Most people like candy. Many love it. It’s become associated with just about every holiday, and certain candies are linked with certain holidays. For me, at least, certain holidays just aren’t the same without specific foods and candies. Most people’s memories of Halloween include those snack sized bars and candy corn. Valentine’s Day makes us think about those conversation hearts and heart shaped boxes of chocolates. Now that I live in the Philadelphia area, I think about “Irish potatoes” for St. Patrick’s Day. I found a recipe for them, and made some for my family and co-workers this year.
The end of the year holidays have quite a few related candies. Christmas brings candy canes, little chocolates in Advent calendars, and several different types of candies I remember having at my grandparents’ house. There were chocolate covered cherries, homemade fudge and buckeyes, candy ribbons, assorted hard candies (plain and filled), peppermint Christmas nougats, and others. When I was young, we’d go to the little local fire company near my grandparents’ house for a bag of treats. In addition to a popcorn ball and an orange, I remember getting clear hard candies in the shape of houses and other things. Hanukkah brings chocolate coins. I honestly don’t know too many other candies for Hanukkah, but I’ve seen chocolate and hard candy in the shape of a dreidel or with some representation of the Star of David. Fruit slices, kosher marshmallows, and many other candies in blue and white are also featured in the stores and online. There are marshmallow, jelly, and gummy candies in all colors of the rainbow for Passover, as well as chocolate animals.
Of course, one of the most candy-filled holidays is Easter. There are so many candies that remind me of Easter. Some of the best known ones are jellybeans, chocolate eggs, chocolate bunnies, marshmallow peeps, and Cadbury cream eggs. Many different types of ‘regular’ candies get a seasonal makeover for Eastertime. Things like M&M’s and Reese’s peanut butter cups get new shapes or pastel colored wrappers. But my favorite Easter candy isn’t found where I now live, so I have to order it online. When I was young, mini Gardner’s peanut butter melt-away eggs were a quarter each at school in the early spring, and I quickly grew to love them. I would scrape together as much as I could to buy them while they were available. Now I get a one pound one for Easter every year!
I know there are other candies for other holidays. I don’t know all of them, but maybe I’ll try more of them over time. Holiday candy preference is an individual (or at least family) thing. What are your go-to candies for different holidays?
SE
