes of those Snickers Ice Cream bars in our break-room kitchen freezer right now. They do, indeed, rock.

-- Anonymous, July 21, 2000

Good candy: York Peppermint patties, snickers, Cadbury (sp?) chocolate, those big orange flavored chocolate things you whump, candy corn (always, til you throw up), Zotz, peanut brittle, carmel anything, chocolate covered cherries

Candy that rocks, but I don't like it: Peeps (have you seen that board at Duke U with Peeps smoking?), non-pareils (sp?)

Bad Candy: anything licorise (sp?), Good-N-Plenty, circus peanuts, old peppermint patties (when they get frosty looking on the chocolate)

-- Anonymous, July 21, 2000

The Nastiest candy around are Boston Baked Beans. I can't even imagine warped brain of the candy executive who approved this idea into production. "Hmmm, I just love Boston Baked Beans...Hey! Wouldn't they taste great as a candy too?????" Bleh. Marshmellow Peeps are pretty icky too, unless you are really really hungry. But they do have a HIGH-larious website: www.marshmallowpeeps.com. I joined the fan club and got a really cute t-shirt, a cool hat, AND a membership card. Are you jealous? HeHeHe.

-- Anonymous, July 22, 2000

Yummy stuff: Pixie Stix, Spree, Sweet Tarts (the big, chewy ones, not the little hard ones), Lik m Aid, Pirouline cookies--I think someone mentioned those before, but didn't know the name of them--mmm! crispy little tubes filled with chocolate mmmm!!!, anything sour--i.e. warheads, tear jerkers gum, sour gummy worms, etc..., Milky Way candy bars ROCK, as well as Kit-Kats (that's for my bestest friend Tim--he loves those things!!), and Pop Rocks. That's about all I can think of as far as good stuff. Icky stuff: Circus Peanuts are DISGUSTING, as well as black licorice and black jelly beans, marshmallow peeps--EEW!, those peanut-buttery wax covered Halloween nasties that Keli mentioned *hork*--There's not much I really don't like..I'll eat almost anything. HEHE!

-- Anonymous, July 23, 2000

Swoon: York peppermint patties, yogurt covered pretzels, and chocolate covered peanuts. Oh, and that...what do they call it...like, honeycomb or something? Sort of hard yet porous, spun sugary toffee kind of stuff with chocolate on it. And while we're on the subject, chocolate covered graham crackers. With milk. You betcha.

Also anything nutty/caramel/chocolatey, or anything combining chocolate and peanut butter ("two great tastes that taste great together"). Coconut definitely. Nougat sometimes. Hey, yeah, those little white nougats with jelly candy in them that you buy individually wrapped in a little bin at the supermarket (Brach maybe?) And salt water taffy, especially peppermint. Oooh, and Altoids!

Icky nasty: fruity chewies (except the aforementioned nougats); hard candies; real tangy stuff; gum (don't get me started on people's horrid gum chewing habits)--oh god, especially that horrible gum with the stuff that squirts out of the middle when you bite into it! (Cum gum, we used to call it.)

-- Anonymous, July 23, 2000

This thread never ends. Have y'all every had sa-mores(sp). I bet you have if you have ever camped. I like all the parts separate though. A nice, lightly browned marshmellow, yum. I suck the outside off and then re-roast it.

-- Anonymous, July 24, 2000

Oh, my god--I thought my family was the only ones that made those cakes with the Necco wafers. We never had a name for them, though--just That Thing With The Cookies That Kind Of Turns Into A Cake Sort Of In The Fridge. But Icebox Cake sounds lovely.

My favorite candy would have to be these peanut butter truffle things that my mom makes. It involves crushed rice krispies, peanut butter, and powdered sugar all mushed together into little balls and then coated in melted chocolate and left to cool. And you put this paraffin stuff in the chocolate so it's not sticky. Sometimes I try to convince myself that Whatchamacallit bars are the same thing, but they're not, alas.

I grew up near the factory that makes Boston Baked Beans and Lemonheads and Red Hots. Some days you'd get a Red Hot breeze, which was nice. Then you'd get this really nasty breeze, which I think was the Boston Baked Beans.

(p.s. yay! my first post here! work it

-- Anonymous, July 24, 2000

Oooh, April! Honeycomb, yes! I had forgotten my love of the honeycomb. I feel a trip to the local ice cream store coming up this weekend! Old fashioned ice cream store with jars of pretty colored tidbits and trays of handmade fudge and chocolates...including big, velvelty hunks of honeycomb. God, I'm totally salivating. I love how it crumbles and melts on your lips and then gets all chewey gummy in the tops of your molars. The rich honey taste sort of burns your throat and leaves a wonderful afterglow of honey when you breathe in, breathe out.

