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Borrego Springs, CA

Thursday, July 24, 2014

The sponge candy saga

On my last post, several of you guessed that I had ordered a batch of sponge candy as a special birthday gift to myself.  I wish it were so.  I would be enjoying a delicious piece of that right now if it had worked out that way. 

Evening Primrose ?

Evening Primrose – Tonight’s pics are from yesterdays job of refilling kiosk pamphlets, picking trash, and checking trails on the refuge.

Last winter while I was volunteering at Anahuac NWR, I figured out that I could order sponge candy in my most favorite way, not chocolate covered, from The Vermont Country Store.  I could get three bags of it for about $20.  Since I only ate one piece a day, each order lasted me over a month. 

Wild Bergamot  (Bee Balm)

Wild Bergamot (Bee Balm)  - This flower is in the mint family, and its leaves are used for flavoring in Earl Grey Tea.

Just before I left Anahuac, I wanted to stock up for my journey to the north.  To my displeasure, The Vermont Country Store stopped stocking it.  Oh nuts!  Okay, I’d just wait until I got to Fargo to pick up a box of dark chocolate covered sponge candy at Carol Widman’s Candy Co. 

Fireweed

                          Fireweed – most often found in recently burned or disturbed soil areas.

After I got the rig set up at Tamarac NWR in May, one of my first trips was to Fargo, ND, to visit the Breadsmith Store and Carol Widman’s.  I got the bread that I wanted, but no sponge candy was available.

IMG_8076 IMG_8079Red-tailed Hawk posing, and then thinking better about it.  Going…

It seems that in the making of sponge candy, it can’t be done in humid weather or it flops.  Such was the case the last time Carol Widman’s tried to make it.  Crying face They would be waiting for lower humidity to make it again.

IMG_8080 IMG_8081

                                                          …going… gone!

I put in an order for two pounds whenever they could make it.  They thought surely that would happen before my next trip to Fargo on July 15.  Well we’ve had a lot of rain and humidity this year so that didn’t work out.  I’m still waiting for a call.  I hope the humidity goes down before I leave in September.IMG_8089

                                                  Sandhill Cranes in the Chippewa prairie.

Far Side of Fifty suggested I try the Cuzzins Candy Store in Park Rapids for chocolate covered sponge candy.  I may just do that, but I wonder if they have it in dark chocolate; that’s what I prefer if it has to be covered in something.  I’m getting pretty picky in my old age.  Sarcastic smile

So I’m sure you’ve gathered by now that I didn’t receive an order of sponge candy for my birthday.  Instead, I ordered this:

_MG_0571

                                                                           An Apple iPod!

That’s a pretty drastic move for me, and it’s proving to be quite a learning curve.  I haven’t gotten around to syncing in the magnetic Bluetooth keyboard yet.  It was a big enough challenge for me to just set the thing up last night so I could begin to figure out how to use it.  I’m pretty happy that I was able to download two of my favorite word games so I can sneak in some play time during boring times in the VC.  It’s a lot easier to carry around than my backpack with the laptop in it.

I sure wish it came with a hard copy user’s manual.  I’d like to page through it while I’m trying to figure out how to use it.  Could it be that I’m finally getting out of the 90’s??

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

30 comments:

  1. You have some kind of will power to eat only one piece a day. I love licorce and could never eat just one piece of that.

    Now that is some awesome birthday gift. Good luck with it. Hope it brings you hours of fun gaming.

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  2. Oh man and I was all ready to hear you wax eloquent about the pleasures of sponge candy. I guess you could try googling it again from your new present. Looks pretty spiffy. You are now younger than I am in the tech world. Did you call Vermont Country Store and ask about the candy? They are REALLY nice. We went to their store in VT last summer. They could tell you why/if they stopped carrying it for good and perhaps who their supplier was. HAPPY BIRTHDAY AGAIN! Oh and if any other ranger than the guy with the big bear is giving talks at Painted Canyon, give them a whirl.

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    1. LOL - he doesn't have a bear, he has a BEARD. Big brown BEARD.

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  3. It looks mighty small; is that an apple to the side of it? I am trying to visualize how big the iPod is. And is it an iPod or an iPad? I'd be worried about trying to read anything on it. Good luck with the sponge candy. If they make it anywhere in CA it would probably be low enough humidity!

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  4. Good for you...I hope you enjoy the new electronic device. I take my kindle fire just about everywhere with me just in case I get stuck waiting around! The sponge candy at Cuzzins is covered in Milk Chocolate..sorry..I have a half of a piece left and looked...I agree dark chocolate would be better:)

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  5. So sorry about the elusive sponge candy...however the IPod looks to be a good runner-up for a birthday gift to yourself. Congratulations and have fun learning it. I bet you will have a belated birthday gift before you leave in September...Sponge Candy.

