Sweets Sunday

My cousin's girlfriend LJ just got back from China and gave members of the family pasalubong or some take home treats in the form of a candy called HI CHEWS. Now I'm no Cybele May but I do have my favorites and this is the latest one. I finished 8 candies straight I'm not kidding and literally bit my tongue as I mindlessly chewed. I bit it so hard I had to call my ER doctor friend Danny to ask if I needed to visit the ER (if the cut is very deep, stitching is inevitable).Fortunately I didn't hurt myself THAT deep but the bite did leave a Hi Chews battle scar.



For those who haven't tried this yummy candy, Hi Chews is, true to its name, a chewy candy similar to Fruitella, but chewier, like a Tootsie Roll. It is not as sweet as a Fruitella either, which probably explains why you can have so much in a row. It's white, too, which reminded of White Rabbit but without the colorless wrapper.

Unfortunately, Hi Chews is not yet available in the Philippines (unless they have some maybe in Chinatown? but I have not as yet discovered any distribution). So if you know anyone hitting China, ask for pasalubong!

Speaking of candy, those candy blogs and candy sites can get addictive. I was trying to double check just now on the correct spelling of Fruitella and came across this site which has on its list of items Blackcurrant Fruitella. I have never tried this and am now so curious.

I also spent some time on candyblog (i love this girl and her site) and am very impressed by the concept of the Chocotelegram that the blog featured. Unfortunately, according to the site, the chocolate company is based in Toronto so I'll just have to be creative and ask someone from here to make something similar for my personal Father's Day gift for good ol daddy.

Meanwhile, since the Hi Chews are gone, I'm now working on the Royce Chocolates that my friend Jardy gave my sister as pasalubong from Singapore. I love how it's like frozen chocolate mousse without the cream and a little darker. I also noticed how there was cocoa butter fat already forming at the sides. Coming from a family of chocolate makers, I could only enjoy the chocolate more - and not be disgusted with what looked like lard on the side of the plastic casing that held the chocolate. Because the fat to the side could only mean that the chocolate they used is pure - there wasn't too much of a conching process involved. Which makes you wonder because their chocolate is sooo smooth. There's something very inventive about their chocolate making process. The Japanese are really brilliant.

Also enjoying some neuhaus bars, also care of Jardy, my favorite being the 52%.

Will definitely have to run tonight to rid myself of all this sugar!