It's not only clothes that are on a vintage revival buzz presently, it's even a phenomenon that's grabbed the candy world. Back due to popular demand, the Wispa has returned. Taken off the market in 2003 because of declining sales, the public have demanded for this yummy candy to be re-introduced. Last year Cadbury's re-launched the Wispa on a trial basis, due to pressure from Face book and MySpace petitions (a lot of people seemingly like the Wispa). So following on from the success of the trial, they have officially unleashed the bar yet again causing sheer chaos among chocolate lovers.

With the revival firstly of vintage clothing and now 80s and 90s chocolate bars, it make you wonder, what happened to the other forgotten items that we reminisce about. I get poignant when I think about that other bars that never got a second chance or the sweets like Nerds and Dweebs who ironically were just that, in candy land. Is it possible nowadays to demand the return of all our favourite candy of the 80s? And will the Wispa really sell as well when it is on the market permanently and up against its arch nemesis THE AERO...we'll have to wait and see!!

Fearing voters might stay away from the November polls out of dissatisfaction with both McCain and Obama, two Denver ladies are marketing online their capsule-shaped red, white and blue candies as "Anti-Nausea Pills."

Directions on the label for using Anti-Nausea Pills: "Take one to five pills (it's just candy) before voting for the Least Offensive Candidate of your choice."

The gals hope the candies will give people a laugh to ease voter angst over supporting a possibly dubious Presidential candidate. The candies might also remind forgetful voters to cast their ballots.

See why everyone is using the "election aids" at www.vote4bestpresident.com

just occasional, actually.

thank god.

peace, love, and hope.

natalie marie.

My dream car.

Candy, originally uploaded by holden_helena. ]]> http://johnibii.wordpress.com/?p=3435 Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:46:18 +0000 johnibii http://johnibii.fr.wordpress.com/2008/10/13/france-pulls-poisoned-chinese-food-products-dairy-sued-in-china/ BBC

France has recalled sweets and biscuits made with Chinese dairy products after finding high levels of a chemical.

In China, four babies have died and 53,000 have fallen sick after consuming milk products contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine.

The EU banned imports of Chinese baby food containing traces of milk in response to the scare last month.

The recall of White Rabbit sweets and Koala biscuits is the first such order to be made by a European country.

French consumers were warned to destroy or return the tainted products after tests showed high levels of melamine, which can cause kidney failure.

"The first results of tests conducted in France have shown a melamine level above the warning level set by the European Commission at 2.5mg per kilo," the agriculture ministry said in a statement.

So far there have been no identified cases of health problems associated with the contamination in France.

The recall is the strongest measure yet taken by a European country amid a worldwide health scare over Chinese milk products that has led several countries to ban dairy imports from China.

It came as China issued new quality controls for its dairy industry and promised more severe punishment, including public naming, for anyone found to have violated safety standards.

Some Chinese dairy farmers are accused of fraudulently adding melamine to watered-down milk to make the product appear rich in protein and to fool quality control tests.
**********************

Chinese Dairy Sued over Poisoned Milk Death

BEIJING - The family of a baby whose death has been blamed on toxic milk filed suit against one of China's largest dairies Monday, while another dairy ensnared in the scandal said it was a victim of unscrupulous subcontractors.

The lawsuit against Shijiazhuang Sanlu Group Co. was filed over the May 1 death of 6-month-old Yi Kaixuan in the northwestern city of Lanzhou, the family's lawyer said.

 
In this July 3, 2007, file photo, a worker selects the daily product at the production line at Wahaha's factory in Hangzhou, China. Chinese beverage maker Wahaha Group is considering buying dairy assets from Sanlu Group, the milk maker at the heart of a scandal over milk tainted with an industrial chemical, reports said Monday October 13, 2008. Wahaha spokesman Shan Qining said he could not confirm the reports citing the company's chairman, Zong Qinghou, as saying he wants to buy a milk powder production line from Sanlu.(AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, FILE)

It is the first to be filed over a child who died from drinking the tainted milk and asks for almost $160,000 in damages.

