Dear BA Foodist,
My guilty pleasure is candy bars (the more sugary, the better), and at this time of year, the Halloween candy for sale everywhere is such a temptation. I feel conflicted gobbling up the candy (I usually eat fresh, local, healthy food), but I love it. Does that make me completely tasteless?
Rachel Barston, Anchorage, AK
Dear Rachel,
My first food memory isn't of a madeleine, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, or even barbecue (which you might have guessed, because I'm from the South). No, it's old-fashioned hard candy. My grandma always had a bowl of the multicolored stuff; judging by the way the pieces stuck together, I think I was the only one who ever ate them. Nevertheless, whenever I see a retro can at a store, I buy one for memory's sake. (Papabubble makes hard candies in fun flavors like watermelon with chili flakes; papabubble.com.) I'm still a fan of fruity candies. I love Dots and Jujubes and have a particular weakness for Swedish Fish. Every Halloween, I was the kid trading candy bars and things like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups for those tiny boxes of Mike and Ikes, Jolly Ranchers, and gummy bears. I don't mean to sound like Andy Rooney, but it seems to me that Halloween ain't what it used to be. There's no candy diversity (most people just buy the mixed candy-bar bags), every kid's got some sort of allergy, and trick-or-treat time lasts for only two hours--and that happens when it's still light out. It's enough to make this grown-up kid think it's all trick and no treat.