Scary Clowns! Spongebob! Tiny Gnomes! Scenes from this Year's Atwater Village Trick-or-Treats on the BOOlevard

It's the kiddie version of West Hollywood's massive Halloween festival. But in this case, it's in Atwater Village, and the goal is simple: To grab as much candy from businesses up and down the sidewalk as possible. The annual Atwater Village Trick-or-Treat on the BOOlevard attracted massive crowds of tykes and their parents on Thursday as a bit of a dry run for tonight's official tricks and treats. And some of the costumes were pretty amazing. Here are a few highlights:


Spongebob Squarepants


Vitruvius, from "The Lego Movie"


CLOWNS ARE SCARY


Even Mini Obama stopped by.


Star Wars: Atwater


Yeah, this guy is the stuff of nightmares.


That's one pooped gnome.


The Flash gets some goodies.


One business, the new Great Escape Club, created a haunted house for kids.


Some of the neighborhood Atwater Village businesses went all out in handing candy.

FREE L.A.: Trick or Treat on the Boo-levard in Atwater Village TONIGHT

One of our favorite Halloween events happens TONIGHT: Grab the kids, shove 'em in their costumes and do some early trick-or-treats tonight on Glendale Boulevard in Atwater Village! The street will be packed with kids hitting up various businesses for candy. It's a great way to get some practice in for the main event tomorrow! Oh, and candy.

When: Thursday October 30th from 4:30-6:00pm
Where: Glendale Blvd in Atwater Village
What: Trick or Treating for the whole family brought to you by the Atwater Village Neighborhood Council

Gummy Bunnies Are Real

You make the call: Exciting, or disgusting? As spotted at Target.

Atwater Village's Annual Trick-Or-Treats Dress Rehearsal

It's become an annual tradition for us: Atwater Village's "Trick-or-Treat on the Boo-levard," which attracts hundreds of costumed kids (and their sometimes-costumed parents) up and down Glendale Boulevard. Consider it a dry run for Halloween, as it usually takes place the Friday before real trick-or-treats. (Read our 2011 account of the event here.)

This year, that meant Friday, October 26. The businesses up and down Glendale Blvd. appeared to be extra generous this year -- maybe a sign of economic optimism? New eatery Bon Vivant handed out cotton candy to the kids (and again, ahem, some of their parnets), while Crispy Crust pizza resumed their practice of passing out small slices of pizza. Afterward, we headed over to the Atwater Crossing Kitchen -- and I'm happy to say, the food remains the same under new ownership.

Some pics from our Friday afternoon on the Boo-levard in Atwater Village:

Rate-A-Restaurant #247: Little Flower Candy Co.

Restaurant: Little Flower Candy Co.

Location: 1422 W. Colorado (Pasadena)

Type of restaurant: Candy/Sandwiches



We stipulated: We were looking to take Blogger Kid and Blogger Toddler 2.0 to a park near the Pasadena/Eagle Rock border when the idea of the Little Flower Candy Co. came up.

They stipulated: Writes candy maker Christine Moore: "My goal has always been to make FRESH CANDY with quality ingredients. The support of the Los Angeles food community has always been outstanding and has helped this little candy kitchen grow so that more people can eat good, fresh candy. No hydrogenated oils, no shelf life extenders or artificial ingredients, hand made with love and a passion for quality and freshness."



What we ordered: Dal bowl (Brown rice, curried cauliflower, garlic spinach, chutney, tofu, raita and yellow lentil dal -- $8.50)

Curried chicken sandwich (Curried chicken, grapes, almonds, apricot chutney, romaine lettuce, Ciabatta bread -- $8.50)

High point: Great flavors on the sandwiches, while the candy we selected -- homemade marshmallows -- were fantastic.

Low point: The items in the bowl weren't together and were a bit hard to mix up without making a mess.



Overall impression: Great neighborhood place to grab a sandwich, or high-end salted caramels, before heading to the nearby park.

Chance we'll go back: Yes, very good chance.

For our complete list of 250 restaurant reviews, go to our companion Rate-A-Restaurant site.

Candy Everybody Wants

Maria and I keep it simple during the holidays. No crazy big, expensive gifts. We don't need much, and if we did, we'd just buy it. (Well, maybe. We haven't bought a new car yet. Or an iPad. Two things we've been wanting forever.) Instead, we've got a cap on gifts, and it's actually more fun to find little things (mostly food, of course) that we know will mean something to the other person.

Maria, for example, got me a bottle of habanero pepper hot sauce, among other things. And among my gifts to her? The gift of bacon.

Bacon fat, smoked Spanish paprika and fleur de sel, to be exact. The limited edition caramels were created by homemade candy creators Morning Glory Confections.



I was so enchanted by the idea of bacon fat caramels that I played phone tag with Morning Glory's Max Lesser for days, and finally managed to arrange the transaction in front of my house (while Maria was distracted). Max had created the treats for Artisnal LA, but had one batch left. I was the lucky purchaser.

Morning Glory specializes in brittle, with flavors such as Cocoa Nib, Coffee Bean & Pecan; Indian Curry & Pistachio; New Mexico Chili & Pumpkin Seed; and Thai Curry & Peanut. It's good stuff.

