This article is excerpted from the Utah Eats newsletter, compiled this week by Sean P. Means, The Salt Lake Tribune’s enterprise editor. (Kolbie Peterson, Tribune’s food and drink reporter, is on vacation.) To get the full newsletter in your inbox every Wednesday, become a subscriber by going to sltrib.com/newsletters.
Hello, Eaters!
We’re two weeks away from Halloween — as anyone who’s walked through a grocery store could tell you, amid the shelves full of “fun size” candy in spooky-themed wrappers.
For shoppers, Halloween candy raises so many questions: What candy should I buy to hand out to the trick-or-treaters in my neighborhood? What’s popular these days? Or should I just get what I like, since I’m having whatever’s left over?
CandyStore.com compiles an annual state-by-state rundown of which candies sell the best on their site. For Utah in 2024, the site says the most popular candy is … candy corn.
According to the website’s figures, Utahns bought 423,474 pounds of candy corn this year. Tootsie Pops came in second in Utah, and M&M’s ranked third.
Utah is not alone in its love for candy corn; it also ranks No. 1 in Maryland, is the second-most popular candy in Maine, Michigan, North Dakota and New Mexico, and comes in third in Idaho, Nevada, New York and South Dakota.Nationally, candy corn ranks No. 7 in sales, the website reported — even though it often tops the lists for America’s least-favorite Halloween candy. M&M’s this year overtook Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups for the top slot nationwide, with Sour Patch Kids leaping over the competition to land in third place.
Candy corn has its advantages. The pieces are small. They don’t melt in one’s hand, the way a chocolate bar might. And you can wedge a couple between your lip and gum line to make fake vampire fangs.
What’s more, their flavor evokes memories of autumn, much the same way peppermint makes us think of Christmas.
We’re conducting a Utah Eats poll, to ask you, the Eaters, where you stand on the subject of candy corn. Also, what’s your favorite Halloween candy to eat? What’s your favorite to give out when the doorbell rings?
To take part in the poll, go to find our Google form and answer a few questions. Your opinions may become part of an upcoming story in The Salt Lake Tribune.
Live deliciously,
Sean
Food News
(Van Leeuwen) The label for Van Leeuwen's limited-edition ice cream flavor in connection with "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City." The flavor, The SLC Scoop, is being released in the company's scoop shops in eight states on Nov. 19, 2024.
• “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” will soon have their own ice cream flavor, but you won’t get it in Salt Lake City. Brooklyn-born ice cream maker Van Leeuwen (pronounced “van-LOO-in”) has teamed with Bravo, the network that produces the reality show, on a limited-edition flavor, The SLC Scoop. SLC here stands for salt, lavender and caramel. The flavor will be available, starting Nov. 19, at Van Leeuwen’s scoop shops — there are more than 60 of them in eight states, and the closest ones to Utah are in Denver and Boulder, Colo. The SLC flavor won’t be available by the pint in supermarkets. (Van Leeuwen’s other flavors are for sale at Harmons, Smith’s, Dan’s and other chains in Utah.)
Openings:
(Flower Child) Dishes from Flower Child, a restaurant chain that offers a menu of healthy food for several diets. The chain was scheduled to open its first Utah location, at 1414 Foothill Drive, Salt Lake City, on Oct. 15, 2024.
• Flower Child — a restaurant chain that boasts healthy food for multiple diets, from paleo to vegan — was scheduled to open its first Utah location Tuesday, in Foothill Village, at 1414 Foothill Drive in Salt Lake City. Flower Child offers bowls, wraps and salads that can be custom-made, with veggies, grains, fruits and healthy proteins. With the Utah opening, the chain now has 34 locations in 12 states.
• Leavity Bread & Coffee has opened at 1000 S. Main St., Salt Lake City. Owner/baker Todd Bradley boasts that his sourdough bread — baked fresh daily, so get there as soon as the place opens at 8 a.m. — is made with organic, heirloom and whole grain ingredients. The place sells Kings Peak Coffee Roasters’ products, and boasts both whole bread loaves and “cafe eats” (baguettes, ciabatta and toast, with jam and butter).
Booze (and Drink!) News
• Four Utah breweries are bringing home top honors from last weekend’s Great American Beer Festival in Denver, competing among hundreds of beermakers in 106 categories. Kiitos Brewing was a double winner, taking gold medals for its Kiitos Pale Ale (in the English ale category) and its Kiitos Blonde Ale (in the golden or blonde ale category). Uinta Brewing’s Was Angeles Craft Beer took a gold medal in the American cream ale category. The Divi from Park City’s Offset Bier Co. won a gold medal in the session India pale ale category. And Red Rock Brewing’s It’s a G Thang Ginger Gose took home a silver medal in the contemporary gose category.
Dish of the Week
(Sean P. Means | The Salt Lake Tribune) The ratatouille hash & eggs from Marmalade Brunch House in Salt Lake City.
My wife and I took a rare Sunday brunch outing to Marmalade Brunch House, 535 N. 300 West, Salt Lake City — and we ended up ordering the same dish: The ratatouille hash & eggs ($15). It’s a hearty meat-and-potatoes kind of dish, minus the meat (though omnivores can add bacon, ham or sausage for $3 more). A substantial dollop of ratatouille (diced tomatoes, zucchini, onions, bell peppers and Italian herbs) is mixed into a generous portion of diced potatoes. The eggs, which I had over-medium, came with parmesan cheese, adding a needed dash of saltiness to the vegetables. Next time, my wife and I will likely order one to share, since we both had plenty of leftovers.
