December 19th is National Hard Candy Day; July 18th is National Sour Candy Day. National Candy Day is December 4th.

> See all the candy holidays below.

We’ve all had hard candy of some type: butterscotch, horehound drops, lemon drops, lollipops, mints, root beer barrels, sour balls, and fruit flavors galore.

Hard candy begins by boiling sugar and water, then adding flavors and colors. As the syrup boils, water evaporates, and the sugar concentration increases.

Who invented hard candy?
 
 
HARD CANDY HISTORY

Cavemen ate honey from beehives. Ancient Arabs, Chinese, and Egyptians rolled fruits and nuts in honey. That was it for many centuries.

In the Middle Ages, merchants brought sugar back from the Indian subcontinent, where sugar cane originated. But it was very costly. Whether for tea, baked goods, or confections, sugar was a treat for the wealthy. Honey was the sweetener available to those of lesser means.

By the 17th century, there were many more sugar mills, and sugar became more affordable to the middle class. Confectioners began to express their creativity, resulting in the large selection of hard candy we have today.

With the Industrial Revolution (1750 to 1850), candy-making developed into an industry and hard candies became accessible to everyone. Hard candy on a stick followed: The word “lollipop” (originally spelled lollypop) first appeared in print in 1784.

Here’s more about the manufacture of hard candy. Read it as you enjoy a piece.

Pick up a bag or two at the supermarket, or head to the candy store to customize a nostalgic selection.
 
Find our favorite candies in THE NIBBLE’s Gourmet Candy Section and by pulling down the “Gourmet Food” menu at the right.
 
 
THERE 50 NATIONAL CANDY HOLIDAYS!

January

 
February

 
March

 
April

 
May

 
June

 
July

 
August

 
September

 
October

 
November

 
December

[1] Head to the supermarket or candy store and pick up some hard candies (photo © Q Candy.

[2] Christmas hard candy, an old-fashioned gift available seasonally from Wisconsin Cheeseman.
 
Related Candy Holidays

[3] January 8th is National English Toffee Day (photo © Bakingdom [alas, now closed]).

[4] January 26th us National Peanut Brittle Day (photo © See’s Candies).

[5] February 15th is National I Want Butterscotch Day (photo © Taste Of Home).

[6] July 18th is National Candy Day. Sour balls and other penny candy became popular in the mid-1800s (photo © Boyd’s Retro Candy)[source].

[7] July 20th is National Lollipop Day (photo © Insung Yoon | Unspslash).

Vermont Creamery’s exceptional cultured sea salt butter has a maple accent for the holidays. Photo courtesy Vermont Creamery.

If you can’t find the products, you can make your own.

You can “zing anything” in your water bottle with Aqua Zinger and Citrus Zinger, new concepts that should have great appeal for lovers of flavored water.

The two new water bottles (actually thermos bottles that keep your drink cool as well) make naturally-infused flavored water, full of vitamins and other nutrients plus antioxidants. Commercially flavored waters use extracts.

The double wall stainless steel thermos bottles keep your drink and ingredients insulated. A wide-mouth top allows for the easy addition of ice cubes. As a thermos, the products can be used to carry hot beverages as well.

Both create a convenient new way to enjoy drinking water, adding your favorite flavors to satisfy your palate.

The Aqua Zinger infuses flavor from fresh fruit and/or herbs into your water bottle. Photo courtesy Brookstone.

First, the Aqua Zinger: a water bottle that naturally infuses still or carbonated water with the juice and essence of fresh fruits and herbs: basil, blackberries, citrus, ginger, kiwi, mint, peach, raspberries, strawberries and other favorites.

The fruits and herbs go into the bottom, screw-on base where grinder blades pulverize them and send the essences to infuse into the water. Mix and match and get creative: The flavors and ingredients are limited only by your imagination.

Aqua Zinger Flavored Water Maker is $26.00 to $29.00 in stainless steel with aqua, lime green, hot pink or black accents; at Brookstone stores and Amazon.com.

Citrus Zinger is a combination water bottle and citrus juicer. Photo courtesy Brookstone.

CITRUS ZINGER

When life gives you lemons, add them to the Citrus Zinger. Designed specifically for citrus fruits, Citrus Zinger juices clementines, lemons, limes and other citrus, and infuses the water with the juice. (Most oranges and grapefruits are too wide for the bottle-size juicer.)

It’s the easiest way to extract citrus juice and infuse the flavor directly into your water bottle, enriching your water with vitamin C and flavonoids (citrus antioxidants).

Citrus Zinger is available in aqua, lime green and orange for $20.

MORE TO ZING

The company also makes:

 
Learn more at ZingAnything.com.

We like this charming candy globe from Williams-Sonoma:

The six-inch-diameter, reusable papier-mâché globe is filled with 10.9 ounces of classic holiday favorites: a milk-chocolate Santa, cinnamon gummy Santas, red-and-white peppermint twists and a medley of sweet jelly beans and sour gummy stars.

The treats are beloved by kids and adults alike.

If you want to create your own nostalgic candy gift, look for a papier-mâché box or other reusable packaging and head to the candy store to make your selection.

What are those emotionally stressful situations? The holiday season: shopping, decorating, entertaining, dieting (yeah, sure). It all adds up to seasonal insanity, says the Chocolate Crisis Center.

Their solution: a variety of chocolate candy pills that “will give you the fortitude to survive the season.”

Or the office. Or the kids. Or anything, one chocolate bite at a time.

The Chocolate Crisis Center, which is not a government agency but a Denver-based producer of confections, packages confections in classic pill bottles and First Aid kits: Caramels, truffles, nuts and fruits are enrobed in rich Belgian dark or milk chocolate.

These delicious confections are then topped with cocoas, spices and fruit essences for a wide range of delectable taste surprises—all with a humorous “First Aid” twist.

Everything we tried was delicious. Individual bottles, called Daily Doses, are delightful stocking stuffers or party favors.

Various kits are larger gifts. There are Calamity Kits, Major Crisis Kits, a Minor Crisis Kit and a Shock Treatment Kit, some assembled from your choice of the Daily Dose candies:

A reusable first aid kit is filled with bottles of chocolate “pills.” Photo courtesy Chocolate Crisis Center.

There’s more, including Holiday Blues Peppermint Creams, a large blue bottle of jumbo “pills” the size of a nickel, a gentle peppermint coating over a soft, green minty center. The mint is very delicate—there’s no throat-cooling blast of peppermint oil. Seven big “pills” per serving is more than most people need to be cured.

Order online at ChocolateCrisisCenter.com or phone 1.800.329.6950.