Now you know--Candy Corn Facts

My friend Roz loves food history and today she sent this from howstuffworks:

Candy corn has been around for more than a century. George Renninger of the Wunderlee Candy Company invented it in the 1880s. It was originally very popular among farmers and its look was revolutionary for the candy industry. The Goelitz Candy Company started making candy corn in 1900 and still makes it today, although the name has changed to the Jelly Belly Candy Company.

Although the recipe for candy corn hasn't changed much since the late 1800s, the way it's made has changed quite a bit. In the early days, workers mixed the main ingredients -- sugar, water and corn syrup -- in large kettles. Then they added fondant (a sweet, creamy icing made from sugar, corn syrup and water) and marshmallow for smoothness. Finally, they poured the entire mixture by hand into molds, one color at a time. Because the work was so tedious, candy corn was only available from March to November.

Today, machines do most of the work. Manufacturers use the "corn starch molding process" to create the signature design. A machine fills a tray of little kernel-shaped holes with cornstarch, which holds the candy corn in shape. Each hole fills partway with sweet white syrup colored with artificial food coloring. Next comes the orange syrup, and finally, the yellow syrup. Then the mold cools and the mixture sits for about 24 hours until it hardens. A machine empties the trays, and the kernels fall into chutes. Any excess cornstarch shakes loose in a big sifter. Then the candy corn gets a glaze to make it shine, and workers package it for shipment to stores.

For more information, go here to howstuffworks.

Halloween Silliness

I was researching cheap Halloween costumes for this year's NoHo Noir Halloween story (Volume II begins next week) and ran across this collection of ideas from CBS/Los Angeles blogger Suzanne Marques.  Ranging from the clever (Royal Couple) to the questionable (Amy Winehouse), they have a distinctly LA bent.

I also found this website where you can order all kinds of Halloween props to complete your decorating schemes.  My neighborhood looks like the Halloween blimp exploded overheard and rained down tacky decor. It's fun but frightening in a way that has nothing to do with ghouls and ghosts.

All the stores are full of big bags of Halloween candy.  It's a minefield. I'd get some but it would only mean I was getting it for myself. In the six years we've lived in this apartment building, we've never had a single trick or treater.  I miss trick or treaters.  My all-time favorite was a little kid who came dressed as Ozzy with his mom dressed as Sharon.

I am so never going to do this but just in case you want to make your own candy corn, Elizabeth LaBau (about.com's Candy editor) has a recipe here.