A friend was coming for coffee today and she enjoys a bit of sweetness in her coffee.I was filling my old Fostoria sugar bowl from my maternal grandmother as it doesn’t have a lid .
I drink my coffee black these days and although I love coffee ice cream I don’t add sugar to my hot coffee.
Remember root beer barrels, red and white Starlight mints, yellow cellophane wrapped butterscotch, a hard candy with a fruit filled center strawberry?
There were toffees in a foil sleeve, Hershey kisses in shiny silver with a tiny paper label sticking out, coffee nibs and sour balls. Some M and Ms
I’ve been thinking about candy dishes, candy jars, candy bowls.
My neighbors Nell and Tom had a crystal candy dish in their living room. Was it on top of the wooden tv console or a coffee table?
A couple of friends have a candy dish collection so I enlisted their help with this candy dish post today.
I have one lidded candy dish but it’s in a cupboard, not on a coffee table filled with wrapped hard candies.
I asked
I asked my friend Marianne M what is candy dish etiquette? –
Does one help oneself or wait to be offered a piece? She replied –if it’s out in the open, it’s fair game! Help yourself! (Then what do you do with the wrapper after you stick the piece of candy in your mouth?)
Here’s what she wrote to me about her candy dishes –
“Candy dishes… What can I say about candy dishes? My mom always had one in the living room filled with the popular candy of the times. When we went to Tata’s (great aunt) house, she always had candy dishes in every room even in the bedrooms. I do believe at one time, candy dishes were a popular wedding gift.
Why I have so many in 2025 I don’t know. However, I do switch the candy dishes at the seasons. I tend to fill them less often now because I’m too tempted to eat the sweets.” MM
My first candy dish purchase was the M&M jug that I bought at Pawley’s Island, South Carolina. It was a favorite of my friend Ruth!The heart shaped Lenox candy dish was a Christmas gift several years ago from a childhood friend.
The little Easter dish I purchased at Kmart before they closed. MM
Candy Cane Candy Dish MMThis lidded crystal dish was an anniversary gift to my parents – MMChristmas Gift Package Candy Dish MMChristmas CarolersInterior of lidded dish MMMarianne’s crystal and cut glass candy dishes MM
My friend Joanne B in Florida writes
“For many years I’ve collected small silver footed candy dishes. Bought them at estate sales or thrift shops, and fully intended to gift them. I thought they would make the perfect hostess, holiday or shower gift with the addition of a small box of Godiva chocolates or some other elegant treat. But I only gave a few of them away because I love them too much. They are now tucked amongst the decor in my house; some hold candles and some hold seaglass. Now and then they hold candy. I think I have eight of them but there are probably a few more around.” JB
And my granddaughter Maura (16) was at sleep away camp in early June this year
They had a Candy Salad.
I had to ask. What is a Candy Salad?
Her friend Evie D. took this photo of the Candy Salad at Camp.
All the campers dump a bag of candyinto a big bowl
TheNuts.com website states The strawberry “festive strawberry exterior, these crunchy candies are filled with sweet strawberry flavor and are the perfect way to indulge a sweet tooth. They make a fine addition to a red candy buffet and are sure to be a crowd-pleasing treat at any special celebration”and yellow wrapped butterscotch product details “Our butterscotch candy is a delight for anyone who has a sweet tooth. These classic hard candies are individually-wrapped for optimal freshness. They will bring back memories of seeing candies brimming from bins in your favorite candy store as a kid. Butterscotch candies are real crowd-pleasers!”are available at Nuts.com
(you can get organic dried fruit and nuts there, too but that’s another post 😂)
This week I received a package of yarn and goodies from a Woolswapknitter who lives in the UK. Amanda included a tin of Traditional English Tea and a packet of Real Lancashire Eccles Cakes with Real Butter. She mentioned her husband likes to dip his into his tea. This afternoon I was inspired to make a tea party for one on my front porch. The Eccles cake was delicious and went perfectly with the English Afternoon Tea. I added a drop of milk. There are three cakes left so three more tea parties on the porch. Here’s what the bakery says on their website
The Eccles Cake is a traditional product, which is believed to have originated in the town of Eccles, approximately five miles from our bakery.
The Edmonds family recipe and method of manufacture has been handed down through generations. Our Eccles Cakes are handmade and consist of a mixture of the finest Vostizza currants, raisins, butter and sugar enclosed in a shell of flaky buttery pastry.
The 2012 NY Times slide show showing how peeps are manufactured is still available. I ate one tonight. 32 calories. I could not detect any flavor other than sweet.
I bought them on sale post-Easter sale for just 99 cents at the fabric store
Since 1953, Peeps.
Turns out this is my FOURTH post about Peeps.
There are Peep Haters says Julie Bosman in NYTimes 2012 article. “But for such an innocent, marshmallow-and-sugar pastel candy, the Peep is surprisingly polarizing. Peeps-hater Web sites show pictures of Peeps dipped in liquid nitrogen and smashed with hammers. Admirers dress them in costumes and arm them with plastic swords. Matthew Beals, director of the 2009 documentary ”The Power of the Peep,” said their appeal endures because ”they coexist as both cute and horrible.”
I usually fill them with raspberry and apricot Bonne Maman jam. I was fortunate to receive some delicious marmalade and jam from two different friends.
I used Eileen’s Orange Marmalade and Pam’s Blubarb in addition to the raspberry and apricot.
My mother (from Illinois) always made a Christmas JELL-O with the juice of a fresh lemon added. I made it on Christmas Eve but forgot it on Christmas Day and it’s still in the fridge. Maybe we’lleat some tomorrow. Her other concoction was lemon jello with crushed pineapple and shredded carrots with fresh lemon a pinch of salt. Oh and one made with the little packet of plain gelatin, fresh limes’ juice and sliced green grapes. My childhood memories of JELL-O(click for history as it all started in 1897) my sense is that it’s just not as popular anymore.
The little yellow marshmallow chicks wrapped in cellophane showed up in 1953. They used to appear on store shelves at Easter time. Now you can get them year round in other holiday shapes. Information on the history and detailed categories such as “alleged indestructibility“ and Peeps “Recipes” at Wikipedia. There are contests and ingredients listed at that link, too. Yes, people microwave Peeps. That’s a lot of food color, isn’t it? Perhaps you ate them as a child but wouldn’t think of biting off a head of one now.
Here’s the question. Would you eat one? And if you did, would you want the Peep stale or fresh?