The jellybean lure

Every Easter someone (usually me, but not always!) puts together an Easter basket full of chocolate, marshmallow chicks, malted milk eggs and jelly beans. The fake grass which is put in the basket hides the jelly beans pretty effectively until most of the other stuff is gone. Then the little egg shaped jellies sit and call to you as you walk through the room where they nest. I've always loved the yellow and orange ones, though the green ones will do in a pinch. And I don't particularly like the spiced ones, though I realize there are those who are appalled by this. I looked around on the internet regarding the origins of the candy. Apparently, no one knows the exact origin. Something about Turkish Taffy and Jordan almonds all mixed up somehow or other. There is a mention of them as early as the US Civil War! But it wasn't until the 1970's that the Herman Goelitz Candy Company began to flavor the little beans exotically that these treats became gourmet attention getters. They were the ones who came up with pina colada, toasted coconut and other such flavors. I still prefer the old stand-bys like lemon, orange and cherry. But what do I know? I loved in the Harry Potter books, Bertie Botts had "every flavor beans" like ear wax and vomit! They apparently are so popular at Easter because of the shape of them and the fact that they are brightly colored, rendering them perfect for finding in the fake grass of an unsuspecting basket. The problem is that they are small and so you can eat like a million of them before you realize it and they are probably rotting your teeth even as you munch your 600th. Most of the time candy is big enough so that you've eaten one and you think, "whoa, if I keep this up I'll need two seats in an airplane". But the jelly bean is insidious in it's size. You walk past the basket and grab a couple. You realize, "hey, that was pretty good!" and the next time you walk past, you find yourself looking for all the yellow ones (or orange or green or if you are like my dad the black licorish ones). And the next thing you know you are standing at the table, searching for all the single color ones you have latched onto and you've completed your mission and you now have a sugar buzz and need to go out and run around the block for a while as you work it off. Of course, you don't do that. Instead you walk into the living room and crash out asleep on the couch as your body tries to balance out the sugar content in your system. When you wake up you feel like you have a hangover and you grope your way to the kitchen, only to see the basket out of the corner of your eye and you begin wondering if you got all the yellow ones (or green or red or, well,you get the idea). If you have enough will power you will not go and check, but if not you wander back to the basket and cycle repeats itself. I have considered throwing the basket out, so the temptation won't be so great. But the idea of throwing away food is repellent to me and why waste a perfectly good jelly bean? And so I can hear it in the dining room, on the table, whispering my name in a low monotonous tone. There still might be some yellow ones left. Or maybe orange. Or even green in a pinch.