We need a new "Candy" Holiday

[Ranger_Jeff]

Ice cream or sherbet sounds appropriate to me for a summer holiday. Maybe with a some artistic use of food dyes, they could come up with a blueberry, lemon, and strawberry flavoured combo of blue, white, and red coloured sherbet? Sort of like neopolitan ice cream?

[Ranger_Jeff]

@guestchaz

StarvingButStrong, my name is Guestchaz and I approve of and support your mission.

Might I suggest “Mint Julep” day, in keeping with the alcohol-centric traditions of a US summer with a nice drink served along with a variety of mint flavored candies for children and adult alike to enjoy? (the candy for kids and adults both to enjoy, not the drink–reprobates!;))
MMM yeah, I can see it in my minds eye now. Sometime in the early part of August. Kids all running around screaming, laughing, having a good time chasing each other around the yard. Dad, or whoever, at the helm of the BBQ grill (or barbeque pit depending on location and local culture) There will be piñata’s, lemon bars, chocolate chip ice cream, someone will have brought their old hand crank ice cream maker and a mix of younger kids and tweens and some of the teens, will be taking turns cranking it for homemade ice cream (lots of different flavored toppings and syrups on hand). Uncle Frank (the widower) will be out by the back fence smoking cigarettes and prepping the bonfire for later that night after the sun goes down. Cousin Billy (he’s the one that hasn’t been quite the same after going to Iraq) is out with Frank helping with the fire preparations. He never really liked Frank, but Frank was in Vietnam so they have a connection now, that nobody else in the family shares. Flighty Aunt Jenny(Billy’s mom) brought her Rhubarb and Strawberry pie that no one really likes because she doesn’t like rhubarb and the pie is a joke, but its all she can really cook (it was her Granma’s recipe and came all the way from Wisconsin on the overland trail dontcha know). Uncle Bob, Jenny’s husband couldn’t make it this year. He’s a truck driver and this year had a load that took him to Florida where the truck then broke down. Gramma and Grampa have the motorhome parked out front (they travel around the country a lot visiting all the far flung family, even went to Germany once, to meet some of the more distant relations in the old country) Grampa is taking a nap (Gramma says he’s doing that more and more these days and is worried) while Gramma sits in the shade on the back patio getting cheerfully hammered on Mint Juleps with the Mrs. (who is drinking with a great deal more restraint than Gramma) while feeding the kids as much mint flavored candy as she can force into their mouths without violating the Geneva Convention.

You left out the tentative flirtations between the cousins and surreptitious peeks down the tops of the bathing suits of 8th -12th grade females by 6th grade to college senior males. And the underage older teens trying to snag some mint juleps of their own.

[GreenElf]

I was going to suggest a St. Colgate’s Day, the patron saint of dentists, but William Colgate was born on January 25th and died on March 25th.

[Spiderman]

@Finagle

Chocolate just melts in the summer. That’s why all the upcoming holidays you listed are beer centric holidays.

Though is usually more of a winter brew, we could combine the two with a good chocolate porter.

For all those suggesting ice cream, howsabout a chocolate porter [del]root[/del] beer float.

Yeah, I know I’m a supergenius, combining all of those things into one yummylicious drink; though, unlike that other famous supergenious, I could catch a Road Runner if I tried to.

[jtur88]

The opposite. I think we need a Semi-Sweet holiday, in which sweet foods are toned down a bit. I was recently offered a macaroon cookie. It was so sweet, it was more like candy, even though it was in a bakery box. We could do with ice cream, sodas, cakes, all sorts of nice flavored things in thich the basic flavor is not bashed over the head with sugar. My sweet snack is a bag of bitter-sweet chocolate chips, with half the sugar of a normal baking chocolate ship.

During the holidays, I bought whole cranberries, and cooked them, using less than half the sugar called for on the package. They were wonderful and refreshing.

[ekedolphin]

Can I just say this is a great username/post combo?

[An_Gadai]

Nobody’s mentioned Sweetest Day yet? Cleveland Dopers, you’re letting the side down. Although it is pretty much too close to Hallowe’en for the purposes of this thread.

[Whiskey_Dickens]

@WotNot

Hell, why not take over the whole of August? You can have a Month of Sundaes.

Bahaha, I see what you did there.

