One of my favorite things to do when I’m in a specialty food store: shopping for candy. It doesn’t have to be fancy, it’s more the novelty of a shiny package I’ve never seen. The Husky Deli in West Seattle has a wall of candy(stocking and Chanukah alert)–truffles, old-fashioned marzipan, gobs of English candy, even advent calendars. The highlight is the random, rotating selection of mostly English candy bars. Some are better than others, but it’s all in the trying.

Toffee Crisp – A gentleman’s 100 Grand bar, with a core of ceral sutdded chocolate, topped by a strip of soft toffee, all wrapped in more chocolate. It’s just enough chewy to keep you from looking like Jim Carrey when you eat it.

Aero Bar, in chocolate and mint – Little chests of chocolate filled with tiny air bubbles in either white mint chocolate or milk chocolate. I used to love putting these in the freezer when I was a kid. Lion Bar – High concept bar, with a vanilla creme wafer center, surrounded by caramel, and coated in crisped rice and chocolate. I love it when the vanilla creme and caramel meld together, as do my fillings.Cadbury Flake – The idea for this whisp of a bar was born from the sheets of goodness that get scrapped off of chocolate molds. Whatever you do, don’t eat it in the car.

…and the “It’s not for girls!” Yorkie – A substantial, big-boned milk chocolate bar with neither bell nor whistle. I have no idea why it is anti-girl. But it does harbor exhorbitant fat grams. Maybe girls should be anti-Yorkie.