MetaChat - Halloween Candy: Best and Worst

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28 October 2008

Halloween Candy: Best and Worst →[More:]If you trick-or-treated as a child, you probably had a personal hierarchy of Halloween Candy. For me it was:

Best: Mounds. Unlike other candy bars, I would not go out and buy Mounds on my own - if I had a precious .50 it was more likely to go to a Hershey's Special Dark or a Reese's. So Mounds were a special unusual treat, appropriate to the exotic coconut filling.

Worst: Toss-up - Necco Wafers vs. Smartees. Neccos were at least more uncommon (Smartees often appeared at Valentine's Day too) but their chalky blandness was odd, and I was suspicious that it was an actual foodstuff. Smartees were definitely candy, but their intense sweet-tartness sometimes hurt my teeth.

post by: Miko at: 21:56 | 35 comments

I shouldn't have read yours because now I'm tainted.

Best: Almond Joy, twizzlers, dots/jujubes, reeses,
Worst: Black and orange wrapped peanut taffy

posted by Stewriffic 28 October | 22:04

Although I'm not a fan of either necco wafers or smarties. Also bad: spree and sweettarts.

posted by Stewriffic 28 October | 22:04

Best: Three Musketeers. Reese's Cups.

Worst: Mounds (I don't like coconut, so mom and dad wound up eating my Mounds bars). Dubble Bubble kind of sucked too. That's crazy old lady gum.

posted by jonmc 28 October | 22:06

Best: Those candy dots on long strips of paper. I love the taste of chocolate more, but for some reason those little dots to me have always represented capital-C Candy.

Worst: Mounds or Almond Joy. Those are only slightly worse than plain Hershey's milk chocolate, which is itself an Abomination in the Eyes of the Lord.

posted by middleclasstool 28 October | 22:11

Those candy dots on long strips of paper.

Candy buttons. Like ribbon candy, it something about the look way more than the taste. At some point the paper that you can never unstick made me wonder why i was even bothering to eat them when i just liked the way they looked.

posted by ethylene 28 October | 22:23

My favorites were the baking we got for the German lady 4 doors down the street. I also loved Smarties. The real ones, not the U.S. Smarties that are called Rockets in the real world.

posted by arse_hat 28 October | 22:25

I hated, HATED Almond Joy and Mounds candy when I was a kid but I guess my tastebuds have changed as an adult because I just ate all (and only) the Almond Joy out of a 12 pound sack of mixed Halloween treats that I bought at Costco last week. I was digging through the bag like a pig looking for a truffle just a half hour ago, looking for any strays.

I love Smarties. They aren't as good as SweeTarts but I still like their chalky goodness. On a related note: blue SweeTarts are an abomination. Give me more orange flavored ones.

My least favorite candy that my son brings home* from Halloween is Double Bubble because it takes a lot of chewing and saliva to get anywhere with it and by the time it's malleable enough to blow a bubble, it tastes like bathroom caulk. It also makes the hinge of my jaw make horrible creaking noises.

*Like my parents, I "inspect" my son's Halloween loot before he gets to eat any. Like my parents, I'm looking for is candy I plan to "confiscate because it looks funny" (translation: candy I'm going to cram into my piehole after the boy goes to bed.)

posted by jamaro 28 October | 22:36

The worst were those really old school, chewy, peanut buttery things? I can't remember what they're called.

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 28 October | 23:04

Circus peanuts?

posted by jamaro 28 October | 23:06

Goldenberg's Peanut Chews?

or Mary Janes?

posted by Miko 28 October | 23:08

You're not talking about abba zaba, are you?

As for me, I hate candy corn. Even though it looks cool.

On preview: probably mary janes.

posted by puke & cry 28 October | 23:10

I only liked candy corn to self-demonstrate the precision of my bite (white goes in the first nip, extend tongue to verify no orange has sunk into the bitten off piece).

posted by jamaro 28 October | 23:12

snuck, too.

posted by jamaro 28 October | 23:14

Aw, my link was wrong, it was to a different peanut chew. Looks like they don't make Goldenberg's any more!

posted by Miko 28 October | 23:15

Mary Jane's! That's them! Nasty little things.

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 28 October | 23:16

Aw, man, i was just about to say i loved those things, haven't had them in forever.

Also i use to like a Charleston Chew. You could freeze them and break them but i thinkwe'd just chaw on them.
Also, my sister use to make me run to the dorner deli for Reggie Bars, which were basically turtles.
This all winds back to Snickers.
i'm glad i don't have the dread peanut allergy.

Candy corns are for looks.
Candy is generally for looks when it's not chocolate.
i should just make fridge magnets because i don't want to eat it so much as look at it.
i'd get some of those "a gross of superpowered magnets" off ebay if i wasn't afraid they'd obliterate every bit of magnetized strip in an acre.

posted by ethylene 28 October | 23:19

The Goldberg's not the Mary Janes. That's the kind of candy you use to play poker because people won't eat their stash.

posted by ethylene 28 October | 23:21

Candy corns are for looks.

It has an odd, not-so-much flavor, but the thing I like about candy corn is how you can bite it gently with your front teeth and it comes apart section by section: yellow, white, brown - at the fissure lines.

posted by Miko 28 October | 23:21

That's a lot of typos. Evident, but still.
Tired.

i do like separating the layers.

posted by ethylene 28 October | 23:23

Candy corn makes for a good album cover.

posted by puke & cry 28 October | 23:29

Best: Reese's
Worst: Twizzlers

My overprotective mother didn't let me trick or treat. She gave me See's as a replacement. It wasn't the same.

posted by spork 28 October | 23:48

Best: anything chocolate
Worst: Anything cherry-flavored.

