So now the Autumn mornings get frosty cold, the leaves turn golden yellow and scatter themselves across the driveway like so much gilded confetti, and the daylight goes silvery cool as the nights get longer and longer. Another Halloween has come and gone, leaving behind another pile of pumpkin guts and horror DVDs. Another round of 'scare the bejeezus out of the little trick-or-treaters with your freaky zombie costume'. Another overflowing candy dish, and yet another wonderfully aching belly. It's been fun (and filling) so far, and Thanksgiving's yet to come.

It may not be turkey day just yet, but that doesn't mean we can't re-live the good times with memories of these spiffy sugary treats: http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a9.....oweenCandy.jpg

Starting from top left to right, you're looking at Jones Candy Corn Soda, Halloween Kit Kats, Hershey's Candy Corn and Pumpkin Spice Kisses, and finally a homemade Snickers cupcake (complete with cross-section so you can see the gooey, chocolatey innards).

Here's a quicky breakdown of the snacking experience:

Jones Candy Corn Soda. Every year, Jones Soda gets its weird on with such seasonal 'delights' as Green Bean Casserole, Turkey and Gravy, Salmon Pâté, and Antacid flavors (I kid you not). Candy Corn seems to have become a perennial Fall fave, while other taste treats from years past, such as Creepy Cranberry and Dread Licorice, don't seem to have made it past their debut seasons. I can't vouch for the other freaky flavors (since I wasn't brave enough to try them), but I can tell you that Candy Corn is fairly inoffensive... it's kind of tasty, even. Thing is, though, it doesn't taste anything like candy corn. It's sweet, to be sure, but I'd say it's more like caramelized crème brûlée.

Halloween Kit Kats. They're basically the same thing as white chocolate Kit Kats, which means they taste kind of like sweet, buttery floor wax... just orange colored.

Hershey's Candy Corn Kisses. Now these little suckers are interesting, not least for their striped, multi-colored appearance. Again, I won't say that they taste like real candy corn (because they don't), but they do have an appealing butterscotch flavor.

Hershey's Pumpkin Spice Kisses. Even better than the Candy Corn flavor, IMHO. Rich, buttery and full of autumn spices - if you pretend real hard, they might pass for pumpkin pie. To my palate, though, they taste much more like fresh carrot cake (including the frosting, but without those icky strings of shredded carrot).

Snickers Cupcake. Friend of the family donated a batch of candy-flavored cupcakes this year. In addition to the Snickers ones, there were peanut butter cup and spiced clove. As you can see, the insides of these festive beauties are gooey globs of melted chocolate candy. Hot dang.