-- Anonymous, July 27, 2000

Laura? Are you still with us? Someone grab the smelling salts!

Yes, the chewy gummy in the tops of the molars!!!! The gift that keeps on giving. Although it will probably pain Gwen in her recently derooted state to read all this.

April K.

-- Anonymous, July 28, 2000

Ah yes, pixie sticks. Little paper straws with colored and flavored sugar inside. Crazy. I preferred the bigger ones, though. You know the ones - a yard long and made of plastic? Yeah, they had a slightly different name, but they were the same thing, only ever so much more so. :-) Three feet long and a bigger diameter. And the plastic material was better, too, because the paper in the little version would just get soggy and gross.

Of course, you could always slam 'em and the paper wouldn't even have to touch your lips. Don't try that with the yard-longs, though, because you'd fill your throat with dry sugar and choke to death. You though your first french kiss was gross? Dial 1-800-Ew.

-- Anonymous, July 30, 2000

Gee, I must be weird 'cause I like a lot of stuff other people don't...oh well, more for me...

I looooove buttered popcorn Jelly Bellies. For years I thought "ew gross!" when I'd see them, but then I tried 'em and...mmmmmm.

I also like Aplets & Cotlets, which are a lot like Turkish Delight. I love Zero bars and black licorice (but only in moderation) and Trolli Tropic-o's. Rocky Road candy bars are yummy, mmmm cashews...I like violet gum but it loses flavor immediately. I LOVE POCKY! And I just shared a box with my son today!

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2000

I used to buy these little fruit flavor hard candies with one of those dutch or german sounding names in the little tin. I'd take two or three with me when I went backpacking in the Sierras. They were soooo good and really kept the juice in your mouth. Pretty strong flavors. Now when I go east to photograph and hike in the southwest I stop at The Wisteria Candy Shop in Boulevard and stock up on (1) malted milk balls, handmade by this really old lady. (2) in summer when it's too hot for chocolate anything I get candy sticks. Like licorice sticks but not licorice. YYYYuuuuucccckkkk!!!!! I like cinnamon, peppermint, papaya, grape, apricot. They last a long time on the trail. Or at the movies I'll get Jr. Mints. Damn things are $2.50 a box. James

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2000

Oh and I second the motion! Those straws with the sour grape flavored sugar were awsome. 2 for a penny. Man that was living Paul. James

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2000

Willy Wonka USED to make these yummy peanut butter/chocolate oversized M&M-type candies - delicious! They were called Oompas. NOW they are re-making Oompas, but there are some sort of sour jelly things. Those orange "circus peanuts" scare the hell outta me!

-- Anonymous, September 18, 2000

augh. I've always wondered this...maybe some of you can explain it.. but what exactly is one supposed to DO with those wax bottles with liquid? Or any wax candy, like wax lips, for that matter?? I could never figure it out. The wax always broke into bits in my mouth. And it wasn't worth it just for the creepy liquid.

-- Anonymous, September 18, 2000

I too used to eat children's aspirin, and ( I am ashamed to admit) fake a tummy ache to get pepto bismol! I was very sugar deprived. Okay, my favorite candy is ferrerro chocolate orange and snickers. I hate any kind of licorice, circus penuts, peeps, and fake fruity chewy candy!

-- Anonymous, September 24, 2000

For those of you who used to eat St. Joseph's Children's Asprin: the orange sherbert flavor Jelly Bellies, if you can find them, taste EXACTLY LIKE THAT. Enjoy. :-)

I learned this when I was doing up a weird sort of party game -- I got samples of about 35 different Jelly Belly flavors, gave out numbered samples and a list of the flavors I used, and people had to identify the flavors.

While I was doing this, I came across a big contender for bad candy -- BLOODY MARY flavored Jelly Bellies. A tomato-flavored candy is just wrong on SO many levels.

Other than that, I eat chocolate anything.

Kim W.

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2000

Was given a bag of assorted candies recently. HEre's the verdict so far: there's no truly bad candy in the lot.

However, Nestle's Peppermint Crunch with neon-green "cracknel" covered in chocolate was scary. Tasted oh-so-good, as long as you didn't look at it.