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  6. awww. . .well, I think you might get a lot more use out of this birthday present. . .probably not near as enjoyable though!

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  7. Sure wish I knew someplace you could get sponge candy. I thought iPods were for music. But I really know nothing. My ole laptop works for me and I don't want to learn anything new.

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  8. Who would have thought that climate change would impact your spongy candy:(

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  9. No one I have asked about this sponge candy ever heard of it. Sorry you didn't get your fix yet. Love your new toy. I would love to have one also for traveling. Laptops are way to heavy and big.

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  10. What about these sources:

    http://www.watsonschocolates.com/detail/index.cfm?nPID=15

    http://www.nuts.com/chocolatessweets/old-time-candy/chocolate-sponge/dark.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=pla&gclid=CMbvhrHS378CFQOHaQodxmIAAg

    I've never had sponge candy but I sure want some now!

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    1. It looks like Kimbopolo has found you two sources of Dark Chocolate Sponge Candy. You can now have it where ever you may be, you do not have to depend on Fargo, ND nor the weather.

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  11. I hope you find some place to get your sponge candy. Enjoy your new toy.

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  12. Belated Birthday wishes! Been off line for a while. Don't know where to get that candy, but sure do love your b-day present to yourself. I'm going to have to look into those.... By the way, those same flowers were blooming in Maine when I left on Wednesday... but we don't have the cranes :-(

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  13. Enjoy your iPad ... we broke down and bought an iPad mini earlier this year .... I bought the Kindle version of a manual for it. Now to sit down and actually use the manual ;-)

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  14. Now you've gone and done it--Rick helps me with my iPod and iPad but I'm not sure it's his favorite thing to do!!! I love my little iPad mini, use the Kindle app all the time. Happy Birthday Judy--enjoy your gift to yourself!!!

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  15. I tried some sponge candy the year we volunteered in PA. They love it in Erie. Your post spurred me to a google search and I found this NPR article which includes a recipe in the comments!
    http://www.npr.org/2012/07/01/156031130/in-sponge-candy-crescent-addicts-hoard-heaven
    The recipe sounds a bit messy, but I might have to try it the next time I'm in a low humidity and heat climate.
    Sally

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  16. So now are you going to start competing with Rick on great computer tips for us less than geeky folks? :cD

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  17. I predict you will love your IPAD. We are an all Apple family now and love it.

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  18. I believe you are addicted to sponge candy. I wonder if there are any "candy addiction centers", I bet you could find one in Hershey PA. LOL.

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  19. We call it seafoam around here. Try making it yourself. I want to know how that goes.

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  20. Good luck with that birthday present. When you figure out how to use it, let me know, and then maybe I'll get one! :- )

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  21. You will love your iPad once you get used to it. Just takes some time. We have some amazing apps, and most of them we got for free.
    I grew up in Erie, PA and sponge candy was very popular. My best friend always made it for us when we visited. We used to get it at Pulakos. They make it with milk or dark chocolate and will ship.
    https://www.pulakoschocolates.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=99&category_id=3&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=3

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  22. A new iPad beats Sponge Candy any day of the year in my book! You'll love the iPad once you begin playing around with it a bit. Safari is a good web browser for reading blogs etc. or you can go to the App Store and download Google Chrome. Setting up email to get your Gmail on the iPad - or whatever other email you might use is easy too.

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  23. I had to go do some research on your new toy since I'd never seen an iPad look like that. The keyboard made it look more like a laptop but I found what you have and I like it. My iPad is not an Air, though so that keyboard probably wouldn't work for me. Dang.

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  24. Too bad about the sponge candy...
    Great job on the IPad. I still don't know all the bells and whistles, but it sure is convenient.

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  25. We got to get some of that sponge candy

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  26. Belatead Happy Birthday to you! The new "toy" would be a real challenge for me...I had a Kindle and never did like it..But that does look like it would fit nicely into a backpack...You can learn it...you are more willing than I .

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  27. I think you'll like your iPad once you get used to it. No worries about viruses or "malware". Here's a link to Apple's iPad User Manual. It's in PDF format, so if you have access to a printer, you could print it out: http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/ipad_user_guide.pdf



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  28. I pad! I don't have one, I'm stuck in my laptop world. Don't know if I want to learn something more. I like hard copy manuals too. It's too hard to flip back and forth between the manual on line and the problem I'm working on.

    Hope you get your sponge candy soon!

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