"hard" news and stories

Now and Later the hard taffy candy has two new flavors, Mango and Strawberry / Banana Split to their line-up of around 20 flavors. They are called Now and Later, as their slogan says, because they are "Hard 'N Fruity Now and Soft 'N Chewy Later." They are tough to chew at first, but then after a lot of work they eventually soften up a bit like a hard taffy.

I remember Now and Later fondly from when I was a kid. My favorites were banana and pineapple, and always wished they made hot cinnamon flavor. I never actually needed to buy any of them. My experience was that adults who had never tried the candy themselves gave them to kids for Halloween. I assume they never tried them, because they are probably the dentists best friend. They were guaranteed to pull out all the fillings in my teeth and send me immediately to the torturer, uh, dentist... for a nice relaxing visit. My first dentist, in Park Slope, Brooklyn, didn't believe in Novocaine. I think he felt that pain helped build character. Maybe that's why I am such a character today? So now you know who to blame. Oh, and don't you go blaming me if you try the new flavors and end up visiting your dentist for a nice friendly visit or three.

Walk into the cheese section of any market, especially at an upscale gourmet-type store, and you are going to see a tremendous variety of cheeses available. And that selection doesn't even come close to scratching the surface of the number of cheeses that are out there. It can be difficult to figure out the differences between each product until you've tried all of them, but here is a quick guide to cheese terminology that might help you sort through the basic types of cheese.

Fresh - High moisture cheeses that have not been aged, like cottage cheese, cream cheese, feta, mascarpone and ricotta.

Soft-Ripened - These have hard rinds and soft interiors, like brie and camembert. They often have edible rinds made by "spraying the cheese with Penicillium candidum mold before a brief aging period."

Semi-Soft - Cheeses that are neither hard, nor runny, but that are high in moisture and creamy in texture, like Monterey Jack, fontina or havarti. They are often easy to grate and slice.

Firm/Hard - Less creamy than soft cheeses, but ranging in texture from slightly elastic to brittle. These are also good grating cheeses and tend to melt well. The category includes Asiago, cheddar, Gruyere, Swiss and Parmesan.

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