Candy Dish Blog

Last week a reporter and blogger from the NY Times called to asked us about the practice of bringing leftover Halloween candy to work.

I know, I got stuck on the same part.  People have LEFTOVER candy.  What?

Her questions were along these lines: Do people like it when co-workers bring leftover candy to the office?  Is there something better you can do with it?  How long does candy last?

Once I got over the shock, I realized that there is still candy in our Halloween bowl at home and that some people might consider that “leftover”.  And sure, I can even see the appeal of bringing it to work (well, maybe not here, where we have a room like this one, but in another office).  Is that really the best option, though?

I think it’s okay to bring some of your candy to work … but keep in mind that your co-workers all have their own bowls of undispersed candy to contend with and that it’s just as likely to sit unopened at work as it is at home.  Plus, you may find you have even more occasion to overindulge at work than you do at home.  The key to healthy consumption of candy, Halloween or otherwise, is to remember that candy is a treat that can be included in moderation as part of a healthy, active lifestyle.  Halloween candy, in particular, is an excellent way to include some sweetness in your diet since it comes in small-sized packaging.

If you have lots of extra candy, you may want to look into an organization like Soldiers’ Angels who make care packages for servicemen overseas (note that they have three addresses to send goodies and ask that you pick the location closest to you).  Alternately, there may be groups in your area that work with at risk youth – maybe even kids who didn’t have a chance to celebrate Halloween – who would appreciate a donation.

Finally, don’t assume that your candy has to find a new home in two weeks time.  Stored properly, candy last for months.  Here are some storage tips:

Shelf Life and Storage Suggestions

• Chocolate. Dark chocolate can be kept for a year or more if wrapped in foil and stored in a cool, dark and dry place. A pantry or basement is an ideal location. Milk and white chocolate have a more limited storage time—no more than 8 to 10 months.
• Hard Candy. Hard candies (lollipops, lifesavers, butterscotch) can last up to a year when stored at room temperature or in a cool, dry location.
• Jellied Candies. If the packaging has been opened, soft candies should be kept in a covered candy dish, away from heat and light at room temperature (about 70 degrees). Stored in this manner, the candy should last six to nine months. If the packaging has not been opened, soft sweets will last approximately 12 months.
• Candy Corn. If the packaging has been opened, candy corn should be stored under the same conditions as soft candies and will last approximately three to six months. Unopened, fresh packages will last about 9 months.
• Gum. As long as the packaging remains sealed, most gum products have a shelf life of six to nine months. To maximize product freshness, keep chewing gum packages in a cool, dry place and out of any direct sunlight.
• Caramel. Should be kept covered, away from heat and light at room temperature. Stored properly should last six to nine months, even up to 12 months in some cases.

General Guidelines

• Protection in the Pantry. While different types of candy have different storage requirements, generally the pantry is a safe place to stash sweets. Airtight storage in a cool place will ensure a longer shelf life. A number of candies may be frozen as well.
• Wrap it up. Treats such as taffies, caramels and nougats should be protected from dampness during storage. Before storing away, make sure these sweets are wrapped individually with clear cellophane.
• Avoid Moisture Mixes. Do not mix candies that absorb moisture such as caramels, mints and hard candies with candies that lose moisture such as fudge and creamy candies. Storing these sweets in the same container will cause the harder candies to become sticky. To make sure that hard candies stay hard, sprinkle with finely ground sugar and store in an air-tight jar.
• Cryonic Candies. Freezing is a popular method for keeping candy over long periods of time. However, not all sweets are suited for the freezer. While toffee and truffles can be frozen for up to two months, avoid freezing candy with fruits and nuts.

Halloween Candy by aus chick

Our intern, Marc, whom you met yesterday, was inspired to write a blog entry on baseball and candy. He even strong-armed Tori, our resident sports nut, into letting him cover this issue. A true Yankees fan, we know which way Marc is leaning for this series, but he does a good job not bringing baseball politics into the discussion. Yesterday was Marc’s last day in our department, so next week somebody else gets to ride him like a rented mule. Good times, Marc. Read on:

Ah, the end of October, the happiest time of year in the candy world. The day before Halloween is like black Friday in the candy industry, it just so happens that this year, the date actually falls on a Friday. But Halloween is not the only thing on the mind of us candy lovers.

