For Those Of Us Who Prefer The Hard Stuff

I prefer my added sugar intake to be in the form of soft chocolate surrounding peanut butter or just more chocolate. Tuesday December 19th is National Hard Candy Day and is easily celebrated annually.

Hard candy slowly developed over a few centuries beginning simply as boiled sugar plums. When the industry moved up to lemon drops and peppermints it was likely they were sometimes prescribed for common stomach ailments.

My favorite hard candy will always be sour apple Jolly Ranchers. Although a lollipop hiding a surprise piece of gum comes in a close second. The hard candies that I could never wrap my mouth around would include the aggressively sour flavors. Warheads are on the top of my no thank you. These are candies you have to suffer through the first few minutes before the flavor stops making your eyes water.

Whatever your favorite candy is we can all thank the origins of this sweet treat by celebrating National Hard Candy Day by stopping at a local Hudson Valley Candy store and sampling what new innovations they've come up with and perhaps include their sugary creations in your holiday celebration this year.