-Homage to a Candy Freak, May 1, 2007, photos by QuoinMonkey,
all rights reserved
Twin Bing, Nutty Chocolaty Cherry Treat!
Palmer Candy Company, Sioux City, Iowa
Owyhee, Idaho Spud, The Candy Bar That Makes Idaho Famous
Idaho Candy Company, Boise, Idaho
Sifers Valomilk, The Original “Flowing Center” Candy Cups
Russell Sifers Candy Company, Merriam, Kansas
GooGoo Cluster, Milk Chocolate, Peanuts, Caramel & Marshmallow
An American Tradition Since 1912
Standard Candy Company, Nashville, Tennessee
-from Topic post, Candy Freak
-3:am Magazine – Portrait of the Artist as a Candy Freak, interview with Steve Almond by Amy Cox Williams
Tuesday, May 1st, 2007
Out of these four, the GooGoo Clusters really are the best.
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I just read the interview with Steve Almond–great stuff; thanks for including the link.
And did you see this: his Mistakes Were Made (MWM) list:
“Twizzlers: not just a horribly artificial flavor, but a texture that falls somewhere between chitin and rain poncho.”
I can’t wait until Sinclair sees that…See! I think they are made with horse hooves 🙂
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Oh, hmmm. Good point about Sinclair’s Twizzlers. I have to admit, I like them, too. Especially on road trips. So I’m with Sinclair on this one.
Out of these 4, I can’t honestly remember which one I liked when I ate them. They all ran together for me. Valomilk was really sweet. Spud – whoa, what can I say. Seems like the Bing was okay. I’ll have to break them open now that I’ve photographed them. I know someone here who’s been bugging me to rip them open for a while so she can taste them! 8)
My favorite parts of all of them are the wrappers. I LOVE the wrappers. Don’t you? Classic.
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Yeah, the wrappers are the best part. Your pictures are far better than the candy themselves.
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Yeah, the wrappers are great. And the names. Valomilk. I like to say it with a big mouth for the VALO part. I wonder if the way they came up with that one was when Vance and Lola, the owners, decided to use a part of each of their names…and then wa-la, VA-LO was born.
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Did you make that up?
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🙂
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Hey, which one was it that exploded on airplanes? Was that the Valo?
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We used to have this donut shop in Albuquerque called BoSa donuts. I told my friend Linda that the only thing I could figure was the owners were Bob and Sally.
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I didn’t hear about the exploding candy on airplanes, but it makes sense it was the Valomilks. Remember, they’re the ones that run marshmallow liquid all over the place.
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LOL – Bob, Sally, Vance, and Lola. Is that like Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice?
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Hey, I just saw, he gives a pretty good explanation of the name and history of the Valomilks at the website. Cool. Not as good as your X-planation, of course. But close.
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Liz just ripped open the Idaho Spud and cut it into 6 parts with a knife. She laid it out on the brown wrapper, pinched off a bite, popped it into her mouth and said, “The marshmallow center makes it smooth and not too sweet. Num.”
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Yes, I’m afraid the author of Candy Freak has no taste at all. I turned up my nose to his description of Twizzlers. I nearly stopped reading the book over it. He also has no time for anything with coconut–where does this guy get off?
This photos are so fun. I think if we can just eaten one bar a day we would remember the differences between them. I remember it being a free-for-all crazed binge eating them in the zendo. It was as though we had never seen candy before. Will you please post photos of licorice next time?
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Sinclair, It was a crazed binge that day, wasn’t it? Yeah, now that Liz is making her way through them, I am getting more of a sense for each one. I’ll keep the licorice in mind for next candy photos. 8)
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Liz broke open the Twin Bing Sunday night. I had a little taste, too. To this one she said, “Hmmm, it’s not up to the standards of 21st century taste buds.”
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Twin Bings remind me of the cookies we used to eat as kids. Mom called them “Non-Bakes,” but I did hear other mothers sometimes say “No-Bakes.” You made them in a saucepan on top of the stove with cocoa and milk and coconut and sugar. Those are the key ingredients I remember. Then you’d drop them on wax paper until they cooled, trying to ward off big brothers and other such pests.
When I bit into a Twin Bing for the first time, I was flooded with Non-Bake memories. Definitely old-fashioned.
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Sinclair, a great point. Now that you say no-bake a certain flavor comes to mind that is so much in the Twin Bing. That really brings me back in time. My Mom called them no-bakes. I wonder if the Palmer Candy Company intentionally tries for that flavor?
Once we got to the cherry center, the no-bake flavor of the Twin Bing mixed with a pleasant cherry sweetness. I think my taste buds had forgotten what a no-bake tasted like.
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I love that your mom called them non-bakes, Sinclair. I remember them well. And the chocolate dried into a waxy finish. I’ll have to make those with my girls.
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One time when I was a kid, Mom and I went to a high school graduation party for a girl that came from a very, very mixed-up family. She was pretty normal, but the other members of her family were the sort you wanted to stare at–aghast. Her brother (a teen with a loud, booming voice), stood guard at the refreshment table as people walked through with their paper plates. They had made Non-Bakes for the party, and there was a limited number. David said in a powerful command to every person who went through, “Only one No-Bake!” I had never seen or heard of this sort of behavior around guests.
Mom and I went home and made a saucepan of Non-Bakes, eating as many as we wanted off the waxed paper.
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LOL, great story, Sinclair, about scarcity and abundance. I think “Only one No-Bake!” would make a great title to a story.
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Last night, Liz ripped open the GooGoo Clusters. I had a couple of bites, too. She said it’s the best yet, by far.
And I quote, “Good mix of peanuts, chocolate, and caramel, with just a hint of marshmallow taste. The chocolate is a little different than what I’m used to. But it’s nice and chewy. Hmmm.”
Chomp, chomp, chomp.
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Tonight was the last one – the Valomilk. Liz said, “Well, should we open the Valomilk?” I said, “Yes, let’s open the Valomilk.” No drama. Just plain sweetness.
Yes, the Valomilk was the sweetest of all. And it had popped open in flight (I think I had read this in Candy Freak, too), so the white creamy filling had turned a little hard. It was good just the same. But we both decided it might be better fresh from the package.
Anyone planning a trip to Kansas? Bring us back a couple. 8)
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