Tag Archives: Candy

My Penn State Pez Dispenser


Heck yeah I own a Penn State themed Pez dispenser! Not only do I love sporting this wicked cool candy gadget, but I have actually managed to control my sweet tooth long enough to put the Pez candies inside of the dispenser (this is something I couldn’t seem to do as a kid, and I consider it now an accomplishment). I admit though, I always end up eating Pez just as fast as I eat orange flavored Tic Tacs.
I wanted to share with you my athletically-themed Pez contraption mid-way through Football season — just looking at it is getting me pumped for this Saturday’s football game (PSU vs. Ohio State at Beaver Stadium). Not only am I planning to consume massive amounts of fantastic tailgating food, but I also can’t wait to buy my seasonal Penn State hot chocolate mug — something I have managed to collect over my 4 years of college! (At Beaver Stadium’s concession stands you can warm up with some toasty hot chocolate, the best part is it’s always served in a take-home collectors mug!)
This upcoming weekend is going to be outrageously fun — I’ll have my friends, tailgating food galore, (naturally, a beer), and of course my swanky Pez dispenser!

Rock Candy in a Refined Way

Growing up I had a candy crush on three specific sweets: rock candy, Nerds, and Sugar Daddys.

I’ve always thought of rock candy as the boring old “white” flavoring, aka raw sugar without any flavor — and the grape flavor that would turn my tongue, teeth, and lips purple. But, it wasn’t until I moved to New York when I realized that the boring ol’ white crystal rock candy could be used to sweeten up a cappuccino or latte. When I ordered a latte at my corner block’s pizzeria they delivered my mug with a stick of rock candy. It dissolved beautifully into my hot espresso and milk.

This made me think: how fantastic would it be to arrange these on a plate to serve after hosting a dinner? It takes ordinary tea and coffee times and puts such a chic and at the same time childish spin on the candy. I love it!

You can organize them in several ways, but my favorites are placing them in a small hurricane glass that is filled half way with sugar. That way the sugar crystals won’t crack and break if they get moved around in the hurricane.

I also love just delicately placing them on a plate. In this photo, you’ll see a combination of both the white and brown rock candy. I love this because it shows that sugar comes in two different ways. Just make sure you don’t serve some random flavored rock candy — you want them to be the original sugar-tasting flavor rather than something like cherry or bubblegum (my bet is that would taste nasty with coffee or tea).

(Note: these photos were taken from Pinterest. Take a look on my site for further references! And be sure to follow me, I’ll follow back! I’m always interested to see what everyone is pinning about!)

Candied Cashews in Manhattan

Nuts 4 Nuts, candied cashews made at a food cart in New York City.

Food being prepared and served at street carts always grosses me out. The carts are so dirty and the street meat makes me wonder where the meat has been. But one thing I will admit, all of the food smells delicious!

The nuts being candied on the streets are actually the best smelling sweets I have ever inhaled. I can’t tell you how many times I have walked by these nut carts and I take in the fantastic smell — and I never purchased a bag of cashews, almonds or walnuts. It wasn’t until friends were in town the other weekend when I finally got a taste of how delicious the nuts are.

We were walking on Broadway in Soho and passed by a cart, my friends insisted on getting some so of course I had to take a bite. Before I knew it, I ate half of the bag before we even walked a full block. Since then, I have bought a few bags of candied cashews here and there. The prices on the street range, it all depends where you are buying them because the food vendors have more of a charge depending where they set up their cart. So, the candied cashews might cost $2.00 in Soho, but they will cost you $2.50 on Fifth Avenue (that’s also a sign that tourists that only shop on Fifth Ave. are being ripped off)! The nuts are always served nice and warm and some times the melted sugar is still hot! They are never burned and have the most perfect crunch. Eat them right away because the warmth in your mouth is incredible — plus, when the cashews are warm they are also crunch on the outside and softer on the inside.

What could be better than that?

Inside an Italian Grocery Store

Typically when you are touring a city you might not think to go inside a grocery store. But if you want to see what the Italians are cooking at home, I strongly suggest you explore a local grocery store, even a chain grocery store!

When in Amsterdam I spent practically every single day in the local Albert Heijn grocery store. I was either picking up dinner, or getting more eggs for breakfast, or I was buying up insanely cheap (30 euro cents a pint) beer! So I knew when I went to Italy that I needed to make sure I got inside a local shop.

I was in Rome when I went into my first Italian grocery store. I was so disappointed that I couldn’t do my heavy duty shopping because all I wanted to do was fill up an entire grocery cart and take everything home! In American grocery stores you can go down an aisle for noodles, for pasta, for mexican food, for chinese food… but in an Italian grocery store there is only one type of cuisine that you can buy. Can you guess what is it?

The entire store is packed with just Italian cuisine. So of course you can find your pasta, risotto, cheese, meat, etc etc. Actually, I loved that instead of a “Rice A Roni” type of boxed rice, you could buy a similar brand except it was for risotto! If I lived in Italy, I would be very satisfied with my food!

While in the store I picked up a few treats for some friends back home. Including European chocolate bars and various cookies and candies that you can only find abroad. (I hope they enjoyed them!)