Violet Crumble, Australian treat: No violets were harmed in the making of this product. Nor is it violet anywhere. It's chocolate over a mouth-strecthingly large brick of yellow crunchy stuff. If you forget to finish it and leave it out, it improves with stalety. A tasty treat.

Hello Kitty caramels. Yummier than Brach's, plus you get a free toy. Recommended.

Wax lips. Was scared of them. Humor value was high, though. And they smell good.

Violet confits. Major hit! I'm a sucker for violet candies, especially Flavigny Anise + Violet pastilles. This new obsession includes a tasteful little tin with a pretty painting on the lid and inside it has purple wrinkly violet spheres of floral sweetness. Yum.

Lik M Stik. A pale reflection of the original, but [a] you now get two stiks, which were always the best bits, and [b] seeing the package, despite redesign, spawned many memories of hanging out at the pool and getting goofy from too much sugar and sunshine.

Wonkas Exploder Bar. I was leery of it, since it was essentially a Crunch Bar with Pop Rocks added. But this combination works. Yummy.

Pop Rocks, plain. Much better when used lewdly but no one was around to inflict Pop Rock luv on. Still tasty and tingly.

Smarties, UK style. Better than M&Ms and MUCH MUCH better than US-variety Smarties, which are disks of tart-flavoured chalk. Not in recent gift bag, but uncovered when refrigerating new stash of perishables in fridge.

Pixy Stix. Kiddie crack.

Jelly Bellies. World's most perfect Jelly Bean. Except they have vile flavvours like coconut and watermelon. I even like the much-maligned "buttered popcorn" flavour better than coconut and/or watermelon. I also find peach-flavoured Jelly Bellies vile, but realize that this is a personal problem that not everyone shares.

Stale convenience-store-in-Alabama 99 cent gummi bear packs. So sue me, I like them when they aren't fresh and squishy. Chewy, finely aged gummi bears are the best. Then again, I was REALLY hungry and it was stale gummi bears or a Stop N Rob hot dog. The gun is pointed at you, what do you do? What? Do? You? Do? You shoot the hostage / eat the chewy little bears, that's what.

Mounds and Almond Joy have to be the biggest wastes of chocolate ever invented. One lone molecule of coconut is enough to make me violently ill. BAD CANDY.

I even prefer squid ink candy (Oriental concept of 'candy' is a dodgy thing at times) and plum candy (salty, then bitter, then SOUR SOUR SOUR, then VERY pungent and then, just when your eyes are crossing from disgust, the reward: sweetness beyond description).

For true horror: www.badcandy.com

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2000

Milla, I've been to www.badcandy.com and let me say, "Oh,my GOD that was funny." Personally, the plum things really terrified me. Did you see their article on circus peanuts? HA! Veery funny. Oh, yea..the "Fizzy Milk" was pretty interesting, too.

-- Anonymous, November 01, 2000

I think that the nicest chocolate is m+ms there lush

-- Anonymous, November 02, 2000

I must be the only person in the free world who doesn't like M&Ms. They're just like little shards of candy, to me. If I have to eat them, I eat the peanut ones.

(Coz you know how often one is forced to eat M&Ms...)

-- Anonymous, November 02, 2000

I don't hate M&Ms, but there are much yummier varieties of chocolate out there (in my opinion). UK M&Ms (Smarties) are also better than US ones. The candy shell is thinner and the chocolate better. Or maybe it was holiday mindset kicking in...i.e., "Woooo-ah-owww, this is GRAYT!!! Much better than at home!!"

-- Anonymous, November 02, 2000

Reading this yesterday make me run downstairs to the bookstore and buy circus peanuts. I like the gross stuff...peanuts, black licorice, candy corn. This isn't candy, but it's candy-like....has anyone had Nutella (I know the Ukers know what I'm talking about) It's this chocolate/hazelnut spread that you can put on toast (or anything, really) that's in all of the US grocery stores, but nobody seems to kow about it. It rocks. Gwen, you gotta buy this stuff for your kids---I wish I'd grown up eating it. I've alwyas wondered why Nutella isn't better marketed in the US because it's awesome and everyone in Europe seems to eat it by the gallon. It's got hazelnuts in it, so there's some nutrition in there, right?

-- Anonymous, November 03, 2000

I've seen it. Maybe I will try it. My kids aren't even into peanut butter much, though.

Candy corn is good. I just hate it when it feels waxy on the outside. I like it to feel more... sandy. I think Brach's is the only brand that's really porous like that.

