Wednesday, August 29

The Candy Shop

Sam and I took a trip to Saint George over the weekend so he could draft for fantasy football. Sorry, there will be no Saint George visit entry because I forgot to bring my camera. But everyone is doing well and looks beautiful, and Jenny and Brittney have cute little baby bumps already. It was fun being around family and friends, especially when we were all pregnant together! :) It made for a lot of good eating, and I came to learn that husbands are less likely to object to giving in to your cravings when there's more than one pregnant belly! Hahaha! :) Anyway, one of my favorite things about driving to Utah (besides getting to see some of my all time favorite people) is the car ride - there and back. I know that must seem strange, but I love to sit and talk to Sam for hours with no distractions. We have some of our best and most meaningful conversations on road trips. We also have some of the best arguments. The Banks parents have - unfortunately for them, fortunately for us - been on the other end of some of these arguments because we will call them to settle the argument! Many times we have called a Banks parent to see which of us is right (it's usually me). Once we called Lisa because Sam wouldn't believe that Kenny Loggins had written the "Even Though We Ain't Got Money" song. I swore that he did, and Sam made so much fun of me! He was like "Kenny Loggins wrote Danger Zone! He wouldn't have done a folk song like that." I tried to tell him that yes, Kenny Loggins did do "Danger Zone", but before the 80's he did a number of folk songs. Well, obviously I was right (much to Sam's dismay), and I'm sure Lisa was confused as to why we called to ask her such a stupid question. I mean, we called and sang the song to her and asked her who sang it. When she said Kenny Loggins, there was a loud squeal and "smack talk" on my part, and a lot of groans and shouts of disbelief from Sam. I'm sure she thought we'd lost it! Anyway, that's the type of thing we do on road trips (and not on road trips).




Folk singer Kenny Loggins...



"Danger Zone" Kenny Loggins!


So, on our way up to Utah this time, we had a random conversation about novelty candies and candy that was a big hit when we were in _______ grade. It's really fun to have conversations like these because there's a bit of a generational gap with Sam and me, so we really learn a lot about one another's childhood. Anyway, I mentioned that when I was in middle school we were really into those giant baseball sized jawbreakers and rock candy. He thought rock candy was a weird one, and after much discussion, we realized that we were talking about 2 completely different candies. He explained his version of rock candy to me, and I told him it was stupid. I told him my version of rock candy and he told me it was southern. We called his dad who sided with Sam on what rock candy actually is. I am not satisfied! I think his family's just crazy. He'd never even heard of my version of rock candy!!
So... I am asking each of you - what do you think rock candy is? I have to see if Sam's just dumb, or if I'm just southern. And no, we're not talking about pop rocks. We are talking about a candy that's really called rock candy. Put your best description in the comment box, and we'll see who was actually right!!!! I KNOW it will be me!

9 comments:

Nicole said...

Hmmm... rock candy... the thing that comes to mind is those jelly bean type candies that look exactly like little rocks.

jax from the harmon squad said...

Sorry, you don't know me- I'm Shelley's friend, but to me, rock candy is sugar crystals on a stick (or string). You make a liquid mixture (sorry, I don't have the recipe) and then hang a stick ir string so it's just barely touching the liquid, and then the crystals grow up the stick and when it's done voila! rock candy. And you can get them in different flavors- root beer is my favorite.

Anonymous said...

I'm with Sam on this one. I don't even have to hear his description to know what he's talking about. That's the real rock candy.

shelley said...

Jackie put it best. It looks like crystals on a stick. But Jackie also grew up in the South. Maybe rock candy is a Southern thing, like Moon Pies. Mmmmm, Moon Pies. My favorite rock candy flavor was white (I know that's a color, not a flavor, but I can't remember what flavor the white one was... help me out, Shannon). I think you can still get rock candy at Cracker Barrel. You'll have to go check it out.

jax from the harmon squad said...

I can assure you, it's not a southern thing- maybe and old-fashioned thing, but i've found it out west before, just at old-timey places. Plus, where I grew up doesn't count as the south anymore- the yankees have invaded.

Anonymous said...

Sam's right.

Shannon said...

Anonymous, are you Sam? No cheating now! :) And Shelley, the white flavor is "natural" - basically it is not flavored. It's just the natural sugar water flavor, untainted by artificial crap. It's a very good flavor. There are some interesting comments on here. That's all I will say so as not to sway anyone toward any one answer. But it's all very interesting....

Anonymous said...

I think you've all been smoking rock candy!!! And Ben, no fair siding without knowing what you're agreeing with__you boys just stick together!!! This is probably terrible (and hopefully NOT what Sam was thinking), but before I read the comments I thought of a mottled gray candy that resembled a rock (hmmm__maybe I've been smokin'). However , since reading the comments, if that ever did exist I think it was actually gum and the crystal stuff is rock candy?:{? I'm so confused, maybe rock candy is a regional thing. Hurry up and tell us what each of you thought it was.

Anonymous said...

When in doubt, just go to Wikipedia. It's where I learn everything I need to know.

Their entry:

Rock candy (also called rock sugar) is a type of confectionery composed of relatively large sugar crystals. Homemade rock candy is commonly formed by allowing a supersaturated solution of sugar and water to crystallize onto a string or some other surface suitable for crystal nucleation. Heating the water before adding the sugar allows more sugar to dissolve and thus produces larger crystals. Crystals form after several days. Food coloring is often added to the mixture to produce colored candy.

I ate some of this stuff as a kid. It's basically just eating sugar on a stick. I remember more than one stomachache after eating that stuff. I am with Jackie and Shelley on this.