Candy Dish Blog

This was something I passed up at the Laura Secord store I visited in Toronto but I was tempted to get something like this, figuring it would be great as a New Year’s Eve party novelty. This giant peppermint swirl as about three feet tall. It made me think of the giant spiraled incense I have seen hanging in Chinese Buddhist temples. Beautifully done, Laura Secord. Whoever buys that thing is going to have a heck of a time and I hope has some friends who can assist with it, in both moving and eating!

What would you do with a giant peppermint swirl like this?

This is pretty cool. 3 Musketeers is bringing the Wishing Wall to those who will be at Times Square for the New Year’s Eve celebrations tonight. We did not create this blog as a place to post press releases by manufacturers but I think this is a pretty special thing, focusing people on hope and the future.

From the 3 Musketeers press release:

For the first time ever, this New Year’s Eve the 3 MUSKETEERS® Brand is proud to present the Times Square New Year’s Eve Wishing Wall. Millions of people from around the world can share their hopes, dreams and resolutions for 2009 on over a ton of confetti that will rain down on New York City’s Times Square at the stroke of midnight this New Year’s Eve.

“Making a New Year’s resolution is as famous as the celebration itself, and for 2009 we want to start the New Year right,” said Michele Kessler, vice president of marketing, Mars Snackfood US. “This New Year’s Eve, 3 MUSKETEERS® Mint will take over Times Square to usher in New Year resolutions and celebrate a lighter way to enjoy chocolate.”

As the official presenting sponsor of the Confetti Wishing Wall, new 3 MUSKETEERS® Mint—light and fluffy mint nougat dipped in luscious dark chocolate—will be sampled throughout Times Square on the evening of the 31st. With 45 percent less fat than the average leading chocolate brands, 3 MUSKETEERS® Mint makes it easy to keep that New Year’s resolution and feel good about enjoying your favorite chocolate without regret in 2009.

Messages will be printed on multicolored confetti and can include serious or silly personal goals, dreams or hopes for a better world. Participants can submit their confetti wishes in person at the Times Square Information Center, located at 1560 Broadway, or at the M&M’S WORLD® Store at 1600 Broadway. Wishes can also be submitted online under “Wishing Wall Online.”

So go list your hope at the site and let it be among the falling confetti. Let’s have our own wishing wall right here. What are your hopes and dreams for 2009?

3 Musketeers Mint by iwantamonkey

Okay, so it’s not New Year’s Eve quite yet. However, you don’t want to be the last one to get everything together for the big party you are going to. Here is a quick and easy snack you can bring to any occasion, or even horde and eat by yourself. Yes, they are that good.

Jaden Hair of the Tampa Tribune tells us how to make Rollo pretzel turtles. Basically, you put Rolos on square pretzels, heat them until they are soft and then press a nut into the tops. Jaden tells it better and even includes and interesting story, so go check out her version.

New Year’s Eve Eve and we have dilemmas for breakfast. A bowl of fiber cereal or a bit of an indulgence. Martha, I am on your team! I can’t think of a better way to get started here at NCA now that I am back from vacation! When can you bring the Joe-Joes over?

We have a lot of leftover candy corn. I mean A LOT. I love the stuff but it’s hard to consume all of it on my own. Actually, it would be pretty easy but I think my lovely, caring wife might get on my case about not having enough variety in my diet, in which case she would prescribe some of these.

I have been asking friends what we should do with all this delicious candy corn. One person suggested making art projects with the candies, gluing them to construction paper to make pretty pictures. I thought perhaps they could be used as an ingredient in a recipe but cannot find one.

What would you do with a bunch of leftover candy corn?

I have spent the last several days in Toronto, where it is brutally cold for this Southern boy. While escaping the elements in a mall the other day, I saw a Laura Secord chocolate store I had seen elsewhere on other trips up here and asked my wife about it. “Looks like a big company,” I commented. “They must have good chocolate.”

“Yes,” my wife said. “It’s like our version of Russell Stover.”

“Who is Laura Secord? Was she the founder?”

“No. She was like our Betsy Ross.”

This sparked my curiosity and I started thinking about the comparisons she had made. The chocolate comparison was pretty accurate – high-quality chocolates and lots of gift boxes and assortments. The people at the store did not know who Secord was, except to say that she was a great patriot. Russell Stover was an actual person as well. I am not sure of his nation-saving activities during times of war, but he did invent the Eskimo Pie in 1921 and that is probably about as good, at least in my book.

When we got back to our hotel room, I did a bit of research. It turns out that Secord was a woman in the Niagara region who helped the British troops during the War of 1812 at great sacrifice to herself and her safety. No, Secord did not invent chocolate and there is no mention of her confectionery skills, if she had any at all. What I was really curious about was why the company was named after her. Unfortunately, I am still in the dark on that score. However, I highly recommend the chocolates, even if they are named after someone who helped the British halt the American advance into Canada.

According to Wikipedia:

Laura Secord Chocolates, founded in 1913, was named in her honour. “Laura Secord Chocolates” is now all around Canada, and is known for its ice-cream and dark chocolates, shaped in the pendant with Laura Secord’s face in white chocolate as its logo, as seen on the monument of Laura Secord in Lundy’s Lane (Niagara Falls, ON).

So they named the company after her about 40 years after her passing. It seems a little strange to me. Do you know the rest of the story? Why would they name the candy company after her? Regardless, I am hoping to find some good Boxing Day discounts at the store. You can never have too much yummy chocolate around!

Here at NCA we wish you a very happy holiday. We wish you warmth, peace and love, whether you are a hard candy person, a gummy-loving person like Tori or a chocolate person like the Susans. Even if you love things like circus peanuts, like I do, you are in the fold and among the appreciated. We are all about the equal-opportunity love here.

This all leads me to ask what your favorite Christmas/Hanukkah/solstice/Kwanzaa/HolidaySeason candy is. I think mine is anything with a minty flavor, like candy canes, chocolate, mints covered in chocolate and even mint candies without chocolate. Normally I would say circus peanuts because they are lord over all candies, but Susan has corrected me and informed me that they are not seasonal fare.

Regardless, this is what I am bringing to my friends’ house for Christmas dinner as an appetizer:

So what’s your favorite holiday candy? What are you setting out as a seasonal treat?

Santa Pez by davidking