-- Anonymous, November 03, 2000

Fruitbat! You and me on the Circus Peanut train! Woo-hoo! Okay, I don't love them but I'll eat them and kinda like it. I've always liked them.

And right on about the Nutella! I love that stuff, which is bad because it is loaded with fat. I can't help it, though. I spread it on toasted bagels. Mmmm.... hazelnut-chocolatey...

-- Anonymous, November 03, 2000

Nutella...full of fatty goodness! So sweet and tasty, but nothing healthy about it! Maybe that's why it hasn't caught on with Americans...oh, wait....

-- Anonymous, November 03, 2000

the yummiest candy on this planet are nerds!!! i luv nerds they r very yummy!!!

and the yuckiest candy is black licorish. YUCK!!!!! how can pple eat that it just makes me sick!!!

-- Anonymous, November 14, 2000

Fuck off, Floosie. We drove your ass away for a reason.

-- Anonymous, November 15, 2000

jacky are you mad at me????? what did i do? i thot poeple likd me here?

-- Anonymous, November 15, 2000

You thought wrong.

-- Anonymous, November 15, 2000

I like floosie. She makes me laugh out loud, from time to time.

-- Anonymous, November 15, 2000

Jackie and floosie are sharing an inside joke, I think.

I hate them both, though.

-- Anonymous, November 15, 2000

Me too, for the wrong reasons.

There's some behind-the-scenes strife and drama that Floosie's created in the past, which is what this is about. Her on-board stuff isn't the reason.

I didn't mean to drag anyone else into it -- sorry.

-- Anonymous, November 15, 2000

Look... why don't you two just admit that what you're feeling is unresolved sexual tension, and get it over with? Sheesh.

-- Anonymous, November 15, 2000

Way to keep a secret, Gwen!

-- Anonymous, November 15, 2000

thnx fruitfly!!!!!! jakey i thot your my freind!!!!

-- Anonymous, November 19, 2000

Sigh.

-- Anonymous, November 19, 2000

Dolly Mixture is yummy, Licorice Allsorts are Yucky! Weird English candy. I like that granny candy, those butter mints and candy corn. Weird American candy.

-- Anonymous, November 21, 2000

I have always thought floosie was an alter ego for someone else on the boards.

-- Anonymous, November 21, 2000

why do poeple all ways thnk that??? oh this makes me mad!!!!

-- Anonymous, November 21, 2000

I can't believe I've never posted in this topic before.

I love all chocolate except dark, Almond Joy and Mounds.

Oh, and I think floosie is just herself. I don't think anyone could have the energy to post as her for very long.

-- Anonymous, November 21, 2000

the bestest candy on the world are butterscoth covered noodles, better known as haystacks

the grossest candy has got to be are those old peanutty things called Mary Janes

-- Anonymous, December 19, 2000

Mmm...Sweet Tarts, Strawberry Twizzlers, "silky" dark chocolate Dove Bars, gummy cola bottles, and those new-ish Reese's Sticks.

Ick...Bit o'Honey, Mary Janes, Three Musketeers, Milky Way...actually, pretty much of anything with a honey base or nougat filling.

-- Anonymous, December 20, 2000

Bit o Honey is my favorite candy! I like the individually wrapped ones though, the full sized candy bars are just too much. I'm a big fan of saltwater taffy, too.

My SO eats the Peeps stale too, I can't eat them either way.

Grossest candy for me has to be circus peanuts. I loathe the way they feel in your mouth...ugh. I don't like gummy anything. I miss those little packets of what was basically sugary kool aid that you could rip off the top and lick your finger and stick it inside. Made your finger bright red. Those were the best for when you were on the bus with your friends!

-- Anonymous, December 20, 2000

Peeps, ewwww!!!!

Any jelly filled hard candy = yucko

Good n plenty...yummmmmmmmmmmmmmm

-- Anonymous, December 20, 2000

I like to sweeten up my holiday season with those orange shaped/flavored chocolates that split into sections when you thwack them.

-- Anonymous, December 27, 2000

Mmmmmmmmmmm...this close to Christmas, how could I forget candy canes? *starts to drool*

-- Anonymous, December 27, 2000

skittlesis the best, hot red peppers gummies

-- Anonymous, January 15, 2001

I love Good n Fruties... especially when you can find a big bag of them.. that is the best.. and the holiday reese's that are bigger and shaped like easter eggs or trees! However, peeps are just wrong and any candy canes... traditional or weird flavors.

-- Anonymous, March 01, 2001

Big Dogs Cocks are my favorite candies, SOOooo sweet, MMMmm!