Like everybody else out there, the World Series has us hooked. But luckily, we don’t have to choose between the two. There are many ways to combine candy and baseball. The two have been related since early in the 20th century. From cotton candy to Cracker Jacks, players today still love their candy.

This year New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi decided he wanted to replace the candy in the dugout with nuts and granola bars. This didn’t stop the Yankees players, as they were caught smuggling the forbidden stuff (candy bars, not steroids) into the clubhouse.

Candy has been a part of the World Series as well. After Babe Ruth called his shot in the 1932 World Series, the Curtiss Candy Company installed an illuminated Baby Ruth Candy Bar sign in the spot in center field where the Bambino had hit this historic home run. The sign lasted at Wrigley Field for the next four decades. In the 1970’s, New York Yankee’s All-Star and World Series hero Jim Bouton decided he wanted to create a fun-alternative to chewing tobacco. He pitched the idea of Big League Chew, a shredded bubble gum, to the Wrigley Company, aiding in its creation and adding to the popularity of candy in baseball.

The fun combination does not have to remain in the depths of baseball history. You can help continue the legacy of candy in baseball by combining them both. Celebrate the World Series and Halloween in your own way. You can go trick-or-treating as your favorite Yankees player. Or you can collect your candy in a Phillies candy bucket.

What candies delight your palate while watching the big game?

Baseball Game Candy by niallkennedy.

Oh, how I love technology.  Today I read on Digits, a Wall Street Journal blog covering tech news, that the popular real estate Web site Zillow has created an index of the best neighborhoods in which to trick or treat.  Oh happy day!

In reading a little further I learned that they only indexed Seattle and Los Angles … but maybe they will go even further next year.  And if you are lucky enough to live in one of these locales, make the most of your Halloween by checking out these top neighborhoods.

Top 5 Seattle Neighborhoods to Trick-or-Treat
1.Wallingford
2. Queen Anne
3. Magnolia
4. University District
5. Capitol Hill

Top 5 Los Angeles Neighborhoods to Trick-or-Treat
1. Venice
2. Los Feliz
3. Westwood
4. Silver Lake
5. Beverly Hills

According to Zillow they used a fairly complex methodology to come up with these rankings, including analyzing home values, walk-ability and crime rates.  If you don’t live in one of these two areas, you might be able to come up with similar stats for neighborhoods in your area by using the tools available on Zillow.  At the very least you should get the walk score for your area. 

Is there a well-known trick-or-treat neighborhood in your community?  Do they give out full size candy bars there?  If so, what time should the Candy Dish Blog writers show up?

We had so many clever entries for our Halloween costume contest that it took our celebrity judges a little longer than expected to pick their winners, but I’m happy to report that we’ve come up with some great choices.

Are you dressing as Swine Flu this Halloween?

For anyone still trying to figure out what to dress as for Halloween, let me summarize the most popular costume choices for you:

1. Jon, Kate or any of their eight

2. Balloon boy, or the balloon itself

3. Swine flu, or swine flew or swine flue

4. The Nobel Prize, or some variation on a political protest

And now for our winners:

Kyle, our celebrity blogger from The Onion AV Club, chose Alison S.who will be going out this year dressed as “Joan from Mad Men…but all bloodied and holding a severed foot.” In Kyle’s words her idea is “simple, current (that episode was awesome), and bloody, to keep with the Halloween theme.”

Rachel, who regularly blogs at averagejanecrafter.blogspot.com and blog.craftzine.com, likes Rob C’s costume idea: the money you could be saving with Geico.  He’s managed to make a ”giant stack of money with 15″ googlie eyes” and even recruited a friend to answer “It’s the money you could be saving with Geico” every time someone asks about Rob’s costume.  Rachel liked Rob’s idea for its “crafty hilarity”.

Gizmodo blogger Mark chose Brian’s entry: a dejected Chicagoan saddened by the loss of the 2016 Olympics.  Since Mark, unlike Brian, actually does live in Chicago and likely will be there on Halloween this probably hit close to home for him.

Lois, who was set to judge the contest from Grub Hub, was unavailable at the last minute … but her colleague Jenni Spinner stepped in for her.  Jenni is a Packer fan and liked Charlie’s joke about Brett Favre’s recent indecisiveness. 

Finally, the Candy Dish blog writers were able to pick a fifth prize winner to encourage people to help us promote the contest.  The luckier publicist is Ariel(who also had a rockin’ costume idea, by the way).  Thanks to everyone who helped promote the contest.

