Week 22: All Sweets Confections

This past weekend was the first time, in my year of new things, that the activity I had planned was postponed due to weather. I will get to that activity another day, but in the mean time, I took the opportunity to drop in at a place I’d heard about but never visited.

Rumor has it that there are people among us—perhaps a coworker, a neighbor, your accountant—who appear perfectly normal but in fact lack a sweet tooth. These are the people who nibble on unsweetened carob chips, who have boxes of forgotten toffee in their freezers, who truly believe that plain ol’ fruit makes for a perfectly acceptable dessert. (Now, I love fruit. It’s nutritious. It tastes good. It has its own spot on the food pyramid. But it’s not dessert unless it is baked in a pastry or flambéed or blended with cream and frozen. I’m just sayin.’)




I firmly believe that a little candy now and then makes life sweeter. All Sweets International Confections proves I’m not the only one who feels this way. This shop, located in the retail strip west of Red Lobster, has been selling goodies from around the world for two years.

This is a great place to be a kid in a candy shop—or just feel like one. Even though my visit came after the Christmas rush and before the arrival of the new inventory, there was a sizeable selection to choose from. Chocolates in sparkling, brightly-colored wrappers are sold by the piece or by the pound, which provides the perfect opportunity for some creative mixing-and-matching. Russian, English, and German candies are the biggest sellers, but the adventurous shopper can also find Japanese Mochi Balls and Candy-Covered Chick Peas. (Whoever said the peanut is the only legume worthy of a candy coating? The modest garbanzo finally has its day!)



The owner, Hiyam, buys and imports directly to make sure he gets the best quality. (He was kind enough to give me a bag of samples, and everything I’ve tried so far has passed the test.) In chatting with him, I learned that big changes are coming to All Sweets. By the end of February, if all goes as planned, he will also have canned goods, meat and dairy products, bread, honey, and other imported items for sale.

But don’t worry, sugar fiends and chocoholics—there will still be plenty of candy.