candy

Waaaaaaay back in the olden days, I remember bringing home my bag of trick or treat candy and sorting it according to a ranking system of preferences. Circus peanuts, Mike and Ikes, anything with coconut (Mounds and Almond Joy) and licorice got relegated to the NOT TOUCHING IT. Acceptable forms of sugar included SweetTarts (what is it about those cellophane-wrapped rolls of pastel candies?), dots on strips of paper, caramels, candy corn, LifeSavers (especially wild cherry), Jolly Ranchers, and suckers. Basically, fruit flavors were fine to ingest. The holy grail of trick or treat candy was CHOCOLATE. M&Ms, Twix bars, Junior Mints, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Snickers bars...the plain boring Hershey bars were least appealing of all chocolates, ditto for Kisses.

I'm gutted that we don't celebrate like we used to around here.

Of course I would swap with my sister and I'm sure my parents helped themselves after I fell asleep, but nothing made a kid feel quite so wealthy as that plastic pumpkin filled with all those pieces of candy. I can close my eyes and still feel the heft of it in my hand, hear the crinkle and shift of shiny wrapped treats. I'd sit on my knees in the living room, mask pushed back and winter coat shed, and marvel at the glorious pile of SUGAR! ALL MINE!

Team Testosterone and friends about to begin their annual collection

(When Team Testosterone came home from trick or treating one year, D suggested they dump all their bags into one giant bucket to share it. You can imagine how offended the four of us were, and I staunchly sided with the boys--No! It's theirs! You don't share Halloween candy! You can trade it, but you never, ever manage it communally, right?)

So shiny! So sweet! ALL HIS!

My taste in candy has evolved over the years. I still HATE licorice. Seriously, even the smell gags me. I don't care for the taste or texture of cheap chocolate anymore, with the exception of peanut M&Ms. (To be clear, I will eat good quality chocolate, but a stash of Dove Bars are safe around me.) Even the coveted Twix bars and Reese's peanut butter cups hold no appeal for me. SweetTarts and candy corn fill me with nostalgia, but after eating a few I'm good to go for a year. The candy I've grown to LOVE more than any are Nerds and I'll happily tear into a Nerds Rope given the chance. I never would've predicted fruit flavors would ultimately win over my taste buds.

Exactly, buddy. ALL YOURS!

Years ago I heard this story on NPR about kids and their tolerance for sugar. It didn't surprise me to learn little kids had virtually no limit on how sweet something could be. (Imagine being a kid in that experiment! I bet the scientists were gobsmacked as they kept adding sugar.) I remember eating Twinkies and Pixie Stix without any trouble when I was young and now the thought of drinking a soda makes my teeth itch. What I mean to say is my kids' Halloween candy was fairly safe from me. Except for those tiny boxes of Nerds. I'd still sneak into their room at night and steal them.

Kidding.

(Kind of.)

(I still put boxes of Nerds in their Christmas stockings and they don't eat them, so I get to have them. Yes, I could just go out and buy boxes of Nerds for myself, but what's the fun in that?)

Spill it, reader. What candy did you LOVE growing up and what's your current fave? I'm curious to know if I'm alone when it comes to chocolate these days.