Clearly I have a problem — Just taking stock of my recent postings and realize that 80 percent of them relate to sugar in some form or another. However, these Icelandic and Danish candies are all about the packaging, not about the eating.

I looked high and low for these candies. I got this crazy fixation and, like a terrier, couldn’t let it go until I found them. Vichy Mints have been around since 1828. And yes, they are made from the famous thermal waters in Vichy, France…with the addition of sugar and peppermint. Please don’t let whatever association you have with the Vichy Government during WWII cloud your vision or desire for these lovely confections. It’s rumored that eating eight of these mints a day is the equivalent to a course of treatment at the spa there.

While we’re on the subject of candy, I thought I would highlight some of my favorite mints — Choward’s — that until this very moment I always believed to be called Howard’s. I don’t really like the taste of these, even the much-adored violet ones (I think they taste like dish soap), but I am enamored of the chalky embossing and the subtle pastel colors. I was actually on a quest for another type of mint, with an even better shape and history, but have come up empty-handed on every front. Never pondered it deeply, but just imagine how much fun it would be to design candy. Oh the possibilities.

This morning my friend Patty sent me a link to a food blog that I had never heard of. So, like any good student of the web, I scrolled through, clicked links and basically enjoyed what I saw. Just when I was about to get back to work, I happened on this beast. This is the world’s largest gummy worm. Measuring well over 2 feet in length, weighing in at a mind-blowing, tooth-rotting 3 whole pounds and putting you way over your daily intake limit at 4000 calories!!! It’s positively scandalously vulgar. But, what fun to receive this on February 14th from your beloved instead of that typical heart-shaped chocolate thing. For more info go here.

Around the same time that the various Chinese bus companies in lower Manhattan started serving interstate travelers, my husband and I started noticing these overstuffed, disc-shaped, sesame seed-crusted buns popping up at many of the food stands underneath the Manhattan bridge. I heard that the best ones were available in the basement of the Triple 8 Mall under the bridge, and that I should refer to them as Bing – which I believe is short for Shaobing. I ventured underground and bought a couple of them from a woman who was duly baffled by my presence. I was instantly hooked. They were tasty and satisfying and fit our limited budget. There were several varieties of Bing, but the trouble was, there was no menu and I couldn’t figure out what filling was inside any given pastry. Because of our mutual language barrier, the owner wasn’t able to shine any light on the puzzle. I knew there was a code to be revealed in the placement of the black sesame seeds, but I was firmly at a loss to break it. At around the same time, I heard that there was a place out in Queens that specialized in these little treats, both savory and sweet. I hopped on the subway, made my way to a shop called Unique Pastry and bought one of each kind. I subsequently made this crib sheet so that I could quickly and easily decipher the contents of whatever Bing I happened to find. Shortly thereafter, this piece appeared in the NY Times.