When my eldest son was in public school he had to read a book called The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.  In one chapter of the book the main character eats a particular candy.  I found it and when he came to that part of the story, I gifted him with a small box of the candy, Turkish Delight.  It brought me great joy to watch him nibbling on the confection as he read the story where the main character ate the same item.  I was delighted to help him make a personal connection with the story he was reading.

Lately, especially as I observe the changes in my children as they’re growing up, I’ve been thinking about when I was a little girl.  There were special memories that I still think of from time to time that just mean something to me, even after all these years.  Do you remember when you could go into the grocery store and buy authentic Mandarin oranges that were in a box?   My dad would buy a box of oranges, a few Asian pears and a couple bags of nuts.  There’d be Almonds, Walnuts, Brazil Nuts, Hazel nuts, and Pecans all in their shell.  My younger sister and I would take turns shelling the nut meats into a bowl to share with the whole family.  We would usually have a coconut to break open as well.  We’d drain the coconut and then use a hammer to crack it open, prying the shell in half as soon as we could squeeze our fingers into the crack and pull it apart.  There really isn’t anything tastier than coconut fresh from the shell, in my opinion.  Reminiscing about memories such as these compelled me to try to create some memories with my children, based on me asking myself remember when…?

I remember going to the convenience store on the corner, about a block from my house.  I’d come out with a little brown paper bag clutched in my hand.  Inside that bag was 19 Humbugs, the 20th candy was already in my mouth.  It was wonderful.  I tried to find Humbugs but they can’t be found.  So I looked for old fashioned hard candy.  It a mix of candy that includes hard ribbon candy, peppermints and round candy that had a flower in the centre.  They always tasted so flavourful and not just like hardened sugar syrup.  I found a bag but the candy melted in my mouth too quickly due in part to each piece being 1/3 of the size it was when I was a child.  

I tried finding the chocolates my Mom would buy every once in a while.  They had three different flavours in the centre.  Orange was orange, pink was strawberry and white was coconut.  And I was that kid who used a toothpick to poke a hole in the bottom of each candy.  I’d hoard the white ones and hide them.  Then, when I was alone, I’d eat them at my leisure, taking my time because I no longer had to fear sibling competition as I sneakily ate my stash by myself.  Oh yes, good times.  Good times.  I tried to find these chocolates so I could share them with my children.    I was able to locate two types of chocolates but neither were the ones I wanted.

I looked for the hard red candies that looked like raspberries.  Another elusive pleasure I shall not enjoy eating any time soon.  My thoughts turned to Coconut Brittle and I went to my “go to” shop for this treasured item from my childhood list of memories… the company has gone out of business and there isn’t another supplier of the candy.  Mojos are also out of supply indefinitely.  What is the world coming too?

I ended up putting down parchment paper on a cutting board and I created a charcuterie candy board.  The only authentic memory candy on the whole board are the pieces of hot pink candy known as Chicken Bones.   They taste of cinnamon and last for a long time in my mouth… I just let the candy melt because the centre is chocolate.  And if you don’t rush the hard exterior from melting, the centre oozes onto your tastebuds creating a whole other sensational layer of flavour and goodness.  The rest of the candy on the board are “okay.” but they don’t hold a candle to the candy and flavours I was looking for … maybe I’ll do another board at the end of winter.  In the meantime I have a large zip lock bag three quarters full of candy and chocolate.  The hard candy I can use in making stained glass cookies.  The chocolates can be chopped up to add to a hot mug of cocoa, it can be melted and used to coat strawberries, and the chocolates can melted to make ganache, poured into candy molds or I can make some truffles out of them.   The candy stores well and the chocolate can be placed in the freezer.

I can locate candy that resembles Humbugs but I can’t find the actual candy anywhere.  I found a recipe for coconut brittle so I’ll make it, and if it tastes ok, I’ll share the recipe here.  And maybe I’ll make it and learn the best memories I remember are when I make the candy myself!

Take care and have a great week, everyone!