For My Old Sugar Savvy (or Paper Palate) Posts -- Click Here

I just realized a lot of the links to my old Sugarsavvy.net posts are broken or have been changed, which means instead of reading my tasting reports about See's Candy or some other candy you are taken to the Wellfed.net home page.

To check out something I've written for Sugar Savvy, please click on my list of posts at the site and then click on the link for the topic you are interested in.  Sorry for the inconvenience.  When I get a chance, I'll update all my posts on Blog Appetit that reference Sugar Savvy with the new links.

Update: If you are having trouble looking for a Well Fed link for cookbook or food magazine review from PaperPalate.net, please click on my author archives on Paper Palate.

Update: 11/4/10 -- It appears all Well Fed links are now out of service.  I'm really bummed since I don't have copies elsewhere of some of this writing.  If they are restored or I can retrieve them in any way, I'll update again.

Update: 12/14/10 - You can find some of these posts by searching the Way Back Machine. To use, click on the link to Sugar Savvy, Paper Palate or Well Fed, copy the url from the address bar for the page the link was on, go to http://waybackmachine.org/ and paste that url in the site's search box.  There's a good chance you'll find it there.  How sweet it was.

Update: Ug. lots of dead links.  Until I get them cleaned up you can view these antique posts on the wayback machine.  (11/29/18)

See's Candies -- Just What's in That Box?

I've noticed that Blog Appetit is being searched a lot this holiday season for information on See's Candies. I imagine holiday guests and sweet-toothed Santas have left a lot of See's boxes without, horrors, leaving a guide for what's inside.

Good news. Each candy is distinctively marked. Recently I've been to some See's stores and seen a full color handout as to which piece is which. Also, most of See's individual pieces are also lovingly portrayed on the See's website. Click here to see that.

Prepackaged assortments do come with nutritional information, but if someone created a custom mix for you or if you just went to the shop and bought a few pieces for yourself (one of the delights of shopping See's), that information might not be available. Here's the info on calories, carbs, fat, sugar, etc.

I spent a year tasting and evaulating See's Candies for Sugar Savvy. You can see what I wrote there here (and maybe see if you really want to bite into that apple pie truffle or mincemeat candy). To see what else I've written on Blog Appetit about See's, including a See's trivia quiz, click here.

Update: 12/14/10 -- Unfortunately the links for my Sugar Savvy posts are broken since the Well Fed Network is no more.  Read this post for more info and on how to find Sugar Savvy posts using the Wayback Machine site.

This Just In

I'm back from Las Vegas. My husband and I are reps for several manufacturers and it was great to see the numbers of buyers that attended our industry's semi-annual market in Lost Wages. At one point in one (very large) showroom I looked up and I literally could not see the floor for the buyers. Let's hope it bodes well for the economy.

While in Vegas, Mr. Blog Appetit and I played blackjack for about a half hour on $20 total, which I thought was pretty amazing. We ate in one of the worst restaurants I've ever eaten at anywhere (a Southern comfort spot in Harrah's where even the chicken soup was inedible), saw a show (comedian Rita Rudner) at Harrah's which is why we were eating there to begin with. (By the way, she was very entertaining, but on the way home I watched a video of her in the airport where she was doing choice bits from her act. My new tip for freebies in Vegas -- watch all the comedians on the airport videos.) , had way too much steak and lots of seafood. Vegas will get it's own write up soon.

What have I been cooking? Well, this past week I've been under the weather and a scrambled egg and microwaved water has been about it. The week before that I was in Vegas. Before that, however, do I have dishes to dish -- from goulash to doro wat. And a new piece of kitchen equipment to rhapsodize about (A Rhapsody in Blue). Watch this space.

On the Road to China. I'm off in less than two weeks to China, including a cooking class in Shanghai, a meal in a local home near Beijing and more. I usually don't post while I'm on the road, but I will be taking pictures and notes, so more on China when I return in March.

How Sweet it Was -- Local See's Candies Store Closes Unexpectedly. It was one of the last "neighborhood" style stores I knew of around here, the rest are in malls. One of the oldest stores in the See's chain, it had a quaint art deco charm. The signage and candy maybe gone and the for lease sign up, but I bet the place still smells of chocolate. The community staged on uprising when the store's closing was proposed four years ago and the location was kept open. This time there was no warning, just a sign in the window one morning. Also, I noticed the See's in my mall of choice has moved to a more out-of-the way, smaller location. I guess even See's Candies needs to tighten its belt in this business climate despite being owned by Berkshire-Hathaway. Memo to Warren Buffett -- Save My See's! (For more on See's Candies including links to my reviews and calorie counts, click here.)

See's Candies Trivia Questions and Answers

A few weeks ago I posted a trivia contest in my regular See's Piece by Piece post on Sugar Savvy. Well, we have a winner!

