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Jack-o’-Lanterns, Pumpkins, Trick-or-Treating, and Candy – Why Do They Go Together?

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Jack-O'-Lantern

A Spooky Jack-o’-Lantern Tale

Have you ever wondered where the Jack-O’-Lantern comes from?

According to an Irish legend that goes back hundreds of years, a miserable old drunk named Stingy Jack — who liked to play tricks on his family, friends, and even the Devil — tricked the Devil into climbing up an apple tree.   Stingy Jack put crosses around the apple tree’s trunk so the Devil couldn’t get down and told the Devil that if he wouldn’t take his soul when he died, Stingy Jack would remove the crosses and let the Devil down.

When Jack died, Saint Peter, at the pearly gates of Heaven, told him that he couldn’t enter Heaven because he was mean, cruel, and had led a miserable and worthless life. Stingy Jack then went down to Hell but the Devil wouldn’t take him in. Ultimate payback! With nowhere to go Jack had to wander around in the darkness between Heaven and Hell.

Stingy Jack, Jack-O’-Lanterns, And Halloween

Halloween, celebrated on October 31, originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts. In Pope Gregory III, in the eighth century, designated November 1 as a day to honor all saints and soon All Saints Day incorporated some of the traditions of Samhain, with the evening before known as All Hallows Eve, later called Halloween. Halloween eventually evolved into a day filled with activities like trick-or-treating and carving jack-o-lanterns.

On All Hallows’ Eve the Irish made Jack-o’-lanterns by hollowing out turnips, rutabagas, gourds, potatoes, and beets and then putting lights in them to keep away both the evil spirits and Stingy Jack.  In the 1800′s when Irish immigrants came to America, they discovered that pumpkins were bigger and easier to carve and the pumpkin became the Jack-O’-Lantern.

Trick Or Treating

Trick or treating is a relatively recent American activity. Costumes, doorbell-ringing, and the expectation of hand-outs started in different locations throughout the country in the late 1930s and early 1940s. When costumed kids rang doorbells in the late 40’s and early 50’s, they were likely to get coins, nuts, fruit, cookies, cakes, and toys as well as candy. It took a while for candy to become synonymous with Halloween – no doubt, with the full backing of candy producers.

Some Humorous (Maybe Scary) Info: If You Eat The Candy That Fills Those Jack-O’-Lanterns, How Far Do You Have To Walk To Work It Off?

Here’s another way to think about Halloween candy — how much walking will it take to work off the candy calories?

According to walking.com:

  • 1 Fun Size candy bar (Snickers, Milky Way, Butterfingers, etc. is about 80 calories. You’d need to walk 0.8 miles, 1.29 kilometers, or 1600 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.
  • 2 Hershey’s Kisses are about 50 calories. You’d need to walk 0.5 miles, 0.80 kilometers, or 1000 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.
  • 2 Brachs caramels are about 80 calories. You’d need to walk 0.8 miles, 1.29 kilometers, or 1600 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.
  • 1 mini bite-size candy bar (Snickers, Milky Way, Butterfingers, etc.) is about 55 calories. You’d need to walk 0.55 miles, 0.88 kilometers, or 1100 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.
  • 1 Fun Size M&M packet – Plain or Peanut, is 90 calories. You’d need to walk 0.9 miles, 1.45 kilometers, or 1800 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.
  • 1 mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup is 33 calories. You’d need to walk 0.33 miles, 0.53 kilometers, or 660 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.
  • 1 full size chocolate candy bar (Snickers, Hershey, etc.) is about 275 calories. You’d need to walk 2.75 miles, 4.43 kilometers, or 5500 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.
  • 1 King Size chocolate candy bar (Snickers, Hershey, etc.) is about 500 calories. You’d need to walk 5 miles, 8.06 kilometers, or 10000 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.
  • 1 small Tootsie Roll is 25 calories. You’d need to walk 0.25 miles, 0.40 kilometers, or 500 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

If You Ate . . .

2 Brachs caramels, 2 Hershey’s Kisses, 1 small Tootsie Roll, 1 Fun Size candy bar (Snickers, Milky Way, Butterfingers, etc.) 1 mini bite-size candy bar (Snickers, Milky Way, Butterfingers, etc.), 1 Fun Size M&M packet – Plain or Peanut, 1 mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, 1 full size chocolate candy bar (Snickers, Hershey, etc.), 1 King Size chocolate candy bar (Snickers, Hershey, etc.)… the grand total is 1188 calories. You’d need to walk 11.88 miles, 19.16 kilometers, or 23,760 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

Happy Halloween!