I like Almond Joys and Mounds but I remember being at a classmate's birthday party and getting some awful coconut candy served to me. I kept throwing it away, but her grandmother kept replacing it.

posted by brujita 29 October | 00:30

Best: Wax Lips!!!

When else can you get these? Don't ask me why... it's that weird wintergreen flavor.

also Butterfingers and Abba Zabbas

Worst: Smarties. Stupidies more like.

posted by Ambrosia Voyeur 29 October | 01:00

OMG, I love Smarties. Haven't seen any in years.

My least favorite where those little candy pumpkins that were flat on the bottom... ugh. Inedible. These might be made of the same stuff as candy corn I which I also didn't like.

Most favorite: homemade popcorn balls, which we'd get sometimes, or plain ol' M&Ms. MMMM... M&Ms.

posted by BoringPostcards 29 October | 06:38

I love candy corn. And the little sugar pumpkins. Send them to me! :) Candy corn Hershey kisses came out the other day. Loooove!

There weren't any fun sizes when I was a kid, so the full size candy bars were the best. What we usually got were the special Halloween editions of chocolate disks - some with peanut butter, some with puffed rice inside.

We'd go trick or treating in my dad's uncle's neighborhood, since we were in the middle of nowhere as kids. There was always someone giving out hot chocolate, and one guy we kind of avoided carved his own wooden toys and gave those away instead. I kind of wish we had those little suckers now.

I loved Mounds and Almond Joy as a kid. But the absolute prizes were Butterfingers or Snickers.

posted by lysdexic 29 October | 07:34

I like candy corn in limited doses.

I love most candy. I LOVE Mounds and Almond Joy. Butterfinger, peanut M&Ms, and Snickers are my favorites. Sugar Babies are good. They're something I rarely eat so when I spot Sugar Babies in my kids' stash, I grab them.

Nestle Crunch and Kit Kat are my least favorite.

posted by LoriFLA 29 October | 10:04

Who's badmouthing Necco Wafers? I grew up with them and they're great. Especially the licorice ones. Though the pink pepto-bismol flavored ones are not my favorite. I was surprised to find a few years ago that they're still around.

I liked Clark bars, Butterfinger, M&Ms, peanut or plain, Almond Joy and Hershey's with almonds, Nestle's Crunch, Baby Ruth. Lifesavers (especially the butter-rum ones). Candy Corn is fine.

Never liked Snickers, 3 Musketeers, Peppermint Patties, Caramello, Smarties, Reese's Cups, anything with a syrupy center. And plain chocolate - not so much.

posted by DarkForest 29 October | 10:15

one guy we kind of avoided carved his own wooden toys and gave those away instead. I kind of wish we had those little suckers now.

Yeah! As a kid I lived in this kind of unique town where a majority of the population were 70 and over. Their ideas of Halloween seemed so old-fashioned - homemade popcorn balls like BP mentioned, doughnuts, homemade cookies, little packets of five pennies wrapped together in tissue paper...as kids it all seemed hopelessly dorky, and we valued the 'real' candy. Looking back, I now realize what an authentic and sweet experience that was. A bygone time, too - how many people would dare to give out homemade food in this age of hysteria?

posted by Miko 29 October | 10:25

Best: Anything chocolate (unless it had the "worst" stuff in it)

Okay: Stuff like Smarties, candy corn, pixie sticks

Worst: coconut and cherry flavoured stuff

posted by deborah 29 October | 11:37

Hm, I've never heard anyone say that they actually like necco wafers.

posted by puke & cry 29 October | 16:08

Hm, I've never heard anyone say that they actually like necco wafers.

They're definitely a 50's thing. How could they ever compete with Pop Rocks?

posted by DarkForest 29 October | 16:13

I will be popular at the candy swap. Love Smarties, Sweetarts, Spree, Twizzlers. I kind of like those Maryjane's too. Bit-o-honeys, yumm. Reese's, esp. the Halloween pumpkins, are goo, because there's more of the peanut butter.

Hate Necco wafers, peanut butter taffy, licorice.

I really hate candy corn, but will eat it obsessively if it's available.

posted by theora55 29 October | 18:01

Best: Peppermint Patties were probably my alltime fave. That and the candy apples the lady up the street used to make. I'm old enough to have gotten plenty of homemade rice krispies and brownies in my pillowcase early on; those were awesome.

Worst: black licorice and ESPECIALLY bit-o-honey. Ugh, that stuff actually could make me ill just thinking about it as a kid.

Candy corn is a waste of sugar imo. Sugar pumpkins are tres lame, but you could usually find some kid to trade for 'em.

posted by lonefrontranger 29 October | 18:37

I used to get homemade popcorn balls as well, damn those were great. I've not really had them in probably twenty years. Well that's not entirely true - I have had them once or twice over the decades but they've not been the same.

As for store bought candy I always hated anything licorice flavored. I like that flavor now, but not the sugary, synthetic version that candy usually is. Also I'd always give all the Hersey Special Darks to my sister - those pretty much taste like wax. It wasn't 'til I was well into my late twenties before I discovered that real dark chocolate is amazing. I blame the special darks for those lost years.

I got a rock

posted by kodama 29 October | 19:06

Worst: black licorice

Ooooh, you can't be my friend now.

You just lost big there, buddy.

posted by middleclasstool 29 October | 22:05

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