Oh, and the bacon fat caramels? Maria was kind enough to share. But trust me, they were gone fast.

'Candyman': How One Angeleno Created -- And Then Lost -- The Jelly Belly Empire

Candyman: the David Klein Story (trailer) from Jennifer Klein on Vimeo.

There's something quite depressing about stories of genius inventors who wind up selling their creations too soon and for a paltry sum -- only to watch from the sidelines as it explodes in popularity.

The documentary "Candyman: The David Klein Story," currently running on the Documentary Channel, is one such tale.

In 1976, David Klein came up with the idea of a gourmet jelly bean -- an idea that came to him while watching "Happy Days."

Klein came up with an initial eight flavors and started selling Jelly Belly beans at Fosselman's in Alhambra.

Given the price and the novelty factor, it took a while for Jelly Belly -- which he named -- to take off. But after some crafty marketing stunts (including staging fake customers in front of a wire reporter), the idea caught on.

Soon David was appearing on chat shows like "Mike Douglas" as the "Candyman." People magazine wrote about him. He appeared destined for fame and fortune.

But as Jelly Belly hit it big, the vultures came out. First, Fosselman's itself tried to take away the Jelly Belly trademark -- but Klein was able to outsmart the ice cream shop.

Klein wasn't so lucky in 1980, when he was strong-armed by the manufacturer that produced Jelly Belly. Klein who wound up selling the company and accepting chump change (under $5 million, split with a partner).

Jelly Belly, of course, went on to become a mega success story. And Klein, who has had to fight regret and other demons these past 30 years, hasn't been able to come up with a new product that might rival the Jelly Belly phenom.

"Candyman" explores that sad footnote (Jelly Belly refuses to even mention Klein by name in its company history ). But it also serves as a tribute of sorts to the eccentric Klein, who has put people before business on many occasions, and who still puts on an upbeat, brave face despite what happened.

Glendale and Atwater Village are also prominently on display in the doc. And "Weird Al" Yankovic also makes an appearance.

Here's more info from the channel:

The idea for the "Candyman" documentary was hatched by David Klein's son, Bert, who enjoyed the fruits of his father's "Jelly Belly" creation in his early childhood, but soon struggled with his father's lost candy empire during his teen and early adulthood years.

Bert's long-suffering relationship with his father, combined with his 20-year career in the film business and the birth of his two children, gave him the incentive to create a film that could repair his father-son relationship and reunite the family.

"I wanted to make ‘Candyman' so my kids Emily and Aaron would know who their grandfather was and what he did for the world," explains Bert Klein. "Having lived through the adventure first hand, I knew it would be very entertaining and inspiring. This film is about far more than just ‘Jelly Bellies.' It is an amazing story about an extraordinary man living in extraordinary times. It is a Shakespearian tragedy through the eye of a jelly bean."

Maria's Thursday Three: Pandora, LACMA and Kisses

1. Pandora: When I tire of listening to my mix of songs on iTunes, I turn to Pandora online. Type in an artist's name or a song and they play music that shares the same tempo and style as your entry. I've discovered and re-discovered good songs through this site.

2. L.A. Flash: LACMA is having another late night event this Saturday, Sept. 6, celebrating L.A.'s street style. Could be really fun, and you can be part of a bigger project and end up in the museum's photo archives. From their site:

In 1973, LACMA commissioned five photographers to document LA street style. Thirty-five years later, we’re celebrating the project—LA Flash—by asking what your LA street style looks like today. Dress the part for this late night art event—photos taken during the evening will be added to the museum’s archives at lacmalaflash.org.


(Pic by Summer Is Ending.)

3. Hershey's Pumpkin Spice Kisses: As fall approaches, Mike is always on the lookout for any place that would sell pumpkin-flavored anything. The new pumpkin spice flavored kisses are a hit at our house-- it sort of taste likes a pumpkin smoothie compacted in a tiny piece of creamy candy. (Target also has Candy Corn flavored Kisses, and is rumored to have a new Caramel Apple flavor as well.)

Another 99 Cents Only Store Haul

I had heard about the mythical 99 Cents Only wine deals -- but had never seen it with my own eyes. Until Wednesday night.

We were in Bellflower -- yes, Bellflower. It's off the 105, near Norwalk. Look it up -- Wednesday night to visit our pals Anthony and Candice, who just gave birth to Baby No. 2. Across the street from the Kaiser Permanente sits a strip mall with the two beacons of close-out shopping: Big Lots and 99 Cents Only. We, of course, headed straight to the promised land.



And there it was -- a full shelf of a wide variety of wines. None of which sounded familiar, and most of which came from Australia.

What the hell, it's 99 cents. We're gonna experiment. We picked up a shiraz from South Africa (Matuba) and a sauvignon blanc from the California Central coast ("Thirsty Fish"). I can't find much info about either brand -- particularly the mysterious Thirsty Fish -- on the Internet. Hmm. Not a good sign.