Milk collection stations and individual farmers are accused of watering down milk to increase volume, then adding the industrial chemical melamine to increase protein levels. Melamine, used mainly in plastics and fertilizer, is high in nitrogen and can make milk appear to contain more protein, which is what quality tests measure.

Read the rest:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081013/ap_on_re_as/as_china_tainted_milk_4

where are your dreams?

First up is a new flavor from Hershey's for the Kiss candy. I was fine with Hershey's adding almonds to the Kiss. Or making it in dark chocolate. Or swirling it with white chocolate and calling it a Hug. Those made sense to me. Then Hershey's went off the rails. Kisses were suddenly filled with caramel, peanut butter, chocolate truffle and cherry cordial goo. It was okay - I just avoided them.

Then this showed up on the wet bar at work (the place where all unwanted, leftover food goes to a better home).

For Halloween, Hershey's unveiled the Kiss in a candy corn flavor. Don't get me wrong, I've learned to love candy corn over the years. I used to just like the white tips - I swear, they taste different. But now I like the whole white-yellow-orange combination. 

It tastes nothing like the new Kiss. The new Kiss tastes remarkably like what I think the Joker tasted when he fell into the vat at Axis Chemical. I just took a tiny bite of the Kiss, for which I'm thankful. Popping the whole thing into my mouth would have given me the Joker's permagrin. Be warned. Stay away from the Candy Corn Kiss. It is not good. At all.

The second worst thing I had this month and my life is Moo Magic in strawberry. This was no free food. No, I paid for it. It was a weak moment in Giant when I remembered enjoying strawberry-flavored milk as a kid. I think it was flavored by something form the same comapny that made the completely wonderful PDQ Chocolate, which was discontinued in the early 90s.

Moo Magic is nothing like that. Moo Magic did produce a sweeter milk than regular milk but that sweetness is paid for with the stale taste of 1970s era childhood vaccines. I shouldn't be surprised. The slogan for Moo Magic Milk Mix sticks is "Udderly great flavors on the moove!" And look at the mascot.

Animals with udders should not be portrayed this way.

Even better?  All of their products are made in Revere, Massachusetts.

They also make Clark Bar, Skybar, and MaryJanes.  Yummy.

Best of all?  No Melamine. They actually checked their own products, themselves, before anyone got sick.  Smart.

Halloween is rapidly approaching and we've already prepared the children for the likelihood that they'll have to give up about half of the candy they receive.  Now I'm looking for candies which are safe.

First up -- Tootsie Roll Industries.  All of their manufacturing plants are in the USA, Canada, or Mexico.

Excellent.  Even better, they make lots of different kinds of candy ... something for everyone.

Tootsie Rolls (of course) and Tootsie Pops.

Plus -- Andes mints, Double Bubble Bubble Gum, Candy Carnival, Caramel Apple Pops, Cella's Cherries, Charleston Chew, Charms Blow Pops, Charms Flat Pops, Child's Play, Cry Baby, Dots & Crows, Dots: Fruit Flavors, Fluffy Stuff Cotton Candy, Frooties, Junior Mints: Original, Nik-L-Nip Wax Bottles, Razzles, Sugar Daddy, Wack-O-Wax and Zip-a-DEE Pops.

Now I'm craving sugar.  Wonder why?

Wack-O-Wax Wax Fangs

Happy Halloween!

So this week my beloved made dinner every night. As much as I love cooking and baking, I will NEVER complain about coming home to a cooked meal! So last night I made a version of the Quick Pierogi Bake from Vegetarian Times. I changed it up and it ended up as sauteed onions and veggie sausage over potato and cheese pierogis, covered in soy bacon and cheese.  I know I know.. how many breakfast (fake) meats can one meal include? I had mine with pureed squash.  It turned out really delicious, though the house still smells like onion and bacon. Here's a picture. Why is it that the ugliest looking foods are the most scrumptious?

