polka dot suitcase

If you’re from the Northwest, you probably know it as sea foam. From Britain? It’s honeycomb toffee you’re eating. Where I grew up (Buffalo), it’s sponge candy. And you know what I’m going to say next. That’s right. “A candy by any other name would still taste as unbefreakinglievable.”

Hey, you didn’t know I was going to say that? Cool!

So, if you’re any kind of frequent flyer at Polka Dot Suitcase, you probably do suspect what’s coming next. That’s right. Oliver’s Candies. (I know! You’d think I’d get a kickback from all the talk I do about them, but you’d be wrong.) Growing up, we’d make the journey over to Batavia, New York at Easter and (less often) Christmas to walk up those creaky wooden stairs (now gone), push open the door, and inhale the cavity-inducing aroma of sweet, sweet, hand-made candies. We’d wander up and down the rows of chocolates…but the pièce de résistance? Sponge candy. Light, dissolve-in-your-mouth, crunchy candy drenched in a thick layer of dreamy chocolate.

Oh, be still my heart. And salivary glands.

Back at Christmas, an innocent little envelope arrived in the mail. Inside…a gift card. To Oliver’s. I almost ate it on the spot. My in-laws had gifted me the second best thing…ever! (Do I have to spell it out for you? Oh, all right. The first best thing was Big Fish.)

All I had to do was get on the phone, dial up Batavia, and tell the nice lady that I would like a box of sponge candy, please (I sat smelling the receiver for five minutes after our call…I swear I smelled chocolate!). And two days later, on my doorstep…can you hear the angel chorus? I did. I carefully doled out a piece to each of my men, kissed them on their foreheads, and then very gently let them know that if any of them touched my Oliver’s they would lose a limb.

The sad part is knowing when the bag is empty…sniff…that’s the end of my chocolate joy. Fortunately — and there’s always a fortunately at Chez Polka Dot — one of my Facebook pals mentioned that her mom used to make the stuff. And — because there’s always an “and” at Chez Polka Dot — the kids are studying chemistry. You know what that means?

Yup! I’ll let you know how our homemade attempt turns out.