"Sour Salad" Recipe: a Party-Friendly Smörgåsbord of Gummy Candies

 THE STORY BEHIND THE RECIPE

     So, I went to this party last night (always a great way to begin a story, right?). I was told ahead of time that it was advisable to bring a dish to contribute to dinner, but since I was coming straight from work, I knew I wouldn't be able to bring a hot or cold dish. Having such a busy schedule and being such an epic time-waster to top it off, there just wasn't "time" before work for me to throw something together that could sit in my car throughout the day without being ruined.
     Now, it's probably of note that I tend to pride myself on my "contributions" to anything and everything; if I give a gift, I want it to be personal, and proof that I know that person well and took their deep interests and passions into account as I picked out their gift; or, in this case, if I bring a dish to a party, I want to ensure that whatever it is has some degree of "wow factor"ishness. Knowing that, it may not seem quite so ridiculous to you that I spent the entire day incrementally locked in a serious brainstorm of penetrating thought as I fought to figure out what to bring.    
     I needed something that I could grab quickly from the store that also wouldn't be too expensive but wasn't going to be totally cliche. I started thinking about different items that are popular at parties versus items that are popular with people but not typically present at social gatherings. My mind instantly went to candy; in particular Sour Patch Kids and Trolli Bite Crawlers because those are some my absolute favorite cavity-inducing treats. I realized that unless kids are in attendance, there isn't normally gummy candy if there is candy at all at a party. 
     So after work, I headed for the candy isle in Wal-Mart in search of the aforementioned. But when I picked up a bag of each and put them in my shopping basket, they looked so small and lonely and just felt like they wouldn't be enough. And since I had made an out-of-the-way trip to come to Wal-Mart in the first place, I wanted to make sure that my efforts weren't going to be in vain. So I looked around at the other candies and started brainstorming again. I'm a relatively inventive and definitely creative person, so it wasn't long before my brain honed in on the idea for this recipe: a hodgepodge trail mix of sorts, composed of nothing but complimentary gummy candies. 
     I scanned the entire isle and came back to my basket with one small package of all the other inviting gummy candies I saw: Sweet Tarts Gummies, Warhead Sour Chewy Cubes, Airhead Xtremes, and Brach's Sour Gummi Bears. Then I made one exception to the gummy element just to add a slight variety to the texture of the mix by throwing in a bag of regular assorted flavor Warhead Hard Candies. I grabbed a big party bowl that came with a lid and then took my haul of goodies to the register. 
     When I arrived at the party, there was a good-sized crowd of people already there, and yet there was hardly ANYTHING for dessert. Someone else had made some tapioca pudding and there was a beautiful sopapilla cheesecake (that tasted divine, by the way), but I was glad I had something easy to contribute that could be snacked on throughout the night without making a mess or dirtying up more silverware. 
     I summoned my handy-dandy assistant, Hannah, and she helped me open and dump all the candy into the bowl (don't worry, I washed it first), and she even unwrapped all the stupid hard candies for me because they were individually wrapped. The bowl was about halfway full or so, give or take. I then put the lid on the bowl and shook it up really well for a few minutes, and then let the party goers descend on it. After some speculation and lots of questions, let's just say it was a big hit. The bowl got passed around almost immediately, wound up finding a home on the coffee table which was central to the whole party, and everybody got their fill by the end of the night. When I left the party, THIS is what was left in the bowl....

     Okay, so I've actually eaten on it a LITTLE today, but not much. Honest!!!!!
     The favorite "hot item", if you will, seemed to be the Airhead Xtremes, which apparently most adults aren't drawn to under regular circumstances when selecting a candy, haha. If I were to suggest modifications, I would say that the Warhead Hard Candies could be eliminated completely and the mix would still be just as good; but you'd save yourself the time of having to unwrap them all to put them in the mix in the first place, and then have a mass of them once you get to the bottom because no one wants more than one or two in a sitting.
     This recipe could be very versatile in what candies you could use. If you wanted less of a sour dominance, you could add some regular Skittles, Twizzlers, Jelly Beans, Jolly Ranchers, and Starbursts, and that would also add to the volume of the mix if you're serving a pretty big crowd. Other modifications could be Sour Skittles, Sour Straws, Peach Rings, Strawberry Puffs, regular Gummi Bears/Worms, regular Sweet Tarts, and honestly, countless other options. Just stick with fruit flavors so that the mix stays consistent in taste (or don't. :)
     Credit for the lovely name of this recipe goes to Kelsey, who just sprouts awesomeness every time she opens her mouth. 

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THE RECIPE ITSELF


 

“SourSALAD”  

Ingredients:

-1 large pkg Sweet Tarts Gummies

-1 pkg Warhead Sour Chewy Cubes

-1 King Size pkg Trolli Bite Crawlers

-1 pkg Sour Patch Kids

-1 pkg Brach’s Sour Gummi Bears

-2 pkgs Airhead Xtremes

-Warhead Assorted Flavor Hard Candies (optional)

Materials:

-1 large bowl with lid

Instructions:

-Dump all unpackaged candy into the bowl

-Put the lid on the bowl and shake it until all candies are thoroughly mixed together

-Serve! Simply recover with lid to store

NOTE: Amounts of candies can be modified according to taste and amount of servings needed

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I leave you with this, just because.

 
 Have a great weekend, folks!
-Amber