I have to admit that I am a sucker for interesting treats (tasty is also important, no thank you to the cockroach clusters!) I just love the idea of unwrapping a gift and finding all sorts of delicious little surprises waiting for me. I think exceptional candies-not just the run of the mill grocery store stuff, but stuff with character-brings out the kid in all of us. I stumbled onto Melville Candy Co. and was charmed from the first click. (It was the lobster, I’ll admit it. A lobster sucker is just plain awesome!) Although they certainly have more to offer, it is the suckers that I went crazy for.

I received my candy (very kindly sent to me to sample; but I would have ordered even if they didn’t offer.) yesterday and was thrilled to find that their Barley lollipops are even better in person, especially because you get to taste them. Barley sugar candy has been around for over 100 years and it definitely has a more complex flavor than most suckers. It is similar to the difference between store bought and homemade for many treats. The  complexity of the designs is also completely enchanting. Many of them are 3 dimensional and almost hard to eat because they are so very pretty. The Melvilles have been hand-molding their confections since 1978 and are still a family business, making candy by hand the old school way.

The nice people at Melville Candy Co. have generously offered a $40.00 gift certificate to one of you so you can tickle someone’s taste buds this Christmas.

To enter to win $40 of sweet, sweet barley sugar leave a comment telling us which Melville barley sucker is your favorite by Tuesday, Dec. 7th

*Extra entries can be earned by blogging, tweeting, or posting on Facebook (with links) about this giveaway. Please leave a comment for each additional entry.

The winner will be chosen by random.org and announced on Wednesday Dec. 8th. Good luck!