Congratulations to all our winners who should, if the USPS complies, be receiving their candy by Halloween. If there’s one thing we love more than candy, it’s giving candy away … so be sure to watch this space for future contests!

Chanchoche by jpcolasso

Many thanks to Tomi, who pointed me to this recipe. I made a vow to Susan not to bring up this topic but since one of our loyal readers has brought it up, I feel free to address it. The issue is what part of the candy corn is the top. This caused a big row last year on the blog. She says the white part, which is completely wrong, and I say the yellow part. My reasoning is that on the cob, the broad yellow part is on the outside, so that must be the top of the candy corn kernel.

She actually yelled at me, “Candy corn does not grow on a cob!” I maintain that to be the truth, and Candy Scientist Laura even explained how it is made, but for as long as we call it candy corn and not candy triangles, the corn metaphor stands. I didn’t make it up. Don’t yell at me, Susan. As the old song goes, the candy corn grows as high as an elephant’s eye.

We cobists are happy to see this recipe because it gives us an idea of what the fabled candy corn cob would look like if it did exist. Here is the recipe, from the Food Network:

Trim the ends of a store-bought jelly-roll cake to make a corn-cob shape. Cover with a thin layer of vanilla frosting, then cover the cake completely with candy corn, inserting the tips into the cake so that only the yellow ends are visible. Roll out a package of green fondant (we used Wilton Primary Colors Multi Pack, available at baking and crafts stores) until about 1/8 inch thick. Cut out 2 leaf-shaped pieces and arrange around the cake to look like husks.

Thank goodness Rob and I are in good company on this issue. If the Food Network people are on my side, I can’t be wrong. After all, they probably know the people who drive the combines on the fondant farm. I bet their Thanksgiving tastes a whole lot like Halloween.

You may think from this week’s theme that we have a candy corn fixation. You are right. As Susan pointed out yesterday, it’s one of the few candies that is available for only a short time, and that preserves its magic and keeps the spark and love alive. However, we are not the only fans of the treat. Many thanks to Yum Sugar for posting a recipe that’s sure to delight Halloween partygoers everywhere. Well, adult partygoers, anyway. Candy corn cordials? Yes, sign me up!

Ingredients
For the infused vodka:
1/2 cup candy corn
1 1/2 cups vodka
For the cordials:
2 ounces orange liqueur
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 large egg white
Candy corn, for garnish

I don’t want to steal the thunder away from the original author, so you will have to go read the rest of the recipe on the original site. But anytime you have candy corn infused vodka, you can’t go wrong. This is the stuff of epic-sized parties.

Now that Candy Scientist Laura has shared with us the secrets of candy corn, you’re probably dying to try your hand at making your own, huh? 

Yeah, me neither.  Nonetheless, when loyal Twitter friend Fedward sent me this link to someone who had tried I was intrigued.  First of all, blogger Jessie Oleson, the CakeSpy, had me with the cleverly Photoshopped picture of her candy corn compared to the store bought variety.  The expressions on the ‘faces’ of the candy corns are priceless.

But the part that made me really take notice was her final declaration:

Conclusion? These homespun tricolor treats are definitely worth the time and effort. Once you’ve tasted them, you may never buy candy corn by the bag again.

Candy corn is one of those confectionery items that people either love or hate, with few people falling somewhere in between.  I happen to be in the camp of those who love it – but only for a few weeks of the year.  Part of what I like about candy corn is that it’s really only widely available from September – November and then you have to put it out of your head until the following fall.  To me, the idea that you can whip up your own any time you want takes away some of the magic.

Also, loyal readers will remember that I am pretty lazy when it comes to baking and Jessie’s recipe takes, as she mentions, a lot of time and effort.  I have a terrible feeling that were I to try to my hand at this, my candy corn would look malformed, not cute and tasty like Jessie’s.

All in all, I still don’t think homemade candy corn is for me … but I love that someone has figured out how to do it at home and I encourage those of you of a mind to try to give it a whirl.  Be sure to pick up a bag at the store for a proper taste comparison, though.

If you try Jessie’s recipe, please let us know.  And please send funny pictures of your candy corn personalities like Jessie’s adorable candy corn cuties above.   

Image courtesy of Jessie Oleson, the Cakespy