 

Do You Swipe Candy From Your Kid’s Halloween Haul?

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Trick Or Treat

Ah — Halloween candy! It’s pretty hard to escape because it’s everywhere – on desks, in restaurants, even in my veterinarian’s office in a nice purple bowl with a dog bone painted on the side.

Halloween week accounts for about eight percent of yearly confectionery sales and 34% of seasonal candy sales (like Christmas and Valentine’s Day). Only Easter, the next largest candy holiday, comes close.

FYI: The top five candies of all time — click here for the list of the top 50 – even though you might not agree:

  1. Reese’s peanut butter cups
  2. Twizzlers
  3. Snickers
  4. Hershey’s Kiss
  5. M&Ms

Can’t resist – do you invade your kid’s Trick or Treat bag — what do you go for first?

Don’t feel guilty — If you’ve ever swiped candy from your kid’s trick or treat bag, you’re certainly not alone. According to the National Confectioners Association, 90% of parents confess they occasionally dip into their kid’s stash. I know I sure did.

It’s been estimated that, on average, a child in the US collects between 3,500 and 7,000 worth of candy calories on Halloween night.

Parents invade that collection big time — they eat one candy bar out of every two a child brings home.  Their favorite targets are snack-sized chocolate bars (70%), candy-coated chocolate pieces (40%), caramels (37%) and gum (26%).

In Case You Want To Pick The Least Caloric Candy . . .

Here are the calories in some popular Halloween candy – just in case you might want to minimize the caloric damage (you didn’t read that wrong — candy has a big range of calories and fat grams) – and, just so you know — minis are small square candies while snack-size and fun-size are usually about 2 inches long:

25 calories or less:

  • 3 Musketeers, Mini
  • Hershey’s Kiss
  • Smarties Candy Roll

30 – 50 calories each:

  • Airheads, Mini Bar
  • Kit Kat, Miniature
  • Milky Way, Mini
  • Peppermint Pattie, Fun size
  • Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Miniature
  • Snickers, Miniature
  • Starburst, 2 Fun Size pieces
  • Twix Caramel Cookie Bars, Mini

50 to 70 calories each:

  • 3 Musketeers, Fun Size
  • Hershey’s Milk Chocolate, snack size
  • Jolly Ranchers Lollipop
  • Skittles, Fun Size Bag
  • Sour Patch Kids, Treat Size
  • Swedish Fish, Treat Size
  • Tootsie Roll Pop

70 to 85 calories each:

  • Brach’s Candy Corn: 10 pieces
  • Butterfinger, Fun Size
  • Kit Kat, Fun size; 73 calories
  • Milky Way, Fun Size
  • M&Ms, Fun size bag
  • Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, Fun size
  • Snickers, Fun Size
  • Tootsie Rolls, 3 midgee pieces

Happy Halloween!

What Wine Will You Drink With Your Halloween Candy?

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Halloween candy isn’t only for kids. Neither are Halloween parties. So, if you’re an adult, why not have some wine with your candy – whether it’s the candy you bought for trick or treaters, what you snag from your kid’s collection – or from the inevitable candy filled bowl on just about every counter.

There are all kinds of opinions about what wine goes well with what candy. Experts will tell you that you should consider the wine’s sweetness, acidity, flavor and whether or not it’s sparkling or still. Since most candy is really sweet – especially the Halloween trick or treat kind –“outsweeting” the candy is tough to do!

Ultimately, your choice boils down to what you like, but after doing some research, here’s a synopsis of the recommendations that I’ve found.

Some Pairing Suggestions

Fresher, fruit forward wines are great to pair with fruity candy. Sparkling rosés go really well with gummy bears and worms and Starbursts, especially the pink and yellow ones. The strawberry and cherry notes in the wine mirror some of the red fruit flavors in the candy and the refreshing fizz helps to wash the sugar down. Other Starburst recommended pairings are light reds such as Pinot Noir, St. Laurent, Zweigelt or Gamay or sweet whites such as Reisling, Moscato, Malvasia.

Nerds go best with sparkling wines like champagne, proseco, cava, and sparkling rose.

The high acidity in Chenin Blanc off sets the sweetness in Jollyranchers.

