ZOMG, Candy!

I don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions (why wait until January 1st to change your life for the better?), but I’ll still take advantage of 2008 to clear out some old candy reviews to make room for all my new ones. These guys are from Halloween (oops), but I think the reviews will still be useful, as Russell Stover will just remold and repackage these for Christmas (trees, nutcrackers), Valentines (hearts), and Easter (eggs).

Orange Marshmallow Pumpkin

When they say orange, they mean orange. The innards are unnaturally brightly orange, almost highlighter-like in its fluorescence. The marshmallow is nice, fluffy, and foamy, the way I think marshmallow in chocolate should be, but it has a weirdly artificial, almost medicinal taste. An O.

Strawberry Cream Pumpkin

Unlike the orange marshmallow and the caramel & marshmallow pumpkins, the outside of this pumpkin was completely smooth instead of being textured. Perhaps it needs the thicker chocolate shell because it contains cream instead of marshmallow. Unfortunate, the milk chocolate shell was too sweet, and Russell Stover chocolate isn’t that great. With such a thick layer of chocolate coating, you can really taste its inferiority.

As you can see, the strawberry cream looks just like marshmallow. It’s light and fluffy but not foamy. Therein lies the dividing line between marshmallow and cream, I guess. Flavorwise, the strawberry was light and unremarkable. Another O.

Peanut Butter Ghost

Again, I’d like to point out how the color orange has come to be associated with peanut butter thanks to Reese’s marketing. The Russell Stover packaging is cute enough, even if I think the chocolate inside looks more like a nun than a ghost.

Usually I don’t like it when peanut butter overwhelms the chocolate it’s accompanying, but it works in this case because, quite frankly, I find Russell Stover chocolate (at least the kind they use to cover their regular cheap eats) to be boring. Consequently, it was great that this bar tasted strongly of peanut butter. The filling was pretty nice and had a super nutty finish. Its texture was quite smooth, without the crumbly grit of the peanut butter you’d find in a Reese’s. I do wish it were a little saltier.

An O, though I liked this one much more than the pumpkins it shares a review page with. I think it would warrant an OM when it’s on sale post-holidays.

I’m a college student, and it’s practically my job to procrastinate. Which is why I’m allowed to post reviews of Halloween candy during Thanksgiving week. I actually have a few more pumpkins and a ghost waiting for reviews as well, but I left them at school and haven’t tasted them yet. After all, candy is candy is candy, and I’ll bet this Russell Stover Caramel & Marshmallow Pumpkin tastes just like a Russell Stover Caramel & Marshmallow turkey or Santa or Christmas tree or holiday bell or whatever they sell it as after Halloween.

I was surprised at how tasty this pumpkin was. It was covered in milk chocolate that was nothing special, but it wasn’t fake chocolate, a definite plus. The marshmallow was soft and fluffy, and not too gooey or sticky or dense. The caramel had a great texture to it was well, with a great level of chew and stickiness. It wasn’t as dusky as the caramel in a scotchmallow, but it matched the vanilla marshmallow well.

For the price and the taste, I give this an OM. I wish I’d bought more of this cheap and adequate approximation of a See’s Scotchmallow!

This year, NYC is running a Healthy Halloween campaign. “Working with schools and community groups, Healthy Halloween stresses the creative aspects of the holiday, expanding the vision of Trick or Treat beyond candy.”

I’m not sure what I think of this campaign, though I’m certain that their Healthy Halloween song really bites. I mean really, “We’re gonna focus less on candy… Doing things things that are creative/ and eating healthy/ to fight disease.”

I like the idea of incorporating fun, creative things into Halloween activities, sort of like turning Halloween into a big autumn festival type celebration. But all the fun and appeal of Trick-or-Treating is specifically getting to dress up and get free candy, and no amount of kitschy Healthy Halloween song will make kids want to Trick-or-Treat for fruits and vegetables.

I guess my issue with the campaign is that they seem to be trying too hard, with the song (I just can’t get over how bad it is!) as exhibit A. You can teach kids that candy is a treat to be eaten in moderation while still leaving the concept of Trick-or-Treating alone. Little kids will always think the house that hands out granola bars instead of Snickers bars is lame. And for heaven’s sake, if you’re going to try to trick them into eating less candy, don’t tell them that you’re going to do so. Then they’ll never fall for it.

I adore peanut butter M&Ms. Imagine my surprise when I opened this bag

To find these!

They’re black and orange, and some of the Ms have been turned into little Jack-o-lantern faces. Thanks for going the extra holiday mile, M&Ms!

If you’re wondering, they’re deliciously addictive, as usual. An OM treat.