HISTORY: Sugar Plums

WHAT: Sugar plums, sugar plums, sugar plums... somehow, on my iPod, I have a track of Jiminy Cricket telling his rendition of "The Night Before Christmas." I've no idea how I got the track, but it's there, and Jiminy recites the line from A Visit From St. Nicolas: "as visions of sugar plums danced in their heads." So what exactly are "sugar plums?" Apparently, a couple of things: hard, round shaped candies made of sugar, and one of a few plums with non-bitter skin.

WHY: When was the last time you were at the store or market and saw some sugar plums? Where did these things go? Once upon a time, kids were dreaming of these things during the holidays, but in all my time, I've never seen them.

Or have I? The real question is, which sugar plums were the kids dreaming of, the fruit or the candy? I'm going to guess that they were dreaming of hard, plum flavored candies. I know, I know, plum flavored candies might not sound that great - or do they? Aren't you bored of the same old candy you find at a supermarket: Hershey's Bar. Boring. Snickers. Alright, but still: boring.

Now, hey, wow, yippie: sugar plums! Give me some! Sounds promising, no? The elusive sugar plum does grow in the area I'm from, in Northern California, so I've likely been eating these things my entire life and simply calling it a "plum." Now I know better. You can check the links below for hard candies, fruit, and even sugar plum gels.

Fruit: http://www.mountlassen.com/products/fruits/fruits-dtl-sgrplms.html
Gels: www.sweetpalace.com
More on the history: http://www.godecookery.com/friends/frec74.htm

/sms