Skittles can also pair well with the sweet whites or dry whites such as white table wine, Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Grigio.

The sweet creaminess of the yellow, orange, and white mellow crème kernels of Candy Corn and pumpkins can pair with sweet whites, and rich whites such as Chardonnay, Marsanne, or Viognier, sparkling wines, and Port. The trick is to pick a Chardonnay or other wine that retains enough vibrant acidity to cut through the super sweet sugary candy. Or you can just keep shoving handfuls of candy corn into your mouth without allowing time to sip!

KitKat and 3 Musketeers are lighter and fluffier and pair well with sparkling wines and medium reds such as red table wine, Sangiovese, Zinfandel, Merlot, and Grenache.

Try a Muscat with sugary Smarties.

Tootsie rolls will always stick to your teeth and pair well with the light reds.

Butterfingers go with the rich whites and the dessert wines such as late harvest ice wines, Sherry, Port, Tawny Port, and Ruby Port.

Twix pairs with dessert wines and with bold reds such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Monastrell, Malbec, and Syrah. The sweetness of ice wines will also likely taste delicious with the caramel, cookies, and chocolate in Twix.

The cherry undertones of Pinot Noir pair nicely with Twizzlers – you could even dunk!

Reese’s pieces, those wonderful bites of peanut butter and chocolate, can go with the light reds, bold reds, and dessert wines. Or try a cool climate California Syrah which will complement the chocolate in the peanut butter cups and with other peanut butter candy bars.

Another recommendation for nutty, chocolate candy is to pair it with wine that balances the sugar and cream from the milk chocolate and the salt from the peanuts and peanut butter. The strong acidic factors in Spanish Sherry make it a great pairing because it cuts through the fat and, depending on the aging, tends to have a nice nutty quality. German Rieslings also pair well.

The strong, sweet, creamy taste of Port pairs quite well with chocolate, caramel, and peanuts like the combo found in Snickers and with classic Caramels.

Heath Bar (one of my all time favorites) goes well with the dessert wines.

M&Ms, while they’re melting in your mouth and not in your hands, can be washed down with the bold and medium reds. Try a red Zinfandel.

For the coconut lovers, the harsh tannins in Cabernet Sauvignon pair well with the dark chocolate and coconut in Mounds.

Sour Patch Kids – maybe aptly named — don’t seem to pair well with anything except a puckering mouth, but you can try a bubbly NV Rosé.

If there are some caramel apples to bite into, the toastiness of caramel and butterscotch might pair well with  Muscat or Gewürztraminer because the acidity of the white wine should stand up well to the sweetness of caramel. If you want to focus on the apple flavor, try ice wine, Sauternes, or a late-harvest Sauvignon Blanc.

And why not pair a Grand Cru Bordeaux with a 100 Grand Bar?

And then there’s chocolate with huge range of strong flavors including sweet, bitter, fruity and even acidic – flavors that don’t pair well with standard dry table wine. After a bite of a rich chocolate it won’t have any flavor. So try a sweet dessert wine instead. Its richness will enhance the flavor of both.

Here are some things to consider for chocolate pairings: think about choosing a wine that’s as sweet as the chocolate or try pairing by color – the darker the chocolate, the darker the wine. consider the bitterness and texture. Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and dark chocolate are an excellent classic pairing because the bitterness in the chocolate is similar in texture to the tannins in the wine.

Milk chocolate Hershey bars will always be someone’s favorite and they go with most wines, especially the rich and sweet whites and the light and medium reds. With the more bitter Hershey’s Dark chocolate, try a red Syrah.

Have a Happy Halloween!

Eight Sweet Things To Know About Candy Corn

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It’s candy corn time! Those chewy and sweet little tri-colored triangles have celebrated over 130 birthdays and are still going strong. Here are 8 things you probably never knew about candy corn:

