Candy

I just read the book, Candy and Me (A Love Story) by Hilary Liftin. It caught my eye at the library near the cookbooks mainly because I also love candy and am a self-proclaimed sweet tooth. Even though I seem to crave cookies and cake more than candy, I thought I might be able to relate to this author’s tale of her love affair with candy.

Now I have a sweet tooth, but this lady has 32 sweet teeth! I could not believe the vast quantities of candy this woman consumed throughout her life, but especially during her childhood. At first I had a difficult time with the book because it actually made me feel a little sick to think about.

As I read more, I began to appreciate her passion for candy, sympathize with her struggles, and I did relate to some of her compulsions. For instance she talked about lining up Skittles “abacus style” according to color and number. When I eat from a bowl of M&Ms I will choose a color and eat only that color until they are all gone. Even if I get tired of eating them, I continue until that color is eliminated; it’s a compulsion. Also, when I eat from a bag of Hugs (which I haven’t done in YEARS for exactly this reason) I make a pyramid on the table with my balled up foil wrappers. If I want to keep eating I can’t eat just one more, because I have to keep the pyramid intact. So I often ended up eating too many and my stomach always regretted it.

My favorite candy is Toll-House semi-sweet chocolate chips. I can sit and eat those by the handful. I don’t need fancy pants dark chocolates at all. One of my favorite things to do with chocolate chips is what I call a Choco-dilla. I put chocolate chips and mini marshmallows on a tortilla and microwave it for a little bit and then fold it over and eat it. YUM! I haven’t done it in a very long time…but I’m starting to feel the urge!