Our candy intake was small this time, and all in the 59 cent range: Milka (which expires this week, by the way); a strange and pretty terrible (yes, I already tried it) 3 Musketeers-branded bar called "Generation Max"; "Monster Malts"; and a Vanilla Latte-flavored granola bar branded by Caribou Coffee.

The 3 Musketeers Generation Max bar was "Chocolate Strawberry Brownie" flavor -- pretty much an insult to chocolate, strawberries and brownies.


One of our favorite and hard-to-find items at the 99 Cents Only store: Ink jet printer ink. Talk about saving money. Too bad it's hard to find -- this is the absolute only one we located at the Bellflower location.


Nectarines!


This is one of those things that we tend to buy then never actually use or eat. "Hey, I love chai, let's buy this and drink chai tea more often."

Cut to three years later, when I rediscover this container collecting dust in the back of the pantry.


The Koala Brothers! Not well known here in the U.S., but Evan was a big fan at one point.

The 99 Cents Only Store Shopper

As I mentioned in the past, I love hitting up the 99 Cents Only store for unusual products or flavors that didn't quite work out in the mainstream. An early morning Easter run to the store resulted in these gems:

-- Limited Edition Carnival Flavors Skittles: Cotton Candy, Candy Apple, Bubble Gum, Red Licorice and Green Slushy flavored Skittles! Eat your heart out, Jelly Belly!

-- Mini Robin Eggs Milkshake, Strawberry flavor: From the makers of Whoppers. Malted milk candy, but with an artificial Strawberry finish.

-- Chex Mix, Apple Cinnamon flavor: It's like a breakfast version of the snack mix: Cinnamon Chex, Corn Chex, Apple Cinnamon Walnuts, Cranberries, Apple pieces, and yogurt-covered Chex.

-- Vanilla Creme Hershey's Kisses: Probably the most disappointing of the bunch. Like a Cadbury egg, just smaller.



Now, a bonus shopper tip: Target's line of baked chips, which includes flavors such as curry and Jamaican Jerk (above), are just $2 right now. The Jamaican Jerk is nice, with a kick that doesn't show up until you've scarfed down five or six.

Found Art: Candy, Put Some in Their Lunches Every Day!

Spotted at a candy store up in Healdsburg (north of Santa Rosa): Ahh, a simpler time when Dr. Pepper was a medical tonic, candy was a part of your kid's balanced lunch and asbestos was a miracle material.

Break Me Off a Piece of That "Office" Gag

Last week's episode of "The Office" (awesome, as always) featured a running gag in which office dolt Andy (Ed Helms, above) couldn't remember how the old commercial jingle "Gimme a break, gimme a break, break me off a piece of that..." went.

Apple Sauce? Grey Poupon? Driven mad, Andy finally settles on "Fancy Feast."

Of course, the joke's funny, because everyone knows it's "Kit-Kat Bar," right?

Apparently not. I've noticed quite a few people hitting Franklin Avenue this weekend, Googling the words "Break me off a piece of that."

So I checked it out on Google myself, and discovered why: Strangely enough, Franklin Avenue is fourth on the list, and the first to actually mention Kit-Kats (this post, about our love for obscure Kit-Kat flavors).

Our Allies in the War Against Boring Candy

My sister Ann Marie spent much of the summer in the U.K., and recently sent us some delicious souvenirs from her studies abroad.

Regular readers know we love, love candy from overseas, and Ann's package didn't disappoint. Mint Aeros (my favorite), Orange Kit-Kats (wow -- "orange" is an understatement. These things were ORANGE), Galaxy Ripple, Cadbury Flake (dark), and more, as you can see above.

It's been a good year for us in the overseas candy department; Santos gave us a wide variety of Kit-Kat and Mentos flavors this summer.

Flavor Finder: Peanut Butter and Banana Cream Reese's

This has to be the weirdest flavor I've seen in a long time... and Franklin Avenue reader Chris Nichols didn't even find it at the 99 Cents Only store, which (as you know) is the graveyard for spectacularly bizarro and stomach-turning flavors like this. Chris writes:

Not sure if these are new or old but I saw them last night at the Silver Lake Arco and thought of you. You know those Food Network shows where you see the glass beakers full of artificial flavoring? They taste like that.

I'm curious, yet repulsed. Elvis would indeed be proud.

Japan Gets Crunky

You think the Japanese chocolate makers had Lil Jon in mind when they came up with...


the Crunky candy bar?

(By the way, we picked up the Crunky candy bar at Marukai Market. Pretty good stuff.)

Break Me Off a Piece of That Obscure Kit-Kat Bar

Thanks to Santos, who's in town from Guam and her many travels. Santos passed along a treasure chest of Kit-Kat and Mentos flavors from overseas (esp. Japan) that are impossible to find here in the States.

Above, check it out: Bitter Chocolate, Strawberry, Cappuccino, Azuki Bean, Raspberry, Chestnut, Mild Bitter & Orange, and Pumpkin flavored Kit-Kats!



Mentos flavors from the Philippines (which you may be able to find at spots such as Arko Foods or Seafood City): Dalandan Fresh and Juicy Ponkan.



More Mentos: Fuji Apple and Grape.