Here's the link with the name of the winner, the five things I learned from doing 52 See's Piece-by-Piece posts and the top candies in my taste testing. I've since thought of a sixth thing I've learned from writing these pieces: Everything looks more appealing in brown fills and/or a white box.

Here are the 10 contest questions, see if you know your See's Candies' trivia. If you need help, all the answers can be found by searching Sugar Savvy and the previous See's Piece by Piece posts. You can find them by searching on See's on the site or clicking on The Chocolate Box category and reading through them that way.

If you want the answers without the work, click on the comments below. I'll post them there. No peeking now.

Here are the 10 questions from the Sugar Savvy quiz:

1. What year did Charles See start See’s Candies and begin selling his products in Los Angeles, CA?

2. What was the name of Charles’ mother, who provided the company’s first recipes?

3. What brand of chocolate does See’s Candies use in its confections?

4. What popular TV show featured a scene based on the See’s Candies’ production line?

5. What is the name of the newest milk chocolate candy introduced by See’s? (Hint: It is a name used for men, women and places.)

6. How many calories in a serving (two pieces) of See’s Candies’ candy?

7. Name of the author of the book See’s Famous Old-Time Candies: A Sweet Story.

8. Name See’s three flavors of fudge.

9. What brand of sugar does See’s Candies use?

10. Name the See’s Candies’ confection that has beef as an ingredient.

Feeling Lucky? -- See's the Answers and Win a See's Gift Certificate

I've tasted, I've nibbled, I've savored, I've chomped, I've bit, I've devoured, I've eaten, heck, I've even slurped my way through more than 50 kinds of See's Candies chocolates and other confections but now the column on Sugar Savvy featuring regular tasting and rating of the goodies is about to wrap up.

But before See's Piece-by-Piece ends, The Well Fed Network is awarding loyal See's fanatics with a chance to win a $25 gift certificate for See's Candies.

To check out the See's Candies' Trivia Contest and how to enter, see this post. Deadline is January 31st, so get clicking.

How Many Calories in That Piece of See's Candies in the Window?

One of the most frequent searches Blog Appetit gets is something like "how many calories in a piece of See's candy?".

To help answer that question, quoted below are the nutrition facts from the one-pound See's Candies' Christmas Fancy Box that someone thought (correctly) would make a good holiday gift for the Blog Appetits. The Christmas Fancy Box was an assortment of milk and dark chocolate candies as well as nut, chews and other See's confections.

From the Nutrition Statements insert included in my box of candy, copyright 2006 by See's Candy Shops, Inc.:

Serving size: 2 pieces (33g)
Servings per container (the one pound box): About 14

Calories per serving: 160
Calories from fat: 90
Total fat and percentage of daily value: 10g and 15%
Saturated fat and percentage of daily value: 4.5g and 23%
Cholesterol and percentage of daily value: 10mg and 3%
Sodium and percentage of daily value: 35mg and 2%
Total carbohydrate and percentage of daily value: 19g and 6%
Dietary Fiber: Less than 1g (4%)
Sugars: 15g
Protein: 2g

The calories per gram are:
Fat: 9
Carbohydrate: 4
Protein: 4

These See's Candies' products have no transfats and contain 4 percent of the daily requirement for calcium. A serving (which is two pieces, remember) also provides 2 percent of the daily requirement for iron and Vitamin A.

For more about See's Candies and how I have rated more than 50 of the confections in the last year, please go to Sugar Savvy and search The Chocolate Box feature for See's. Check out how your favorite See's candy rated.

Update: I'm afraid all the Sugar Savvy links are gone or broken.  See this post for more info.

Do I Make Mincemeat Out of a See's Mincemeat Candy?

Vegetarian Alert! There is actually BEEF in See's Candies' Dark Chocolate Mincemeat. I didn't know that when I innocently bought and bite into this complex and actually quite good candy. While I am not a vegetarian, I was still turned off by this news. Was I able to keep my bias against meat in candies out of my rating?

Read all about my experience on Sugar Savvy.

See's The Chips and Pass the Vegetarian Times

I've had some recent posts on the Well Fed Network.

Over Sugar Savvy I've tested See's Candies wonderful semi sweet chocolate chips. I even give See's recipe for chocolate chip cookies which is only available on the back of the chips bag. Noah, aka The Future Pastry Chef, was kind enough to mix up a batch of his own special chocolate chip cookies so I could taste test this product baked as well as "raw." That's a photo of Noah's cookies above. (Psst! Wanna know Noah's secret ingredient? It's mint extract.)

Here's the link to my taste test report.

Over at Paper Palate, I've reported on the new issue of Vegetarian Times. Here's the link to my write up including a recipe for a potato-fennel soup and ginger pear crumble dessert.

Take a few minutes and click around the newly redesigned Well Fed Network. Lots more visual punch, many new sites and an even more informative and entertaining read.

