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The best and worst bites of Halloween

7 Comments Tiny Bites ConsultingOctober 31, 2008

November 1, 2006: Treats!, originally uploaded by Matt McGee (Creative Commons)

Having a birthday that neighbours Halloween has its drawbacks. Every dance club invariably replaces its normal DJ mix for The Monster Mash and Thriller on endless repeat, and friends are often doubled booked for costume parties.

My one small comfort was trick or treating. It has gotten better with time; now I get to choose what junk food to “distribute” to “children” in my building that does not allow soliciting. Any leftovers become the property of my husband and I. Oh darn.

Like eating smartly at a buffet, there is always a right way and a wrong way to score the best eats. It helps to have younger siblings that can be conned encouraged into bartering for favourites. And if you were anything like me, you knew which establishments on your block to hit up early lest you miss out on the best candy grabs in the neighbourhood. Let me dig into my past and share my Top 5 and Bottom 5 Halloween yums with you…and I hope this prompts you to reply with yours.

My top 5 Halloween candy picks

  1. The Nestle collection. You know what I’m talking about…Smarties. Aero. Coffee Crisp. Kit Kat. Nestle Crunch. Drool.
  2. The Mars collection. Similar to #1, you can’t go wrong with mini (or better yet, full) sizes of Mars, Snickers, M&Ms, and the like.
  3. Rockets. These slightly sour and crunchy candies are less fun than candy necklaces but great as a savouring suck.
  4. Tootsie Rolls. Lollipops or those chewy chocolatey sticks; I’m not that picky. Bonus: catchy jingle.
  5. Hershey Kisses. I only got to eat these when my family handed them out to us themselves. An anticipated event.

My bottom 5 Halloween candy picks

  1. Candy corn. The sight of those tri-striped candies were what I dreaded most in my Halloween bucket. Way too sweet. Not a recognizable brand. Didn’t really understand why they were likened to corn.
  2. Soap candies. Did you ever pop one of those fruit candies into your mouth and realize that these were the ones that always have at least one soap-flavoured dud in your bucket? Ruined all candy eating for the rest of the evening. And I never learned which brand was the culprit, even after all this time.
  3. Sun-Maid Raisins. I like raisins. I especially enjoyed those little boxes of Sun-Maid raisins as a post-school snack. But people–trick or treating is not a healthy excursion. Go big or go home. Don’t go fruit and nuts on the kids.
  4. Sunflower or pumpkin seeds. See #3.
  5. Homemade goodies. I can vividly recall a few times when I was given the most fantastic homemade cookie or caramel apples that were generously dipped in sprinkles or yummy bits. Do you think my parents let me eat that? Hell, no! They were snatched away from my greedy hands in terror. The find coupled with the immediate separation was agony. Those things better have had razors or poison in them like my family suggested or I’ll be quite off-put.

Your turn. What did you love?  What did you hate?

Categories: Events, Food, Food Fun Facts, Miscellany

Comments

7 Responses to “The best and worst bites of Halloween”

  1. Laura on October 31st, 2008 8:53 pm

    Happy birthday!

    My favourite is Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. I don’t really do Halloween, but I totally go shopping the day after for candy on sale.

  2. Sharon on November 3rd, 2008 9:03 am

    I don’t like candy corn either… but raisins? I love them! They should incorporate dried cranberries into the halloween mix! lol

  3. Bruce on November 4th, 2008 11:05 am

    I’m disappointed that jellies are not represented in any of their scrumptious forms. Especially jellies with a sour sugar coating in the vein of Sour Patch Kids.

    I’ll second the appreciation for the Nestle collection, but only the chocolate wafer variety.

    Mini KitKat bars are addictive.

    Must be the soya lecithin – or maybe the polyglyceral polyricinoleate. I know it’s not the sodium bicarbonate.

  4. Leanne on November 6th, 2008 12:47 pm

    FAVES:
    1. Namebrand chocolate bite-sized packages. ie. the Glosettes, Kit Kats, Reese, Snickers, Coffee Crisp, etc.
    2. Sours! Fuzzy Peaches, sour keys and the like.
    3. Lemme see you Toosie Roll … and Pops.
    4. Nerds/Punky’s
    5. Twizzler/Nib

    YOU CALL YOURSELF CANDY?
    1. Loose shelled peanuts.
    2. Raisins
    3. Candy Corn
    4. Black licorice
    5. Those white powdery mints that you find on display in a bowl at an old white person’s home.

  5. kyle on November 11th, 2008 9:37 pm

    Apparently Leanne and I have gone trick or treating in the same area. Aside from the pennies, the loose shelled peanuts, and the ginger candy, I also recall receiving single wrapped pieces of halls cough drops. Practical but not what I had in mind.

  6. Flickr Treats | Matt McGee on November 13th, 2008 12:54 am

    [...] The best and worst bites of Halloween — on tinybites [...]

  7. Karen on November 13th, 2008 9:19 pm

    Top of mine:

    Anything chocolate.

    ….and Rockets are my vice. Pure sugar goodness- YUM. Over the last few days at work, we have been binging on them and as a result been slightly hyper active.

    Total bottom:

    Raisins. Little scabs of sunshine. The least noble way for a grape to meet its end.

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