-- Anonymous, March 04, 2001

Shut up, jim. You're lame.

-- Anonymous, March 05, 2001

Favourite: Branche Cailler (Swiss almond-and-hazelnut praline-filled chocolate-covered stick, coated with chopped hazelnuts), almost impossible to get outside Switzerland.

Nastiest on earth: anything containing Carob instead of chocolate, Cadbury's blackcurrant-filled chocolate bar (thankfully no longer available), anything combining chocolate and licorice, and of course the Jameson's Raspberry Ruffle, improbably incorporating coconut, raspberry and chocolate.

By the way, did you know that ...in the UK the American-style Mars bar (with almonds) doesn't exist, the American- style Milky Way (with caramel but no almonds) is called a Mars Bar and the American-style Three Musketeers (no caramel) is called a Milky Way?

Simon Beck London, UK

-- Anonymous, March 14, 2001

Mmmmm chocolate covered cherries...i have to agree with gwen on the liquid and not the white cream (ack) but the NASTIEST candy ever and i wish i could rememebr the name are these gross little 1/16" square flat black things that are supposed to freahen your breath and taste good...when they taste like if you accidently bite your nail after you use nail polish remover...SO GROSS...they come in a small paper packet...GEEZ whats that name???? GRRRRRRRRRRRR i'll be back. This is gonna kill me

-- Anonymous, March 18, 2001

MY FAVORITE CANDY IS A MR.GOODBAR I HAVE NEVER HAD GROSS CANDY

-- Anonymous, March 26, 2001

Bad candy: SNICKERS Cruncher.

Me no like! Ptoooi! Wasted my 50 cents. Would have liked a Twix better.

*sulking*

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001

Wow, you're the first person I know who's tasted one. It really sucks? Is it like Twix at all?

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001

Speaking of candy, every year I give my wife an Easter basket with her favorite Easter candies in it. Last month, she laid out the ground rules for candy this year, in a forceful manner and in no uncertain terms: She wants jelly beans and wrapped chocolates, and a whole box full or more (because apparently I haven't been giving her enough candy in years past). And the jelly beans better be GOOD ones, too, no stale or boring ones. :-)

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001

Paul: that's girlcode for "gimme Godiva and Jelly Bellies".

Snickers Cruncher tastes like an unholy marriage of a rice cake and a stale Snicker Bar. Insteadof the nougatty stuff, you get rice crispies.

Actually, the best Snicker spin-off product EVER = Snicker ice cream treats. Oh Mah Gawd. I just gained five pounds imagining myself eating one.

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001

Re: Crunchers and Twizen:

It is the ANTI-Twix, Paul. It is almost entirely unlike a Twix.

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001

Ooh, yuck, rice cake and anything sounds unholy to me. :-P

Oh yes, Snickers ice cream bars are the best. They're so rich, but so small. Seriously, if I have any in the freezer, I end up eating them all day long, even if I'm not hungry. What a cruel trick, making them easy to snack on.

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001

Well, Godiva and Jelly Bellies it was today, and they were a hit. I went to Godiva on Friday and got two 16-piece boxes of chocolates (these were custom in the Godiva tradition, I got to choose every different piece that went in) and then I went to a Hallmark and got a big bag of 39-flavor Jelly Bellies. I put them in the usual basket with watermelon hay and a Peanuts Easter card and sprang the whole thing on my wife this morning. She was very surprised, and very pleased and appreciative. I doubt she'll let me have any of the chocolates, though. :-\

-- Anonymous, April 15, 2001

I've been eating Robin's Eggs like they'll be taken away any minute. As though they aren't just Whoppers with a candy coating. I am such a sucker for limited edition candy.

-- Anonymous, April 16, 2001

I would do bad things for some chocolate bunny ears (they are the best part, of course), but, since I don't celebrate Easter, I did not get a chocolate bunny to de-ear this year.

I am sad.

-- Anonymous, April 18, 2001

Woah. Wait.

Paul--"Watermelon hay"?! Are you a Zappa fan, perchance?

-- Anonymous, April 18, 2001

Heh heh. I was wondering if someone would catch that, Milla. :-)

-- Anonymous, April 18, 2001

I can't believe I forgot this: Banana flavored Laffy Taffy. Mmmmm

-- Anonymous, April 19, 2001

The white zone is for loading and unloading only.

-- Anonymous, April 23, 2001

If ya gotta load or unload ...

:-)

-- Anonymous, April 23, 2001