Candy is one of my "favorite" weaknesses! The Halloween season is a good excuse to indulge in this weakness. You can find candy of all kinds in bags of individually wrapped pieces. The candy can be found in all kinds of forms, from chocolate to gummi to hard candy. It is almost too much to bear! I go into the store and I can't make up my mind which kind I want to buy, so I end up with several different kinds (actually way too much!).

The other day the store had candy on sale and I had a coupon (doubly good!). I bought three bags of Halloween candy; Baby Ruth, Crunch and Butterfingers. I brought them home and used them as a bribe! I told my kids that for every two pages of schoolwork they finished, I would give them a piece of candy. I couldn't believe the amount of work that was accomplished that day!

I remember as a child being so sad around Halloween. My parents didn't allow me to go trick-or-treating and all my friends would come to school the next day talking about all the candy they received. I was envious of their candy.

Today, because of religious and safety views, I do not allow my children to partake in trick-or-treating. What I do do is a compromise. I buy several types of Halloween candy and put it in a large candy bowl on the table for trick-or-treaters. We have lived in the same house for the past 16 year and during that time, we have had only a handful of trick-or-treater's. I still use the excuse that we "might" get a trick-or-treater to justify my candy buying (shh...don't tell anyone my secret!). After all the trick-or-treating is done, I then allow my kids "some" of the leftovers...the rest are mine!

When I was around the age of seven, my dad bought a rental house that was across the street from a small country IGA store. On the weekends my family would go to the rental house to do some remodeling work on it. I would always ask for money to go to the little store. My dad would give me a quarter and I would happily skip to the store. At that time a quarter would actually buy a candy bar, but I always went straight for the penny candy box. I knew I would get 25 pieces of candy instead of just one candy bar.

On one particular weekend, I asked my dad for money and he didn't have any change. He gave me a whole dollar! I was on cloud nine. I went into the store and picked out 100 pieces of candy. When I got back from the store with my loot, my dad asked where his change was at! I held up my small paper bag with the 100 pieces of candy in it for him to see. Thankfully, he laughed and told me I had to work off the other .75 cents. I gladly did the extra work.

Most of the U.S. history of candy started back in the 1800's and we are still producing candy today. Here is a brief past of candy:

• Candy Corn was created by Wunderlee Candy Company. In (1898) and the Goelitz Confectionery Company started making the candy and it is still one of the best selling Halloween candies of all times.
• Juicy Fruit and Wrigley's chewing gum was introduced by William Wrigley in (1893).
• Tootsie rolls debut in (1896).
• One of the oldest candy bars is the Hershey milk chocolate bar that was introduced in the (1900's) along with Hershey milk chocolate kisses in (1906).
• Life Savers, the peppermint flavor, was introduced in (1912)...22 years before the 5 fruit flavor ones came out.
• The 1920's brought in the Baby Ruth (1920), Mounds and Milky Way (1923), Bit O Honey (1925), Milk Duds (1926), Heath Bars and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (1928).
• The 1930's brought us the Snickers bar (1930), Tootsie Roll Pops (1931), MARS candy Bar,Snickers Almond Crunch, Red Hots, and 3 Musketeers Bar (1932), Hershey Miniatures (1939).
• M&M's plain chocolate candies were introduced in (1941), Junior Mints (1949), and Smarties (1949).
• Candy Necklaces, a retro candy classic, was introduced in (1958).
• In the 60's came the Starburst Fruit Chews and Lemon Heads (1960), and Sweet Tarts (1963).
• The 1970's brought us; Jelly Bellies (1976), Reese Pieces (1978), and Twix (1979).
• With the 1980's came Gummi Bears and Gummi Worms (1980), and Skittles (1981).
• Dove dark and milk chocolates were brought to us in (1992),

Some of my favorite candy when I was younger was: Now or Laters, candy necklaces, candy cigarettes (I am now glad these are rare!), tootsie rolls, Life Savers, and Tangy Taffy. Today I like to buy Jelly Bellies, Dove chocolates, sugar babies, Hershey kisses, Starbursts and Skittles. I am sure I am forgetting something!

What is your favorite Holloween candy?