Friday, February 6, 2009

Dulces! Dulces!

The recent visit from my father-in-law was, among other things, a reckless sugarfest. He arrived with a suitcase weighted with calories. If you ever come across some of these goodies from Mexico, try them!


These are two kinds of treats made with cajeta, which is carmelized milk and sugar (sooooo good) and a type of dulce de leche. The blue wrappers are Natillas, which are just a big spoonful of cajeta wrapped in plastic. You can't even handle them - you just open them up and scrape the cajeta off the wrapper with your teeth. If that isn't decadent enough, the Glorias (in the red wrappers) are the same stuff, only rolled around in pecans!


Then we have several bags of these little beauties called Obleas, which are cajeta sandwiched between two paper-thin wafers. Mmm, wafers. Actually, the wafers have almost no taste, but they make them a whole lot easier to handle.


He also brought a big box of another favorite called mazapan. It's kind of like marzipan, only made with peanuts instead of almonds. It's basically peanut butter and sugar compressed into a hockey puck shape. (I think that solved the mystery of my muffin top, but I still like to blame low rise jeans.) But wait, there's more...



...a container full of tamirind candy, another container filled with more dulce de leche treats, and a big ol' assortment that I haven't even dared venture into yet!

Of course, my father-in-law couldn't return to Mexico without bringing back some of his favorites from here, so we went to Julian and visited the candy mine below the Julian Drug Store:



We had to pick out just a few more things to take home for ourselves, too. We did manage to heed this sign:



But only as long as we were in the store.

If that's not enough, my father-in-law knows I'm a chocolate lover, so he bought me not one, but TWO boxes of my favorite chocolates. I guess that'll hold us over 'til Easter, when that bunny arrives with a few basketloads more.

Good thing I've already made a dentist appointment. Now all I need are some elastic waist pants.

14 comments:

Kimbra Kasch said...

Oh I know. When my husband goes back to Denmark, he always comes home with a suitcase full of candy. His is usually salty strong licorice and marzipan. But, like with your FIL, there is so much more.

These all sound wonderful - yum. Now I'm going to eat my breakfast 'cause my stomach's growling.

LW said...

Oh, what a feast…

I would have dessert three times a day with that haul…
Oh, by the way I love the Easter bunny.

Louise

PJ Hoover said...

It sounds like the visit was a huge success!

Suzie said...

Yum it all looks so good

Kelly Polark said...

Delicioso!
The cajeta sounds so yummy!

Anne Spollen said...

Elastic waist pants...lol

Rena Jones said...

Mmmmmmm! I love, love, love this post! It's always fun to try foods from other countries, but even more so when it's CANDY! :-D

Bish Denham said...

Oh my! What a taste treat. I absolutely LOVE tamarinds and tamarind candy. When I go home to the idlands I indulge.

Ara Burklund said...

Tamarind candy, did you say? I never knew such a thing existed. I love tamarind sauce, but I have to wonder if this is going to be one of those things like nutella (i.e., irresistible), so maybe I shouldn't even go there...

Mary Witzl said...

Ooh...Bish can have any tamarind candies I manage to acquire! I like tamarind in sauces, and I put it in dal when I make Indian food, but I think it's an acquired taste for candy. Not that I need to learn how to like different candies, though...

But that cajeta is mine, all mine...in my dreams, (sigh).

Adrienne said...

Kim - I'm crazy for licorice - especially those little pastilles :)

LW - I'm afraid I have been having dessert after every meal!

PJ - Except for a little over-indulging, it was very enjoyable!

Suzie - That picture of Sweet Marie makes me think I better pace myself.

Kelly - It's dangerously addictive!

Anne - I'd laugh, only I'm afraid it might be true...

Rena - The only trouble is you get hooked on something and then you can't find it anywhere...

Bish - Me, too! I love that tangy flavor.

Ara - Mmmm, Nutella...

Mary - There's one tamarind candy called Pulparindo that's too hot for me - I like heat in savory things more.

C.R. Evers said...

mmmmmmmmm . . . . sweets are spoken in any language! :0)

sounds like the visit went well! :0)

now I'm craving sweets!

Rebecca Ramsey said...

Oh my goodness, my mouth is watering. It's so interesting to see candies from different countries. And even more of a treat to get to taste them. Every time my husband goes back to France on business he has to bring back our favorite haribou candy that we can't get here.

Your father in law is a smart man, bringing you chocolate!

ICQB said...

Mmm! Candy! Lucky are they whose father's-in-law come bearing suitcases of candy.