the times, they are a-changin'

Caught sight of the first signs that Fall is indeed around the corner; went into my local Walgreens and saw Halloween candy on display. Now I know a few of you are lamenting: "Wow. Already? Way too early." My youngest son said as much to me over the weekend: "Can't they at least wait til October?" Sure, I understand. Football just arrived, you might say. Some of you might even be complaining that you still wish to hold on to Summer and eek out its last gasp. Back to School is still kind of in session, some of you contend.


Me? Well, you have known me way too long to know that the kid inside me is doing jumping jacks. It was rather inappropriate for me to actually do them in the store, dontcha know. I've never been a huge fan of summer, as far as seasons go, and a long hot summer makes me itch for the cool weather, crisp fallen leaves and the cool husky evenings of fall and everything else that goes with it. And after the summer I've had, I think a little sign that it's almost here, is just what the Doctor ordered. I know you aren't ready, but the kid in me is ready.


So you know what to expect this holiday season here at the Shelf- more candy reviews, fun products, Halloween OTR, classic Halloween films and cartoons. I believe whole-heartedly that we should make Halloween fun and kid friendly again. I know full well the history behind the holiday, but I also know the harvest traditional fun that our early agricultural national culture seemlessly blended with the old world beliefs. Adults have taken over and practically ruined it for kids, not to mention a more dangerous world out there making it even less kid-friendly. So we aim to have some fun, remind you of your Halloween kid-dom and share the fun with all of you. Sure, we'll wait a little while to get going- I mean who wants the overkill. Just consider this "Coming Attractions." We return you now to you regularly scheduled other boring daily stuff.



There are three things I have learned never to discuss with people: religion, politics and the Great Pumpkin.

classic candy review: jolly rancher creepy pops

The Shelf HQ is moving this week, and while we are otherwise engaged, here is the first in a series of reposts of some classic Halloween candy reviews from the past to keep our Shelf Halloween Madness 2009 going strong. Gotta say, I still like these Jolly Rancher Creepy Pops.
Enjoy!:

I am a Jolly Rancher fan from way back, but suckers aren't always my favorite. So there needs to be a little extra jazz, if you will, to make them something I wouldn't pass over in the Halloween Candy Bowl. I saw some Lifesaver Halloween Suckers- and even though the packaging was Halloweeny in nature, that was about it. Then I saw the Jolly Ranchers. They went the extra mile- packaging, theming, flavors and shapes. Now this is something I can proudly hand out to the little ghosts and goblins in the neighborhood. I've got a reputation to maintain, you know.


Eerie Apple, Ghastly Grape, Wacky Watermelon, and Spooky Blue Raspberry. Four flavors, four shapes. Great stuff. Are they really...creepy? Well, not in the scary way, but it the cartoony way. A lot of Halloween Candy these days just goes too much in the gross factor or too much in the other direction- plain jane, just in smaller packaging. Creativity is appreciated. Sure, these are just Jolly Rancher suckers, but there is no mistaking what Holiday these are for.


If you see these in a Christmas stocking, you know that Santa is just recycling candy. And that ain't cool. So what do have here?
Shapes: Grinning Ghost, Vampire, Jack O'Latern and Skull
Flavors: Eerie Apple, Ghastly Grape, Wacky Watermelon and Spooky Blue Raspberry.
The flavors are great; just good old Jolly Rancher goodness. Once I got past a little weirdness of putting a pumpkin in my mouth and tasting watermelon, everything else is just fine. All of the suckers are individually wrapped, as you would expect, and so there isn't any reason why you shouldn't proudly dump these in the old candy bowl and hand them out to your own neighborhood beasties. And sneak a few for yourself, of course. Thumbs up and kudos to Jolly Rancher for some fun creepy treats.

Stay tuned for more of 2009 Halloween Madness at the Shelf!

Double double, toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble. Eye of needle, tongue of shoe, hand of clock that points at two... This is the real thing you know, right out of Shakespeare.

reindeer food?

I know our recent behavior probably made you doubt us. Heck, I almost doubted for a moment there. Just for a moment, though. Then I realized, "Hey, this is Uncle J.C. and Wolfy I'm talking about here. They always come through for Christmas." So ladies and gents, as promised, the Shelf brings you the much ballyhooed 'Christmas Candy Review'. The only problem is that there is no candy involved. That's right. No candy. This time we attack the ever important topic of cookies.

