The American Candy Conundrum

I have a sweet tooth, a really, really bad sweet tooth at that. There's an old fashion sweet-store here that I adore and recently they've gotten in a selection of American "candy" Needless to say I had to get some to sample as the likelihoods of me being in American anytime soon is quite slim. All the candy featured below where not the cheapest,. each costing between €2 and €4 a pack. Here's what I've tried and my thoughts.

Twizzlers.
These are so loved and I always hear people ranting and raving about how lovely they are. In all honestly, I thought they tasted like out of date Calpol if it where infused into licorice. They are rubbery in texture and plain horrible. Not at all to my tastes.

Milky Way Bar - Simply Caramel
We have these here too and I adore them. The one I tried had no soft nougat  but inside was filled with creamy (and rather sticky) caramel which was so tasty. They're really high calorie (unlike the nougat ones here) at 250 calories per bar but I swear if I could get more, I'd eat them by the box.

Wonka Nerds.
These are actually quite easy to get here these days and I have had a tiny box of them before in primary school (We had an American basketball coach) I love sour sweet lately and so chose a packet of Amped Apple and Lighting Lemon flavored Nerds. The are lovey, really. They have a nice sour flavor but not too extreme. They remind me of Millions which are almost the same except really chewy. I will certainly buy more and certainly try different flavors.

Hershey's Chocolate - Milk and Cookies n' Creme
I've eaten quite a bit of Hersey's, bought for me from America by friends/family and I'm of two minds about it. Hershey's Milk is horrid, plain horrid. The chocolate has an odd taste about it but perhaps that's because I'm so used to the creamer texture of Cabdurys - almost a stable food in the Irish diet. The best description I've heard of it is that it's like dog treat chocolate. I do love their Cookies n' Creme variety though. It's smooth and has a lovely bite to it. I buy these a lot in town (The Euro store where doing a deal of 3 for €2) My one huge complaint is that the chocolate is dreadfully thin.

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
These are my least favorite of anything I've tried. I usually love things that are nutty flavored but these are just vile.Again I dislike the taste of the chocolate and the filling is even worse.

Twix: Peanut Butter.

As you've read above, I don't really like peanut butter so I didn't expect to like these at all. I did however, love Twix PB. It's the exact perfect combination of crunchy biscuit and peanut. The bars are very rich though so i only had one and I let my mother try the other. She thinks they're rather sickly but the peanut is a nice difference to the normal chewy caramel. I do wish they sold them here as I certainly buy more! On another note, is there some sort o love affar between American sweet makers and peanut butter or am I missing a link here....?

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

I loveeeee cookies and I've rather fallen in lust with Ben & Jerry's Cookie Dough ice-cream. I bought these with the idea that the dough would be even a little bit like that of the dough in my beloved ice-cream but sadly it's not to be. The dough is a lot harder, nice still but not very (how shall I but it broadly...?) doughy. The chocolate isn't very nice either and I think that it may be just the taste of American milk chocolate I have a problem with rather than the actual chocolate. Otherwise, they're nice and I still have half a box to scoff later. 

So that's what I've tried so far. I wrote this over a period of time (while I adore sweeties, I'm not that unhealthy to try everything in one day. My poor metabolism isn't that fast) and since starting, our sweet shop has gotten in a huge order of loads of US goodies including Pop-tarts (surprise, surprise  I've never, ever had a pop tart) and cereal and other sweetie treats. i'm going to continue my sweet quest. 

Now, if you've read all this, I have a challenge  What are your favorite International "candy"? If you're not from Ireland, have you tried any of our sweets and if so, what's your thoughts?

Until next time,

Órla xo

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Take me to the movies!

This year is a good one for film lovers like me, with a whole host of great movies being released. Here and some of the films I can't wait to see in the coming months. (Some of them have been released abroad previously but, since Ireland is the back of beyond.... we sometimes have to wait)

Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World: I'm fully invested in the Avenger!verse (as I shall call it) and I cannot wait to see what happens next. I adore Robert Downey Jr and I think he's slowly becoming Tony Stark.

The Big Wedding:  What a cast. The trailer had me in stitches and it looks like it's going to be a great hit. Plus I have a bit of a soft spot for Ben Barnes. Here he plays the Spanish speaking adopted son of Robert Di Nero. Need I say more? (Actually, I do quite love Amanda Seyfried after her Les Mis stint as Cosette.)

The Great Gatsby: I love, love, love time period dramas and am currently loving the 20s and 30s more and more for their beautiful and elegant fashions. This film's already been influencing the fashion world and I can tell I'm going to love it. I've sadly never read the book but I shall as soon as I've finished my current list of books!

Side Effects: Jude Law, I once again declare my love for thee. Here he stars alongside Rooney Mara, Channing Tatum and Catherine Zeta Jones in a provocative thriller about a new drug's twisted side effects. Seems like an interesting plot.

Cloud Atlas: I started this book today and shall be seeing the film on the 22nd. I cannot wait. The trailers make it look stunning and reviews are raving about the cinematography (even if there is some conflict about the use of race.....) Personally I think it's a thrilling story and the cast is full of hugely talented actors.

Oz: The Great and the Powerful. Any take on the Wizard of Oz story is one for me. I like envisioning things from new angles so it should be interesting to see where the director takes this. Trailers are once again very inciting.

The East: I think the concept for this is one that hasn't really been explored that much in film (well.... in well made, feature film) Freeganism is a concept not many are familiar with and I think that makes the film even more exciting and thrilling to watch. It's really a subject I'd like to learn more about and so will probably read up about soon. Previews are great and I really love how the trailer is edited. It's time for a good  anarchist film!

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