What candy do you crave at Halloween?

By Andrew Knowlton

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.

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