  1. Candy corn, created in the 1880s by the Wunderlee Candy Company, was popular among farmers who loved the corn kernel shape that looked different from a lot of other candy. The Goelitz Candy Company, famous for their candy corn, began selling their brand around 1900. They still make candy corn today, but their company name has changed to the Jelly Belly Candy Company (guess what else they make!).
  2. Candy corn, which has been around for a century and three plus decades, is a “mellow cream,” or a type of candy that’s made from corn syrup and sugar with a marshmallow kind of flavor. It tastes rich, but it’s actually fat-free.
  3. The original three colors of candy corn — orange, yellow, and white — mimic a corn kernel, although each piece of candy is about three times the size of an actual kernel. The bottom of the triangular candy is yellow, it’s orange in the middle, and the pointy end is white.
  4. Although 75% of the annual candy corn production is for Halloween, you can find it year round in varying holiday colors:
  • Indian corn has a chocolate brown wide end, orange center and pointed white tip, and is often available around Thanksgiving
  • Blackberry cobbler candy corn can be found in eastern Canada around Halloween
  • Reindeer corn, the Christmas variety, is red, green, and white
  • Cupid corn for Valentine’s Day is red, pink, and white
  • Bunny corn for Easter is only a two-color candy and comes with a variety of pastel bases (pink, green, yellow, and purple) with white tips

5. Brach’s Candy Corn, which is a very familiar brand

  • has nineteen pieces of candy corn per serving
  • a serving has140 calories (7.4 calories per kernel), zero grams of fat, 70 mg of sodium, 36 grams of carbs, and no protein
  • a large bag of Brach’s candy corn is 22 ounces and has about 300 pieces
  • ingredients in Brach’s candy corn: sugar, corn syrup, confectioner’s sugar glaze, salt, honey, dextrose, artificial flavor, gelatin, titanium dioxide color, yellow 6, yellow 5, red 3, blue 1, sesame oil.

 6. According to the National Confectioners Association:

  • candy makers will produce nearly 35 million pounds of candy corn this year which is equal to about 9 billion individual kernels of corn, enough to circle the moon nearly 21 times if laid end-to-end
  • candy corn is so popular that it has its own day; October 30 is National Candy Corn Day.

7. How candy corn was and is made:

  • Originally it was made by hand.
  • Sugar, water, and corn syrup were cooked into a slurry (a thin mud consistency) in large kettles. Fondant (a sweet, creamy paste made from corn syrup, sugar, and water) and marshmallow were whipped in to give it a smooth texture and a soft bite.
  • The hot mixture was poured into “runners,” or hand-held buckets that held 45 pounds of candy mixture. Men called “stringers” walked backwards as they poured the steaming mixture into trays coated with cornstarch and imprinted with kernel-shaped molds. They made three passes; one each for orange, white and yellow.
  • Today, the recipe is similar but production is mechanized. A machine fills trays of kernel-shaped holes with cornstarch to hold the candy in corn triangle shapes. The holes are partially filled with white syrup, then orange syrup, followed by yellow syrup. The mold is allowed to cool, the mixture hardens for about 24 hours, then a machine empties the trays, the kernels to fall into chutes, and finally the candy corn is glazed to make it shine.
  1. A survey of Americans found:
  • 8%think the whole piece of candy corn should be eaten at once
  • 7% think you should be start eating at the narrow, white end 10.6% like to start eating at the wider yellow end.

Are You A Dashboard Diner?

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person eating in car

How many ketchup drips, chocolate smears, coffee stains, or cookie crumbs and sugar sprinkles do you have in your car (or on your clothes)? Is your daily road trip to work or a weekend or vacation drive an endless fest of fast food, junk food, and all kinds of snacks? Does your dashboard or vacant passenger seat serve as your kitchen table?

If you’re nodding your head, you’re a dashboard diner. It’s way too easy to indulge your dashboard dining gremlin at fast food and doughnut shop drive-thrus or gas station mini-marts with their canisters of coffee and cold cases of soda along buddied up with an array of baked goods and king size candy bars.

What is it about mini-mart and rest stop food? It seems to touch that primal urge to devour sweet and/or salty stuff that’s loaded with calories. Or, maybe we just remember stopping at rest stops as a kid on family road trips. Whatever the reason, potential trouble lurks for anyone with a proclivity for dashboard dining.

The Trap And The Danger Of Rest-Stops And Mini-Marts

Inside, there’s an endless stream of high carb, high fat, high calorie, and processed food just begging you to plunk down your money so you can immediately indulge (watch how many people start eating the food they’ve bought before they even pay) or take with you.

The real danger – aside from the damage to your waistline – is that high-carb processed foods spike then crash your blood sugar —making you really tired and cranky.

  • Drowsy drivers are most definitely not safe drivers.
  • Cranky drivers make life miserable for everyone in the car – not a great tone to set if you’re going on vacation.

