Thursday, June 9, 2011

Product Review: Candy from Smith and Edwards

Last month, when I was up to my parents' house for Mother's Day, I remembered that Leann had lost the lens cleaner for her binoculars. So I popped over to Smith and Edwards [1] to buy her another one. Before I left on my mission to México [2], I worked at Smith and Edwards in the candy department. Walking through the candy aisles again stirred some old memories. I decided to buy a few old favorites as well as try a few of those candies that tickled the imagination but I never got around to trying.


My verdict: The Cup-o-Gold was one that I never tried while I was there. The center (as Leann predicted) turned out to be marshmallow. This was unfortunate for two reasons. First, I don't like marshmallows. When I was a child, I tasted marshmallows, I ate marshmallows, I savored marshmallows: but when I became a man, I put away marshmallows. Second, presumably this marshmallow was the gold in the middle o' the pot". No offense to marshmallow-lovers, but marshmallows ≠ gold. In fact, marshmallows ≉ gold. They are ≪ gold. The pot itself, though, was not bad.


My verdict: The Owyhee Idaho Spud was another candy that I put in the candy bins every day, but never bothered to buy one for myself. When you open it up, the candy looks a little scary because it's a chocolate blob covered in coconut—distinctly un-potato-like. It had a liqueur-flavored marshmallow center which I thought was rather disgusting.


My verdict: Goetze's Cow Tales were another candy I don't remember trying when I worked at Smith and Edwards. You really have to wonder why anyone (much less a whole company of anyones) thought it was a good idea to name a candy after the part of the cow that gets lifted into the air right before the cow makes a steaming pile on the ground. Come to think of it, now I'm a little surprised that Goetze's Candy doesn't have a no-bake cookie called the Cow Pie.[3] I fully expected this to be the third strike for nasty-marshmallow-centers, but it turned out not to be marshmallow. The creamy center was actually pretty good, but that dissolved away pretty quickly. Then I was left with the chewy caramel, which was somewhat grainy and rather bland. It was mostly a rather forgettable experience.


My verdict: I first had Chic-O-Sticks and Peanut Butter Bars (both made by Atkinson Candy Company) after I started working at Smith and Edwards and I loved them. I bought these as consolation prizes in case the previous three turned out to be gross (which they did). Chic-O-Sticks and the Peanut Butter Bars essentially taste the same. The Peanut Butter Bar might be slightly sweeter, but I can't be sure. For all intents and purposes, these are the same candy, except that one is yellow and one is white. But they're both crunchy and delicious and I still love them.


Notes:

[1] See http://www.smithandedwards.com/.

[2] For those who are unsure why Latter-day Saints (Mormons) go on missions, I recommend you visit here and here, where you can learn more about LDS beliefs concerning sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If you have more questions, ask and maybe I'll do a full post on the topic.

[3] They have a "creamy fondant-center caramel" called a Bull's Eye. You can see their website here where they have some simple video games you can play.

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