"national candy day" news and stories

Happy National Candy Day!

Pillowy, chewy, hard or gooey -- candy spans the rainbow in terms of colors and textures, as the term broadly Includes any sweet confection with a sugar base. The first candy known to man was direct-from-the-hive honey, but the treat has come a long way since its ancient beginnings. When sugar was first manufactured during the middle ages, it was a pricy luxury reserved for the wealthy, but as the production increased and prices dropped, it became a regular commodity by the seventeenth century, a time when hard candies boomed-and they have proven to be barely the tip of the iceberg. If you've ever taken a stroll down your grocery store's candy aisle, Willy Wonka's confections don't hold a candle to the crazy ones available these days.

And as the listed of marketed candies continue to increase, their secrets are coming out of the bag, too: It's possible to make most varieties in your very own kitchen, thanks to Anita Chu's Field Guide to Candy: How to Identify and Make Virtually Every Candy Imaginable. You can thank us or curse us in the comments!

Become a member of the Slashfood Flickr pool to get a shot at having your photos featured on the site.

In the month that houses the nation's premier evening of gluttony -- the average American consumes some 4,500 calories every Thanksgiving Day, not to mention seemingly endless leftovers -- it's no wonder November is a dreaded month for dieters nationwide. But despite its most famous celebration, the month also ironically serves as the healthy host to National Pepper Month, Vegan Month, National Pomegranate Month, and National Peanut Butter Lover's Month.

Excuses for culinary celebrations range from tame (National Sunday Day, Nov. 11), to obvious (National Turkey Day -- you guessed it, Thanksgiving Day), to practical (National Leftovers Day follows Turkey Day), to downright bizarre (Cook Something Bold and Pungent Day, Nov. 9). So get cooking -- if only for the holidays that you can stomach.

Notable national food holidays for the month of November, after the jump...

Of course, a lot of people would argue that National Candy Day was actually a few days ago, on Halloween. But today is the official day.

Let me throw open the comments section and ask the question: what is your favorite candy? If you had only one candy that you could eat for the rest of your life, what would it be? This is ridiculously hard for me, but I guess if pressed I'd have to say Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (or peanut butter cups in general).

(And if you're looking to buy candy online, check out Hometown Favorites and Sweet Nostalgia.)