Sweet As Fudge Candy Shoppe

Ah. Sugar.

$4.99/lb for the self-serve, and varying prices for other types. There was Turkish delight, fried egg gummies, peach Sour Patch candy (that I was extremely tempted to buy), and shelves of liquorice (ew...).

I was determined to try new candy, so I ended up putting a few novel pieces into paper bag from the self-serve place. I know that everything in the self-serve place can be bought from literally any grocery store/gas station, but I like this because I can buy one piece of candy instead of a pack of candy, which is great for sampling and blogging.

The Squirrel Nut Zipper has the most interesting name ever! It also tastes very interesting: burnt, barbecued, peanutty, and not too caramelly. It's very dense and chewy. There's PHO in it though, so I don't think I'm trying it again.

I also bought jelly mints and "cigarette" candy.

Okay, let me explain. I have one really strong memory about cigarette candy, which I will from now on refer to as "candy sticks". I was 5 or 6, in Australia, and my dad was driving our family to the Plaza, I think. Sitting in the backseats of the car, my brother and I were both sucking on these really chalky, not-super-great tasting candy sticks. We ate them slowly, pretending to smoke, holding them delicately in our hands.

That's my only vivid memory of them; I'm sure my parents probably bought them for us a few times (another childhood candy memory of mine is my brother and I eating a large pack - yes, a whole pack - of wine gums in one afternoon).

Evidently, the marketing of candy sticks in a box to resemble cigarettes didn't influence me or my brother to smoke. We despise it when people smoke, and cigarettes just rile us (I could go on...)

Anyway, I had to buy these Stallion ones (65c) because I feel really nostalgic about them, and I want to share that nostalgia with my brother (when I get home in - wow - 5.5 weeks!).

Unfortunately, they taste NOTHING like the candy sticks I had as a kid; those were pretty much icing sugar on a stick with some sort of solidifier. These taste like exceedingly bland and dry toothpaste. I am not kidding.

I bought the smallest packet of Jelly Mints, because I really wasn't sure whether I'd like them or not. It's very nice that they package the candy by weight.

I am extremely glad I bought the smallest pack! What I imagined was some kind of hard mint coating, with a gummy/jelly center (the consistency of gummy bears). I was so wrong! The coating is chalky, powdery, and not really minty. The inside "jelly" is hard and the consistency of candied fruit. The lemon and orange flavours are very pronounced, which is pretty nice. All is well, or so it seems.

There are two downsides to this packet of candy, and I can't figure out which is worse.

1. >60% of the bag is filled with LIQUORICE-flavoured jelly. I. Despise. Liquorice.

2. There were 5 green mints in total. Green was peppermint flavoured. The best one! Only five! In the whole bag! In all 0.6 lbs!

So, I'm never getting these again.

In all, Sweet As Fudge Candy Shoppe has pretty great pricing, especially if you're buying the bulk prepackaged stuff (not the self-serve stuff).

Epic Run Times

Run around town...Actually, once I got to 9th St., I started walking, and I walked four a few hours. Hehe. At least four hours.

I saw a bunch of giant cakes in a storefront, but the store looked like it was closed and there wasn't a door or anything. The cake looks pretty sumptuous.

I went to The Space Corner again and got dried roses (to make rose tea, rose water, and Turkish delight later when I get home) for $1, mango black tea ($1) and cream of tartar.

Then I walked around the "Little Italy" area of Philadelphia and checked out the market on the pavement...and I noted that Italians aren't the ones who sell the vegetables, which is kind of ironic I guess. I bought some red peppers and walked over to a candy store, Sweet Tooth, on the corner of South and 4th. I'll update about that later.

Then, I went to Reading Terminal Market and saw this at one of the chocolate stores...which I like. Haha. Screw the diet.

At Reading Terminal Market, I dropped by the Sweet as Fudge Candy Shoppe to buy some pretty delicious morsels of sugar. That'll be another blog post.

After getting to Chinatown, I walked past a dingy little store with a zillion boxes in the store front. Then, I realised that it was a fortune cookie factory, which is pretty amusing in my opinion.

I dropped by the Mayflower bakery to get some bubble tea.

I was shocked. They had kiwi bubble tea. They had avocado bubble tea. I couldn't believe it; AVOCADO BUBBLE TEA! This is when I'm glad I'm bilingual; I asked if they used real avocado, and the lady picked up an actual avocado and said, yes, we use real avocado. It's kind of funny because on the shelf above the sinks, there were tons of boxes of powder, labelled "taro" or "coconut" or whatever.

She cut up half an avocado, used half-and-half milk, (and sugar?) and added crushed ice at some point. In all honesty, it was more of a smoothie than a "tea" or drink.

The smoothie was very thick, and tasted mildly of fresh avocado. I was surprised that avocado tastes good when it's sweet, although I prefer it in avocado sushi with soy sauce. I suppose avocado's sort of like peanut butter; both incorporated in sweet and savoury dishes.

I was really thirsty, so I ended up drinking all the slushie (oh so thick and my favourite colour and nicely textured!), and there were lots of bubbles left. The bubbles were really chewy, and not overcooked. I would really recommend Mayflower Bakery. 1008 Race St.

After a bit, I went to KC's Pastries and got a sweet yam tart, which I've never had before. Egg tart, sure, and coconut tart, but not a sweet yam tart!

Unlike other bakeries, KC's Pastries doesn't have seating, so I went to eat at Reading Terminal Market.

The yam tart was surprisingly gelatinous. It was like a super-thick pudding.

The pastry was just normal and bland.

I dropped by some grocery stores to get some vegetables and Chinese snacks.

Then I went to Cube Cafe, intending to get some eggettes ($1.95), but I was so thirsty as opposed to hungry. I contemplated bringing some eggettes home. Instead, after chatting to the shopkeepers (who were very helpful with explaining dishes and drinks), I got the Icy Poppy Drink.

I've been abstaining from soda for the past half-a-decade (I think?), partly because of the high-fructose corn syrup thing, and partly because I've just been indifferent to it (e.g. the way I'm indifferent to baklava). This drink is basically some sort of clear soda with mango bubbles.

Now, the bubbles are the strange exotic things. Once popped, the bubbles reveal a thick mango goo. I'm not sure what the covering of the goo is; it seems to be some cellulose fibre. It's an interesting concept, but I don't think that I'm going to get it again. It's an ephemeral toy.

On the way back, I got samples of hummus and chips. "Why are you guys giving out free hummus?"

"Oh, it's cuz a lot of us still don't know what hummus is, so we're giving it out to people"

Cool.

I also saw Wizard Con, like Comic Con, but I didn't get in because I needed tickets.

At Rittenhouse, I got a free can of coffee.

Nice day for food.

Sweet Tooth, 630 S 4th St.

Sweet As Fudge Candy Shoppe, 12th and Arch St.

Mayflower Bakery, 1008 Race St.

KC's Pastries, 109 N 10th St.

Cube Cafe, 145 N 11th St.