Vickie Fee

Changing tastes

When I was little enough to still go trick-or-treating, my favorite candy was anything that included chocolate. I still rarely turn down chocolate.

In the sixth grade, I won the school-wide spelling bee, which advanced me to the county-wide competition. I believe I finished 26th, which was respectable for a contest with hundreds of competitors. There wasn’t any money on the line. But my school principal congratulated me with a large box of peanut brittle from a kind of fancy candy store. At this point, I came to believe that peanut brittle must be the most high class candy there was, since the school janitor drove quite a ways to pick it up for me.

In my teens, someone gifted our family with a box of “Swiss” chocolate. I had read somewhere that the Swiss were famous for making the best chocolate in the world. I remember thinking it didn’t taste like the best chocolate I’d ever had. But, I assumed I wasn’t old enough to have developed a palate for this superior chocolate.

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For a long time, I asked for chocolate-covered cherries when I was given an option from my parents. I thought it was pretty good, even if not considered superior. I kind of outgrew it a few years ago. I no longer request it, but I’ll certainly eat it if my parents buy if for me.

The only candy I actually make myself is Jack Daniel’s whisky balls. For several years I’d make them around Christmas and we’d put them in seasonal tins and pass them out to friends and coworkers. They were a bit hit with a couple of priests we know.

My daddy always loved Heath candy bars with the toffee inside them. Since he passed away, the rare occassions I’ve had a Heath bar make me feel all gooey and sentimental.

If I had to pick my favorite candy, simply based on the taste, I’d go with either bourbon chocolates or coffee-filled chocolates. I think I’m old enough now that I might be more impressed with Swiss chocolates. Not sure I can afford them, though.

If you have a favorite candy, share it with us in the comments — from divinity to Reese’s Pieces.

21 thoughts on “Changing tastes”

  2. I’ve been lucky enough to buy chocolate in Switzerland, and it’s good. But the best is Belgian! Most of the brands are harder to get here, but if you’re ever in Belgium, get some Godiva made there. Or just any chocolate in that country.

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      1. I have to admit, I can’t remember the brand I used to buy, but it doesn’t seem to be there anymore. I thought I’d never forget that!

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  5. I love See’s chocolates, which El turned me on to (um, thanks, El?). I pick them up in Western-US airports, because they don’t seem to be available here. (And the Amazon selection is terrible.) My favorite? Chocolate-covered marshmallow (which I usually discover last in the assortment box, no matter what the helpful picture-guide inset says). Not as big a Heath fan as my fellow Chicks–I vote gooey over crunch. I do make exceptions, though–peppermint bark at Christmas and the homemade almond roca gifted by family friends each holiday season. When my hubby and I see that little box arrive from Seattle, it’s Game On.

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    1. I was about to say See’s, but Lisa beat me to it! Lisa, I’m guessing the chocolate you’re thinking of is Scotchmallow, with a layer of caramel under the marshmallow. You see? I know them all by name!

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  6. I love chocolate in all its forms. I barely look at the dessert menu, just scanning for the word “chocolate” and ordering whatever contains said word. But the one candy I wish I could have again is my grandmother’s chocolate peanut butter balls! It’s been decades since I’ve tasted one but they were my first experience with combining salty and sweet. Yum!

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    1. You should track down an e-z-version recipe and make them to continue the tradition, Marla–then send them out to all your friends! (You do have my mailing address, right?)

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