Candy Corn

I've been a little behind on my blogs lately, so I'm using the short break in work this week to catch up. However, 15 minutes in the Geography study lounge has yielded no ideas and my unconscious consumption of an entire bag of candy corn. So, in the spirit of Halloween, I thought I'd share a few wikipedia facts about food consumption on Halloween.

Trick or treating was not a popular activity in the United States until the 1930s, when children began the tradition as we see it today- dressing up in costumes and going door to door asking for candy. The tradition vaguely resembles the medieval tradition of peasants going door to door on Hallow's Eve asking for food in exchange for prayers to souls passing from this world to the next. The tradition has been modified since then and combined with the tradition of dressing up on Hallow's Eve to scare away dangerous spirits. Though the practice is not so common today, the tradition of saying "trick or treat," stems from the days when failure to deliver a treat would really incite some kind of trick.

Candy corn, the processed-food wonder of Halloween, also has a surprisingly old history. It was first introduced by the Wunderlee candy company in the 1880s, when it was made by hand. Workers combined sugar, corn syrup, and water to create a slurry, and thickened the concoction by adding fondant and marshmallows for textures. The pasty substance was then molded into corn-kernel shapes and dipped three times to ensure the classic color. While machines have been invented to carry out these processes now, the process is essentially the same.

So, enjoy the week of tricks and treats, and I'll do my best to save some candy corn for the rest of the world.