[ftg]

The best least known Summer holiday is St. Swithun’s Day: July 15th. It’s the Groundhog Day of Summer. If it rains on that date, then it’s 40 more days of rain. Better keep your candy dry.

[bibliophage]

This year, exactly halfway between Easter and Halloween is July 14. I propose we call it Pastille Day and celebrate by storming the candy shops and liberating the confections.

[Merneith]

@bibliophage

This year, exactly halfway between Easter and Halloween is July 14. I propose we call it Pastille Day and celebrate by storming the candy shops and liberating the confections.

Niiiiiiiiice.
Additionally, the OP has overlooked May 5, Dia de Muertos, which is traditionally celebrated with Sugar Skulls and is also an excellent occasion to remind people that Chocolate is an Aztec invention.

[StarvingButStrong]

@bibliophage

This year, exactly halfway between Easter and Halloween is July 14. I propose we call it Pastille Day and celebrate by storming the candy shops and liberating the confections.

Oooh! I love it!

[Nava]

@Finagle

Chocolate just melts in the summer. That’s why all the upcoming holidays you listed are beer centric holidays.

The solution is actually in Dewey’s own post. Underline mine:

@Dewey_Finn

You know, some of us don’t need the excuse of a holiday to buy and consume candy. But if you want one, here’s part of the Wikipedia article on chocolate, “Until the 16th century, no European had ever heard of the popular drink from the Central and South American peoples. Christopher Columbus and his son Ferdinand encountered the cacao bean on Columbus’s fourth mission to the Americas on 15 August 1502, when he and his crew seized a large native canoe that proved to contain cacao beans among other goods for trade.”

So August 15 might make an appropriate new holiday.

Ending a night of partying with a breakfast of chocolate con churros is pretty traditional in many Spanish locations. If in a beach location, said chocolate will ideally be consumed at the beach.

@Merneith

Niiiiiiiiice.
Additionally, the OP has overlooked May 5, Dia de Muertos, which is traditionally celebrated with Sugar Skulls and is also an excellent occasion to remind people that Chocolate is an Aztec invention.

Those two holidays are at almost opposite ends of the calendar and of the celebratory spectrum. Cinco de Mayo celebrates a victory of Mexican troops over the French in the Napoleonic Wars and takes place indeed on May 5th; el Día de los Muertos is a traditional holiday which has become commingled with the Christian celebrations around November 1st (All Saints’ Day) and 2nd (Feast of All Deceased Faithful or of All Souls).

Commingling both is similar to saying that July 4th is Halloween…

[WildBlueYonder]

@panache45

For those of us who are diabetic, we’ve now entered into the fewer-temptations half of the year.

there ya go!

I discovered or realized that years ago there were no more candy holidays from Easter to Halloween

Its almost a definite relief not to see all the specialized candy in every main aisle of the store.

I do have my holiday favorites that I cant have the rest of the year, coconut nests by Russell Stover are at the top of my list. I can rarely find them anymore but when I do…oh Heaven has arrived.

Yeah I have diabetes so by Easter it is a relief but that massive candy aisle is still there and I try desperately to avoid!

The devil provided that aisle and also those bad bad cookie/candy recipe books! :smack:

[DorkVader]

@Ranger_Jeff

You left out the tentative flirtations between the cousins and surreptitious peeks down the tops of the bathing suits of 8th -12th grade females by 6th grade to college senior males. And the underage older teens trying to snag some mint juleps of their own.

I wanted to leave the options open for “individual” family customising:D

[Merneith]

@Nava

Those two holidays are at almost opposite ends of the calendar and of the celebratory spectrum. Cinco de Mayo celebrates a victory of Mexican troops over the French in the Napoleonic Wars and takes place indeed on May 5th; el Día de los Muertos is a traditional holiday which has become commingled with the Christian celebrations around November 1st (All Saints’ Day) and 2nd (Feast of All Deceased Faithful or of All Souls).

Commingling both is similar to saying that July 4th is Halloween…

Fuck me. You’re right. What the hell was I thinking? I must have blinded by my love of Mexican chocolate.

[Ethilrist]

Everybody have some Macadamia Nut Chocolate Clusters on August 19th, Statehood Day in Hawaii.

@panache45

For those of us who are diabetic, we’ve now entered into the fewer-temptations half of the year.

Gilroy Garlic Festival, July 19th-20th! Yay!