Below are photos inside of a grocery store, and a couple of pictures from the outside of a store in Florence!

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Swedish Candy Store In The West Village

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Swedish candy store, Sockerbit, in the West Village, NYC

It doesn’t matter where you are from, when you are a child going to a candy shop is probably the sweetest thing to do. The first (I was told hopefully there will be a chain of the store soon) Sockerbit candy shop is tucked in the West Village of NYC. The exceptionally quaint and historical neighborhood of the city is full of character — from the architecture, to shopping, to restaurants you will find a variety of places to visit that will actually entertain and please everyone. Sockerbit stood out to me while I was passing by the shop, an all white store is bound to stick out in a neighborhood where modern and futuristic decor will only be found on the interior of a building. Automatically you know that this shop is European (the name is clearly either Dutch or Swedish) and it’s not just the name that gives it away, but the clean white floors, walls, and counter tops in the shop scream IKEA. I have a few friends that spent several months in college studying architecture in Europe, specifically in Northern Europe, after seeing their photographs of modern buildings and interior design it couldn’t have been more clear that the owner of the store truly is Swedish.
Just like any kid (or adult) in a candy shop, you have to TRY to take your time and not grab everything in sight (this store is rather pricey, $12 a pound of candy). I took my time scouting out what to buy and taste, I took my time not only because it was expensive candy, but because I had no clue what the heck I was looking at. The sweets were exotic to any American who hasn’t been to Sweden! I went the safe route and got a couple of gummy sugary treats as well as white chocolate covered raisins and these chocolate covered krispy bites that tasted like Kit Kats.
There’s no comparison that can be made from Sockerbit to the popular and well known Dylan’s Candy Bar (yes, the owner is Ralph Lauren’s daughter). DCB has all of the popular American candies (and they are completely over priced and not as fresh as they should be, actually it is probably a better idea to go into a CVS to buy Twix than to go to DCB), and Sockerbit has the fun adventurous foreign sweets that you can’t find in any convenient store. I would rather spend more money on the candy that has to be shipped from Europe than from Hershey, Pa.
So, give Sockerbit a shot, their sweet Swedish treats are going to put a smile on your face (and maybe rot your teeth, you’ll be eating so much)…

Biggest Box of Nerds

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Isn't this the largest box of Nerds you have ever seen!? It's been a week and I have already chowed down on half of the candy in the box!

I love Nerds, I actually eat at least two of the mini-boxes (the individual ones) before I go to bed every night. I personally love the strawberry flavor, but the grape isn’t all that bad either! Nerds was a candy that I grew up with, except when I was young I had a very thick New England accent and I couldn’t pronounce my R’s correctly … so it really sounded like I was saying “nauds.” It was something that my family laughed over constantly!
When my older sister came to visit me in New York last month, she brought me a few boxes of the candy (the larger box, like the type you can get at the movie theater); she knows that I like the mini sizes but she couldn’t find them for me — so she took a travel size Advil case and printed off a Nerds label from the computer and created a cylinder-shaped Nerds case for me. I love it!!! I actually keep it filled and I put it in my purse/bag! Okay, I am obsessed!
Last weekend my boyfriend was going through the Limelight Market and he came across the largest box of Nerds you will ever see — and the good boyfriend that he is, he purchased it for me and surprised me with it! I’m sure my eyes light-up because I was ecstatic! The gift was so thoughtful; he knows how much I love the candy and it was the sweetest thing for him to surprise me with. (Major brownie-points for him!)
So here it is, I wanted to share with you — the largest box of Nerds I have ever seen! It is actually filled with mini boxes of the strawberry and grape candy…
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Hershey’s Chocolate World Candy Fudge

Have you ever been to Chocolate World in Hershey, Pa? If you are ever in the area (a popular town for Philadelphia residents to pass through on their way to State College, Harrisburg, and some times Pittsburgh) be sure to make a stop in the Sweetest Place On Earth.
Talking about Hershey, Pa is something fun to do [now] — especially since I don’t have to hang around the town 24/7. I went to Hershey High School, home of the Trojans, and trust me when I say that it is NOT exciting having to smell chocolate in the air as well as cow dung on a nice spring afternoon.

Hershey's Chocolate Fudge from Chocolate World in Hershey, Pa. The Hershey's candy store in Times Square NYC is horrible compared to Chocolate World.


When I went to my parents home in Hershey for Thanksgiving, I made a pit-stop at Hershey’s Chocolate World, right next to Hershey Park. This place is a total zoo year-round, but I was on a mission to find my favorite fudge and to pick up a few new Reese’s treats I knew my boyfriend would love for the holidays. If a friend is visiting for the first time in Hershey I will take them on a longer tour of Chocolate World — there is a fun “ride” where you get to learn about how the factory makes the different Hershey’s candy. It’s cute, fun, and educational.
I skipped the “ride” and went straight for the fudge. There were plenty of options to pick from but i decided on the chocolate walnut fudge. I have to go back for more over the holidays. This sweet treat is so inexpensive (less than $5) and is the perfect stocking stuffer or gift topper!