Halloween candy hell

As I say every year, the descent into holiday eating has begun. This year, my Halloween favorites were out on the shelves in mid-August. I can honestly say that I was enjoying my first bag of candy corn in 2007 while reading a book at Long Beach in Gloucester. And it was over 80 degrees out. Craziness.

While the mellowcreme pumpkins are my perennial favorite, candy corn will certainly do in a pinch and the Autumn Mix, with its smattering of pumpkins amidst both candy corn and Indian corn, can serve a purpose as well (which is just to inject pure sugar into my system asap). I have no shame when I admit that I can eat a Big Bag (that's two pounds, available at Target for the bargain price of $1.99) in less than a week. Indeed, high school friends will remember those football games where I would indulge in a bag while sitting in the bleachers, approach the "almost-vomit" point, take a short break, and then finish it off. Time has not changed that behavior.

But as a chocolate lover as well, I was nearly ecstatic when I read that Hershey's is putting out a limited edition candy corn-flavored Kiss. Oddly enough, Hershey's doesn't promote this offering at all on its website. I wonder if they are embarassed to do so.

I found them at Target. Now don't get me wrong, I don't think there's such a thing as bad chocolate. If they weren't marketed as "candy corn" flavored, and I wasn't such a candy corn/pumpkin enthusiast, I might not have been as disappointed. To me, they taste just like white chocolate with an after-taste that I just can't place. To my sister, one word suffices: vile. I had a couple handfuls over the weekend, but decided not to finish the bag. There'd be no near-vomit point with these.

I've left the remnants out for my co-workers today, about a dozen men with typical men appetites. We'll see how fast they disappear, if they do at all. And I'll just revert to my mellowcreme pumpkins.