See's Piece by Piece -- Not a Mayfair Lady

My weekly See's Candies taste test has posted at Sugar Savvy. You can read all about the Mayfair candy here. Be grateful you didn't have to eat it.

See's Halloween Specials

What is orange and chocolate and is all treat, not trick? It's one of See's Candies special Halloween candies. Click on over to Sugar Savvy to check out my round up of See's Candies' Halloween offerings. Check it out here.

Chelsea Morning for See's Candies

With (many, many) apologies to Joni Mitchell:

Woke up, it was a Chelsea candy
And the first thing that I knew
There was milk chocolate and pecans
And chocolate buttercream, too.

Click on over to Sugar Savvy to read all about my See's Candies Chelsea experience.

Molasses Candies a Chip Off the Old See's?

Click on over to Sugar Savvy to catch my latest episode of See's Piece-by-Piece. Number 37 explores the old-fashioned flavor of See's Candies Molasses Chip candies. Are they a blast from the past or something better left behind? Read it and see.

Also over at Sugar Savvy, check's out episode 36 where your humble Blog Appetit encounters the dark side of chocolate covered raisins and comes out a winner.

Newly Minted See's and Other Good Things to Read

I've been a busy little poster and wanted to share what I've created for you over at Sugar Savvy.

My latest piece is the weekly See's Candies tasting. This week in The Chocolate Box -- See's Candies Mint Chocolate Truffle. Take a bite into my review here.

Those of you who appreciate good chocolate might also enjoy my exploration of the San Francisco Chronicle's roundup of emerging artisian chocolatiers in the Bay area. Enjoy it all with photos and ordering information but without calories here.

From things that delight to things that go boo in the night, check out the candy frights being offered for Halloween in this article. You still have time to order if liquid candy blood, gummy fingers and peppermint "battys" are on your Halloween menu.

Is the Normandie See's Worthy?

The Normandie was a very special ocean liner. The French Line's prestige ship combined good (Art Deco) looks and luxury appointments with top performance and was considered the greatest passenger ship of its time.

The Normandie is a dark chocolate covered buttercream candy made by See's Candies. Will it live up to the image and performance of its famous namesake? Click on over to Sugar Savvy to read my my post and rating of the Normandie.

See's The Time to Try a Maple Nut Buttercream

Life might get busy here at Blog Appetit and prevent me from posting as often I would like, but there is always time for chocolate. And for writing about See's Candies once a week. See this week's contributions to The Chocolate Box at Sugar Savvy about See's tasty Dark Chocolate Maple Nut Buttercream.

See's Java Jive -- Part 2

I continue my exploration of See's Candies coffee-flavored chocolate truffles over at Sugar Savvy. The Cafe Au Lait Truffle earned my first 10! Come see the rave (no rant) here.

Coffee+See's Chocolate= ????

Looking for my weekly See's Candies' post at Sugar Savvy? It was posted a bit later than normal, but you can check out if I woke up and smelled the coffee in the Cafe Hazelnut Truffle by clicking here.

Ooey and Gooey Get Together for See's #27

Check out my post at Sugar Savvy to read all about what happens when you wrap honey marshmallow up in butterscotch caramel. The folks at See's Candies call it a "scotch kiss," but do I call it delicious? You'll have to click on over to find out.

Oh Say Can You See's the Apple Pie Truffle?

Click on over to Sugar Savvy for a looksee at my latest creation -- a write up of the All-American taste in a truffle, See's Apple Pie Truffle.

Nutty for See's Nougat

I review three See's Candies chocolate covered nougats and share a sweet piece of my childhood over at Sugar Savvy today. You can read my write up here.

Pictured at left from the top are the Rum Nougat (which is actually oozing some of its filling), the Peanut Nougat and the Dark Nougat.

(By the way, this is the 23rd See's piece I've written for Sugar Savvy. If you want to catch up on the ones you may have missed, click on The Chocolate Box Category at Sugar Savvy and you can view them all.)

I always wanted to give a plug to Bravenet. So, oddly, I'll do it now when I am having a small problem. Bravenet provides the free counter for this blog and many others. It is a good reliable service with unbelievably responsive customer service, which makes yesterday's loss of visitor statistics a bit easier to take. Engineers at Bravenet are working on it, but Blog Appetit was one of many websites whose June 22nd data went AWOL. I know I am not the biggest blog on the block, but I do like to know that people are stopping by. So thanks for giving Blog Appetit a look-see and helping make me Technorati's 82,000 most popular blog on the web (improved from 750,000th most popular blog).

Update: With Sugar Savvy (and its links) long gone, thanks to the Way Back Machine for this link to this post: http://web.archive.org/web/20081205092659/http://sugarsavvy.net/2006/06/23/the_chocolate_box_see_s_piece_by_piece_n/