I have never been a candy / mint / gum person. It’s just never been my thing. I mean, I love me some chocolate and all, but I’ve never really made a habit of surrounding myself with all manner of Starburst and Altoids and Extra and whathaveyou.
Brownies? Yes.
Oatmeal cookies? Sure.
Sweet Tarts? Not so much.
However.
A couple of years ago I discovered the best gum with the worst name: Stride. And while I’m never going to be somebody who chews gum all day long, I developed a fondness for the dark blue Stride. It’s not anything I carry in my purse at all times, but it’s definitely my gum of choice.
Even still, I really didn’t understand why some people would leave the grocery store with 12 packs of gum or 4 bags of gummy worms or 14 tins of Altoids. The appeal of the candy aisle was sort of lost on me.
For the record, the appeal of the potato chips aisle was never, ever lost on me. Oh no ma’am. Not for one second.
Just rest in the peace of knowing that.
But one day this past fall – when I was in an airport, I think – an impulse purchase at a newspaper stand changed my life forever.
DO YOU HEAR ME?
FOR-EV-ER.
I LOVE THEM SO MUCH.
I don’t know what it is. I don’t know why the Icebreakers have a hold on me in a way that Altoids never did. I don’t know why I start to feel anxious when my stash runs low and WHAT IF I RUN OUT? I don’t know why their minty freshness delights me. I don’t know what “flavor crystals” are.
But one thing I know for sure: the Icebreakers and I are in this thing for the long haul. Apparently there was a mint-sized hole in my heart that only they could fill. And now – AND NOW – my life is complete. At least as far as candy is concerned. Which, granted, is probably the least important area of personal fulfillment. But still.
So, people of the interweb – what’s your “long haul” candy? Do you have a favorite?
{ 77 comments }
← Previous Comments
I heart me some Peanut M&Ms. I’m doing Weight Watchers and can pretty much walk by anything else, but Peanut M&Ms will probably be my downfall. Although I do love Jelly Belly Jellybeans, too. Yeah, that might be close. Of course, I couldn’t just eat any ol’ jellybeans. Nope, I have to be picky and pick the expensive ones, so thankfullly, I don’t get the JB Jbs very often!!
You know the Brach’s Candy Section of the candy aisle? Well I love, love, love to get a bag full of Cinnamon Discs! I could eat those all day!! YUM!
(Sorry about the “love, love, love” thing – I’ve been reading
Junie B. Jones with my 1st grader this afternoon!) LOL
Have a Fantastic Day!
Like you, I never met a bag of chips I didn’t like, but if candy is my only option, then bring on the M&Ms. Yes, I still sort the colors. And no, I have never gotten over the insane addition of blue and removal of tan. It ain’t right.
Cinnamon Altoids. Totally addicted.
Jolly Ranchers Cinnamon Fire. Hands down.
And I’m not a candy fanatic either, especially chocolate. Gimme cheesecake any day over chocolate. And plain cheesecake at that, none of that cherry, strawberry or blueberry stuff on mine, please.
Altoids smalls – the peppermint kind. I used to think Altoids were too…I don’t know…”hot” is the only word that comes to mind. But now, I too get the anxious feeling when I’m running low!
By the way – this is my first comment, but I’ve been lurking on your blog for a while. You are so funny… Thanks for the laughs! Oh, and also for The Office recaps!
Oh goodness to me…
I will always, always love Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups…I can’t have just one.
And I completely agree with you…chips, and every kind of chip is my greatest downfall. I cannot go down the aisle without picking up atleast one bag.
Listerine Strips.
Technically NOT a candy but something that I cannot live without. I don’t like candy or gum. Well, except chocolate, which really should be its own food group.
Dark chocolate peanut M & M’s I am all about the dark chocolate because it is healthy and I am all about healthy eating! :)
My candy of choice is Cheez-Its. I can live a long time (hours and hours) without candy, but I must have fake cheese of some kind on a regular basis.
I love the Bob’s mints too—big tubs full at the Walmarts! but hard to keep neatly in your purse. chocolate bar is KitKat or Hershey Symphony with toffee or Cadbury Caramelo or Rolos or . . . and I so remember that Adams sour orange gum!
