Sweet dreams are made of these....

I have a small confession to make. I love candy. I daydream about going to candy stores. I think I even wrote in an earlier post about my birthday request of my allergic parents "please take me to the candy store." See, as much as it dismays my dentist, candy is one of the few things that for me is allergy-free. When corn syrup, sugar, and water are the ingredients, I can eat that handful of sour patch kids, twizzlers, or that lollipop, without taking a single pill or worrying about an allergic reaction. Fortunately for me, candy is one of my "safe" foods.
Several months ago, when I was home ill, I was watching the food network and saw an advertisement for a show covering the candy convention. Candy convention? I DVR'ed the show and drooled over every moment as Ham on the Street (I have fixed this post to bring you his proper name) walked around the different booths tasting what every company was debuting this year. Candy is a billion dollar business, so the expo made sense, but now I had one mission in life....to get in to one!!
I was joking with a girlfriend of mine who owns a bakery that I would die a happy woman if I could see one, and her response was "Are you serious? I was at one last weekend. I'll take you to the next one" (she sells gourmet chocolates in her store as well).
Yesterday she made good on her promise. It was incredible. Row after row of any kind of treat imaginable, with some packaging companies taking up extra space (in my opinion, anyway). I was able to sample Birnn's chocolate truffles from Vermont - WOW (with Lactaid pills, of course), and a gigantic chocolate-covered/dipped apricot at the Asher booth. Jelly Belly was more than happy to supply an enthusiastic patron like me with a few samples, and I got to meet THE Linda of Linda's Lollies (they're usually on tree stands in gourmet candy stores, Cracker Barrel, etc, and they're delicious!). I must've spent twenty minutes talking to her. From an allergic diner's perspective, every booth was either willing to discuss the ingredients in everything (such as Giambri's caramel-filled chocolate covered waffles - too rich for me, but YUM), or willing to show me their ingredient books. This was my own personal Disneyland. I returned home exhausted from the walking and the eating, and having had a wonderful girls' day out. It's also convinced me that I will be opening a candy store in the future (it's my current retirement plan)
My friend made my life (I suppose now I need a newer, loftier goal), and as I sit here, enjoying a Linda's lolly and staring at my convention badge from yesterday I'm tempted to call her with just one question...Thank you, when can we go again????