One of my favorite parts of the holiday season is thinking about time spent with my Grandma and Grandpa McClain. And one of the things they always had on hand that made it fun was a bowl of candy. So, we stopped today at Wakarusa Dime Store, which is simply loaded with nostalgic candy, and I filled a bag with three of the candies that were always on-hand at their house: Starlight mints, butterscotch disks, and red anise squares. Now, if you’ve never had a red anise square, it’s a candy that tastes like black licorice. Anise seeds are sweeter than fennel, one of the other sources of that licorice flavor. I know, no one else in my family will touch them, but if you’re a fan, you might want to check them out!

I didn’t have a candy dish to store them in, so we stopped at an antique mall and I found a cool basket that is much safer in my office, with the dog and cats always about.