Dark Parlour Drop-Off

Had a great day in Lancaster county yesterday, dropping off the scarecrow for the upcoming art show at the Dark Parlour and hitting up some favorite hangouts.

Also got to try the rather barbaric-looking and very Halloween-dinner-appropriate Bone Marrow appetizer at the Conway Social Club (this place had better never close).

We started accumulating pumpkins for the Haunt too.  Fingers cross none of them go soft on us.

Feels like Autumn is really here.  Weather's been great too, and we even got a good photo shoot in on this first day of October (photos coming soon).  

Weekend photos below...

Clove and Black Licorice!

Witch Candy

Image source.

Salty Liquorice

Heksehyl are soft, salty licorice cylinders with a gumdrop-like texture. Their mild flavor makes them perfect for both the novice and the licorice aficionado.


At licoriceinternational.com

Never heard of this stuff before. VERY curious about it now.

From Wikipedia:
Salty liquorice, also known as salmiakki or salmiak, is a variety of liquorice flavoured with ammonium chloride, common in the Nordic countries, Netherlands, Baltic States and Northern Germany. Ammonium chloride gives salty liquorice an astringent, salty taste (hence the name), which has been described as "tongue-numbing" and "almost-stinging". Salty liquorice is an acquired taste and people not familiar with ammonium chloride might find the taste physically overwhelming and unlikeable. Salty liquorice candies are almost always black or very dark brown and can range from very soft to very hard and may be brittle. The other colours used are white and variants of grey. Carbon black is used as a food colouring agent in these candies. Salty liquorice is also used as a flavouring in other products, such as ice creams and alcoholic beverages.

Happy Halloween Scent

A black licorice candle from Yankee this season...
As a fan of the black shiny candy, I'll be buying it.

From their Facebook page.

The Doctor

I’ve got an herb cabinet jammed with natural elixirs and essences from around the world. Among the strongest of all is liquorice, a root that has long been revered for its special properties.

I have spent days on end in my laboratory without a glimpse of sunlight seeking to perfect a formula that would bottle the intensity of black licorice without quite knocking people who try it off their bar stools.

I worked feverishly to create this intense, herbal concoction; a single taste is like being hit with a freight train of black jelly beans. I bottled it forthwith. You won’t find a more savory, more stimulating, more pleasing shot experience. It’s like black magic in a bottle!

I tried Dr. McGillicuddy's black licorice schnapps this weekend. Great gimmick and design, and a really great drink. Not merely black licorice-flavored - more like a dark herbal concoction, as the good doctor mentioned above.

drmcgillicuddy.com

Summer Incense

Black licorice incense on the back porch.

Black Licorice

Image source.

My father ate black licorice constantly. Don't know if that's why I waited so long to finally try it. Guess I figured if he liked it, it must be bad. After all, these were the parents who introduced their children to vegetables in the form of canned peas and brussels sprouts. Ever see a canned pea? It's wrinkled and brownish-green. Army green, actually. They came off the stove and out of the pot at room temperature bordering on cold. And the brussels sprouts were just the most horrific things. They still are. Didn't they have frozen vegetables back then? Or ones covered in cheese? Couldn't my mom melt some beautiful cheddar cheese on a fresh piece of broccoli or a sweet carrot?

When I finally tried and enjoyed black licorice in my college years, I wanted to strangle them with it.