Nose for News by Sarah Stultz

 

I have always liked the candies most others hate.

You know what I’m talking about: candy corn in the fall, conversation hearts at Valentine’s Day and Peeps at Easter.

Every time one of these holidays comes around, I see several posts on social media of people who wish these candies could be banished forever. But no matter how much people complain about them, someone must be buying them if they’re still producing them year after year.

Let’s be honest, I like almost anything sugary, and I’ve had many of these candies since childhood.

The conversation hearts I liked were always made by Necco, a company I associate with my grandmother, who used to buy us packs of Necco wafers. In my opinion, Necco wafers were never as good as the conversation hearts, but I could eat conversation hearts all night if someone let me.

I was devastated to hear that Necco closed its factory in 2018 after more than 150 years. Believe it or not, there is a difference in how the other brands of conversation hearts taste.

I came across some conversation hearts made by Brach’s when out getting Valentine’s treats for my son to take to school last week. While I do admit they were pretty similar, I got rid of a good portion of them because I got a package that had a lot of white ones in there — the white ones were always my least favorite.

On Monday, my dad emailed me a news article about Peeps because he knows I have always loved them, and it turns out Kellogg’s has made a new Peeps marshmallow-flavored cereal.

Looking at the details of what this cereal entails, it sounds somewhat similar to Lucky Charms with cereal crisps and marshmallows. I think I can pass on that one, surprisingly.

After my sugar slip last week with the Valentine’s hearts, I’ve been back on the straight and narrow now for a few days.

Here’s to hoping I can stay on track so I can get a little momentum under my belt for when Easter rolls around. In the meantime, I’ll have to avoid the candy aisles. As soon as Valentine’s Day passed, the stores swapped out that remaining candy for the Easter candy. Thus, the Peeps have already made their debut.

 

Our new weekly columnist

As many of you may have seen on Thursday, we ran columns of the three people picked as finalists for the weekly column opening on Thursdays in the spot that used to be filled with writer Julie Seedorf. I have only received a few comments back from readers so far, and I’d like to receive some additional feedback before we select who will fill that spot on a weekly basis.

Please email me your thoughts at sarah.stultz@albertleatribune.com or call me at 379-3433.

Sarah Stultz is the managing editor of the Tribune. Her column appears every Tuesday.