This week for lunches I made tofu, lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese sandwiches, veggie crackers, mini pickles (they're so sweet, like a dessert!) and sweet green grapes. Mmmmm.

One of my favorite things to do on a Sunday is wander around the Japanese market and find fun new Japanese snacks.  Last week is was Crunky brand candy.  I found a Crunky bar and Crunky Balls.  Really, life is good.

I worked on my cross-stitch project a little this week, but didn't make too much progress.  It's slow going. I know I need to set a little time aside for it each day, and that I'll see progress soon, but I'm so caught up with my yarn crafts, especially those projects that are for others (those that you won't get to see for a few months because some of those others read this blog), that I keep choosing knitting and crochet over cross-stitch. On Thursday I went craft book shopping and picked up a bunch of knitting and crocheting books.  As you know from previous entries, I love the Stitch and Bitch Happy Hooker book.  So my first purchase when I learned to knit was the original Stitch and Bitch book.  I started the Windy City Scarf yesterday.  

The scarf has a little keyhole in it to wrap the other end through so it doesn't blow away in the windy Chicago weather.  To see a finished example here's one on a blog I like.

One thing I've discovered this week that doubles my crafting pleasure is Librivox.  It's an archive of audio books of public domain material.  I'm able to catch up on my classic literature while I'm knitting. Some of the readers are awful and some are great, so it's hit or miss.  I'm currently listening to the Hounds of Baskerville by Sir Author Conan Doyle.  I've actually never read any Sherlock Holmes mysteries, so I'm thrilled to be able to listen to them while I'm working on other things! I highly recommend checking this site out.  You can get the files as mp3s or it links you to subscribe in iTunes to a chapter a day.  If you're interested, you can also volunteer to be a reader.

Oh, and go Dodgers!

This is all I could ever ask for. Maple-Bacon flavored suckers.

Structure
A rectangular slab of marshmallow topped with chopped cashews and covered in milk chocolate.

Texture
95% of the Rocky Road is made of the marshmallow interior, which is light and fluffy. It has the texture of a homemade marshmallow, not like the Jet-Puffed marshmallows you buy at the supermarket, which tend to be drier. The chocolate, on the other hand, was disappointing. It had an unpleasant, waxy consistency. The chopped cashews were almost completely lost in the mix - as I would have predicted. Again, walnuts or almonds would have been a more logical choice.

Taste
The marshmallow is sweet and has that distinctive "marshmallow" flavor. I guess it comes from the combination of vanilla and egg whites. However it happens, marshmallow just tastes distinct and this product tastes mostly like that because the chocolate and the cashews bring no flavor of their own.

Verdict
A "rocky road" candy bar makes sense. It's a classic combination that goes together as well as peanut butter and chocolate. Annabelle's is the only company I am aware of that makes a candy bar like this, but I was less than impressed with their offering. All it needs to be great is better chocolate and, in my opinion, almonds instead of cashews. They would then have a huge winner.

I am trying my hand at making homemade marshmallows!  They are sitting here, setting right this very moment!!  The entire time I was making them, I kept getting visions of delicious variations,  using butterscotch candies to flavor them, toasting coconut to roll them it, adding espresso... the possibilities are endless.  Obviously I love a good marshmallow.  

Stay tuned for the results!!!

It's EXTREME!
It's COOL!

Everybody loves it!
So should you!

 Be part of the fun bring he Child in you to Santa's Social Network

Also help Santa support fight Diabetes by ordering from Santa's Store 

Don't forget to stop by Santa's Village

 Be part of the fun bring he Child in you to Santa's Social Network

Also help Santa support fight Diabetes by ordering from Santa's Store 

Don't forget to stop by Santa's Village

 Be part of the fun bring he Child in you to Santa's Social Network

Also help Santa support fight Diabetes by ordering from Santa's Store 

Don't forget to stop by Santa's Village