This year has been a downer for Christmas candy. The industry seems to have been in decline where imagination and innovation is concerned. That really gets me. When I was growing up, I could look forward to holiday candy because it was something you just didn't get year round. There was always a repackaged form of the popular candy bars, but they were merely trifles. There seemed to always be an abundance of new and fun candies out every year touching the imaginations and taste buds of all the kids in the country. For some reason, the candy industry like all others in this country forgot who made them who they are: the consumer. Their focus seems to be only on lowering overhead. That's why, at the Shelf, we are excited to bring you something new for the holidays.

The product in question is 'Reindeer Food'. This would be the point where I tell you all who makes the product ,but I couldn't find a manufacturer's name anywhere on it. Despite this oddity, the product offers a little bit of imagination to the Christmas spirit this year. As I've already mentioned, this is not candy. It's actually gingerbread flavored cookies in the shape of kibble packaged in a small plastic bowl reminiscent of 'Fido's'. I'm not a great fan of gingerbread so I fell back on my trusty side-kick and food tester, Wolf Jr.

He was awfully excited to get into the product and seemed quite entertained by the idea of reindeer food served up in a miniature dog bowl. When it came time to taste, he was somewhat reluctant as he felt the cookies were pretty convincing as kibble. After some comforting words and a promise of a rainbow candy cane (I keep some handy for just such an occasion) Jr. dug in. The first description to come from his mouth was "Hard". The crunching told me that and a touch test shows that these aren't very chewy cookies. The next descriptor was a little more positive: "Good." A few of these and a candy cane later Little Wolfie was set.

I found 'Reindeer Food' in my local chain pharmacy for $1.50. Not a bad price to pay for a novelty like this. I'm always willing to pay a little extra for creativity anyway. If you have stockings to fill for Jr.'s and Jr.-ettes this year, the Shelf recommends 'Reindeer Food'. If not for the taste, then for the creation of memories they may write about on a blog when they are forcing unknown candies on their own children. Be on the lookout for the next candy review: 'Peppermint Peeps'. And remember, if your Christmas spirit is waning then throw on a good holiday movie and feed it Christmas candy.

Please feel free to comment if the need strikes you.




What a Christmas! Ho, ho, what a Christmas!

bride of halloween candy review

IT'S BACK!
That's right, it's the return of the Halloween Candy review. Last year we had a lot of fun with this feature and we found a lot of neat stuff. Did we exhaust all of what's out there? No way! There's always something. So much so, that I'm kicking off the 2007 edition of Halloween Madness at the Shelf a little early! So what did we find? It may not be new to you, but it's the first time I've found them:

Jolly Rancher Creepy Pops!

I am a Jolly Rancher fan from way back, but suckers aren't always my favorite. So there needs to be a little extra jazz, if you will, to make them something I wouldn't pass over in the Halloween Candy Bowl. I saw some Lifesaver Halloween Suckers- and even though the packaging was Halloweeny in nature, that was about it. Then I saw the Jolly Ranchers. They went the extra mile- packaging, theming, flavors and shapes. Now this is something I can proudly hand out to the little ghosts and goblins in the neighborhood. I've got a reputation to maintain, you know.


Eerie Apple, Ghastly Grape, Wacky Watermelon, and Spooky Blue Raspberry. Four flavors, four shapes. Great stuff. Are they really...creepy? Well, not in the scary way, but it the cartoony way. A lot of Halloween Candy these days just goes too much in the gross factor or too much in the other direction- plain jane, just in smaller packaging. Creativity is appreciated. Sure, these are just Jolly Rancher suckers, but there is no mistaking what Holiday these are for.


If you see these in a Christmas stocking, you know that Santa is just recycling candy. And that ain't cool. So what do have here?
Shapes: Grinning Ghost, Vampire, Jack O'Latern and Skull
Flavors: Eerie Apple, Ghastly Grape, Wacky Watermelon and Spooky Blue Raspberry.
The flavors are great; just good old Jolly Rancher goodness. Once I got past a little weirdness of putting a pumpkin in my mouth and tasting watermelon, everything else is just fine. All of the suckers are individually wrapped, as you would expect, and so there isn't any reason why you shouldn't proudly dump these in the old candy bowl and hand them out to your own neighborhood beasties. And sneak a few for yourself, of course. Thumbs up and kudos to Jolly Rancher for some fun creepy treats.

This is only the beginning, folks. Stay tuned for more of 2007 Halloween Madness at the Shelf!

What's that? The candy was just a little taste and you need more to start that Halloween feeling? Well, you ask and we answer! How about a particularly tense episode of the OTR radio show Suspense starring Cary Grant? It's called On a Country Road! Just click the link and then click the download button to enjoy. Just don't listen in the dark.

Double double, toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble. Eye of needle, tongue of shoe, hand of clock that points at two... This is the real thing you know, right out of Shakespeare.