Rest-Stop And Mini-Mart “Gotchas”

Candy is an impulse purchase; 49 percent of shoppers admit to unplanned purchases of candy. It seems that we want to treat ourselves and candy is an affordable luxury.

Check out the placement of candy the next time you’re in a mini-mart or convenience store — it’s positioned to grab your attention. Vividly colored wrappers reach out to you from high-traffic areas of the store: the checkout area, the aisle that leads to the check out, and on the way to the restrooms.

Know that your senses are going to be assaulted and have a plan for what you will and will not buy. If you’ve decided you want M&Ms go straight to them and don’t get sidetracked by a new kind of chips, or seasonal displays, or the latest and greatest deal on a king-sized package of candy.

Coffee, unlike candy, isn’t an impulse purchase. Nearly 96% of customers intend to buy a cup of coffee before they walk in. Here’s the impulse buy: stores put candy, baked goods, and chips near the coffee to entice you to buy them. As a man standing in line in front of me at a popular gas station mini-mart muttered, “I stop here for coffee every morning and I’ve gained 20 pounds since they put in the Krispy Kreme donut display between the door and the cash register.”

Some Helpful Tips

  • Nuts have protein and crunch, won’t cause swings in your blood sugar, and are almost always stocked. Tread a little gently — nuts aren’t low in calories. For a one-ounce serving of nuts you might find at rest stops: 49 shelled pistachios, 162 calories; 23 almonds, 169 calories; 18 cashews, 163 calories; 19 pecans, 201 calories; 10-12 macadamias, 203 calories; 39 peanuts (technically a legume), dry roasted, 170 calories.
  • Some mini-marts have fruit (bonus: oranges and bananas come in their own natural wrapper and don’t have to be washed) and almost all have dried fruit – it’s a good idea to balance the higher sugar content of the dried fruit with the fat and protein in nuts or cheese.
  • Sometimes you can find individual bowls of whole grain cereals, although check labels because some cereals are loaded with sugar. To go with it, grab a small container of low-fat milk or a container of yogurt.
  • Protein bars can be good, better, and best. Check the labels for higher protein and lower sugar. Some can be the equivalent of a candy bar and are so large (with so many calories) that they are made to be meal replacements. A protein bar for a snack should be around 150 calories. Meal replacement bars have around 300 calories or more. Look for at least 15 grams of protein.
  • If you’re really hungry, choose a sandwich or burrito over donuts, pastry, and cookies. Check out how fresh it is, though. What’s appealing early in the morning when the shelves are first stocked might not be so appealing at 10PM if it has been sitting around all day and lots of people have picked up the sandwich, squeezed it, and put it back again.
  • Beef jerky or beef sticks (or nuggets) are good, portable protein snacks. A one-ounce serving usually has around 80 calories and 5 grams of fat or less.
  • A hard-boiled egg is a good choice, too. Just make sure it’s been refrigerated and hasn’t been sitting around for a couple of days.
  • If you must go with crunchy stuff, stick with popcorn, pretzels, soy crisps, or baked or popped chips in single-serving bags to keep portions in check. Sometimes bags might look small, but still contain multiple servings. Remember that the salty stuff will make you thirsty so stock up on water. There’s something to be said for snacks that take time to eat one by one when you’re spending a lot of time in the car.

Remember …

  • Drink water. People sometimes confuse thirst with hunger, so you can end up eating extra calories when a glass of water is really all you need. If plain water doesn’t cut it, try drinking flavored still or sparkling water. We need water for fluids such as tears, sweat, and urine, and to allow chemical processes to take place in our bodies. Dehydration can cause fatigue and there’s some evidence that even mild dehydration can slow metabolism and drain your energy.
  • If you just want to leave your rest stop purchases to chance, at least have your own mental list of some good, better, and best choices of food to buy. The danger is that candy, chips, fries, and doughnuts will start calling your name the minute you walk in the door. If you know that you’re going to head straight for the nuts, or popcorn, or even a burger, that’s great, as long as the giant chocolate chip cookie and the bargain 99 cent 32 ounce soda doesn’t grab you first. Try to decide what you’re going to buy before you go in and then stick to your decision.
  • Too much sugar causes a spike and then a nose dive of your blood sugar levels.  The consequence is that you’re initially energized and then can get very drowsy and unfocused as your blood sugar plummets.  Not exactly what you want when you’re driving.

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