Every year on Valentine's Day I get my co-workers the little cardboard valentines that are marketed for school kids. Those little valentines bring back memories of being a kid and putting a decorated sack or shoe box out to collect cards and candies from your classmates.
It was pretty easy to find valentines made in America. Finding candy made in the USA is getting harder, though. That is a little worrisome to me because of the occasionally lax food safety standards in China and Mexico where a lot of the big name companies are manufacturing their candies (Wonka Brand and Hershey's). Plus the older I get, the more I realize that candy is one area that is definitely worth the splurge. Don't bother with a cheap candy bar when you can get the fair-trade dark chocolate bar instead. Chocolate should have flavor! That being said, I have a nostalgic streak for cheap non-chocolate candies. For my co-workers I went with the Sweethearts conversation hearts made by NECCO. I like the fact that the label says they are "lovingly made in the USA". That just conjures up the image of their competitor as a grumpy old man scowling and grumbling about those stupid kids whilst making candy.
Thanks for the valentines, Valentine. I think I would have appreciated the convo hearts more if I had realized they were the "new flavors" (I say that because they apparently changed the flavors in 2010 and I failed to notice), instead of thinking I was having a stroke. :)
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