Oh, BooMama, you have pulled at a thread, haven’t you??? Okay, going back as LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER, I am addicted to the Jolly Rancher Green Apple STICKS. Remember those? I mean, I like the little hard candies in that flavor just fine (they used to sell ONLY GREEN bags, and that was great), but there is something about the sticks. I buy them when I can find them, but I have had to find an alternate candy obsession. And that? That would be sour gummi worms. And not the over-the-counter strength sour gummi worms. The absolute sourest I can find. Not Sour Patch Kids. (A friend told me I’d love them. We’re still working on patching up our friendship. I understand others like them. They are NOT THE SAME.)
This is excluding the chocolate group, right? Because saying I like chocolate is a little like saying, “You know, I like to breathe oxygen every once in awhile if nothing better is going on.”
It’s the aspartame. The same reason why I drive by a fast food joint and inexplicably feel the need to drive thru for a diet coke. It doesn’t matter if I just drove thru. The next McD I see I feel almost disapointed that I cant drive thru again. Its the aspartame. Its killing our brain cells and its killing my wallet.
Swedish Fish are at the top of the list, Peanut Butter M&M’s are a definite weakness (that I don’t indulge in often), and Sour Apple-O’s.
Icebreaker Sours were my go-to surprise treat for thirsty kids waiting in line at Disney when it was over 90 degrees. No more thirst, no more complaining! Gotta have them in my purse.
I’ll say the fact that my 2yo saw your picture of the mints and said, “You, Mama!!” should provide the answer to your question!
Orbitz Sweetmint gum.
I like stuff that’s just sugar, too, although I’m not gonna turn down a chocolate bar. Twizzlers (I craved the awful fake Red Vines when I was pregnant), gobstoppers, good and plenty, runts…
I don’t think this counts as candy, but I tried Nutella for the first time last year and now I get that same anxious feeling when I’m about to run out of it!
Chewy Gobstoppers. I can feel my teeth rotting just thinking about them! Love them!
Gummies…gummie lifesavers, gummi bears, gummie worms (albeit I am a little scairt of gummie worms because I liked to choked to death on one a few years back).
HOWEVER: I am truly more of a salty-salsa-chips-chili cheese fritos-salt & vinegar chips-almonds-cool ranch doritos girl…
But every now and I then I need to gum a gummie.
Love ya lots,
GJ
Sour patch kids!
Ok… 5 gum. and Big Red And doublemint gum. Those are the things I can NOT live without. No stride or trident for me… oh and my favorite candy is TWIZZLERS. They are the schiz.
Oh how it pains me to discuss this. You see BooMama, I have indeed been a candy/mint/gum person my whole life. A lover of all things candy, if you will.
However, several years ago I had to give up aspartame because it gives me migraines. (and don’t think for a minute I didn’t try to sneak some in via a stick of Double Mint every so often, just to make sure that was the cause.) I miss Double Mint and Wrigley’s Spearmint gum so very much.
Just about the only gum I can find anymore without aspartame is cinnamon gum, which I really don’t like but have been forced to deal with.
I am also a fan of a Tic Tac, which I recently rediscovered and had not had since I was a tiny girl and my Gramma used to always have a box of white Tic Tacs in her purse. I miss my Gramma so very much too.
Thank you for the tip. I bought some and shared them in the carpool line today. You made a lot of ladies smile!
Jelly Belly Sours have a special place in my soul!
No question, plain Hershey bars (no nuts)!
Oh, where to start! I have maybe the biggest sweet tooth ever, and have way too many favorites to actually pick just one.
Gummy? Extra Hot Tamales (in the black box, a rare find!) or Swedish Fish.
Gum? Ice Breakers Ice Cubes in “White” flavor (they whiten your teeth, even!)–again, another rare find. Also, Ice Cubes are one of the few gums that are sweetened with Xylitol instead of Sorbitol, etc. which is a dentist-recommended sweetener.
Chocolate? Just about anything from See’s candy. Especially the free piece they give you when you walk in the door of their store. ;-) However, M&M’s have a truly addictive, hard-to-beat hold on my soul. And now: I am in love with their peanut-butter-and-jelly variety. ALSO, a rare find.
Lollipop: See’s Cinnamon, available only for the Christmas and Valentine’s Day holidays. They are a bit awkward to put in your mouth whole (rectangle shaped) but when you lick them one side at a time like I do, they can last for almost an entire movie.
I could go on, but I’ll stop there… for now.
← Previous Comments
Comments on this entry are closed.