Sweets

'I don't understand anyone who doesn't like sweets...' - Emma Cooper

Confectionery is the set of food items that are rich in sugar, any one or type of which is called a confection. Modern usage may include substances rich in artificial sweeteners as well. The word candy (U.S.), sweets (UK) or lolly (Australia) is also used for the extensive variety of items that comprises confectionery.
Generally speaking, confections are low in nutritional value but rich in calories. Specially formulated chocolate has been manufactured in the past for military use due to its high concentration of calories.

In Britain, Ireland and some Commonwealth countries, sweets or more colloquially sweeties (particularly used by children, sweeties also resembles the Scottish Gaelic word suiteis in pronunciation and meaning[citation needed]). In some parts of England, spogs, spice, joy joy and goodies are terms used, alongside sweets, to denote confectionery. In North-West England, especially Lancashire, toffees is often used as a generic term for all confectionery. Northeast England and the Scottish Borders commonly use the word ket (plural kets) and more recently chud, derivative of chuddy, a localised term for chewing gum.
In Australia and New Zealand, "lollies".
In North America, "candy" - although this term can also refer to a specific range of confectionery and does not include some items called confectionery (e.g. pastry) (See below and the separate article on candy.) "Sweets" is occasionally used, as well as "treat".

Confectionery items include sweets, lollipops, candy bars, chocolate, candy floss, and other sweet items of snack food. The term does not generally apply to cakes, biscuits, or puddings which require cutlery to consume, although exceptions such as petit fours or meringues exist. Speakers of American English do not refer to these items as "candy". See candy making for the stages of sugar-cooking.
Some of the categories and types of confectionery include the following:
Hard sweets: Based on sugars cooked to the hard-crack stage, including suckers (known as boiled sweets in British English), lollipops, jawbreakers (or gobstoppers), lemon drops, peppermint drops and disks, candy canes, rock candy, etc. These also include types often mixed with nuts such as brittle. Others contain flavorings including coffee such as Kopiko.
Fudge: A confection of milk and sugar boiled to the soft-ball stage. In the US, it tends to be chocolate-flavored.
Toffee (or Taffy or Tuffy): Based on sugars cooked to the soft-ball stage and then pulled to create an elastic texture. In British English, toffee can also refer to a harder substance also made from cooked sugars which resembles toffee.
Tablet. A crumbly milk-based soft and hard candy, based on sugars cooked to the soft-ball stage. Comes in several forms, such as wafers and heart shapes.
Liquorice: Containing extract of the liquorice root. Chewier and more resilient than gum/gelatin candies, but still designed for swallowing. For example, Liquorice allsorts. Has a similar taste to Star Anise.

A chocolate tart.
Chocolates are bite-sized confectioneries generally made with chocolate. People who create chocolates are called chocolatiers, and they create their confections with couverture chocolate. A chocolate maker, on the other hand, is the person who physically creates the couverture from cacao beans and other ingredients.
Jelly candies: Including those based on sugar and starch, pectin, gum, or gelatin such as Lokum / Turkish Delight, jelly beans, gumdrops, jujubes, cola bottles gummies, etc.
Marshmallow: "Peeps" (a trade name), circus peanuts, fluffy puff, etc.
Marzipan: An almond-based confection, doughy in consistency, served in several different ways. It is often formed into shapes mimicking (for example) fruits or animals. Alternatively, marzipan may be flavoured, normally with spirits such as Kirsch or Rum, and divided into small bite-sized pieces; these flavoured marzipans are enrobed in chocolate to prevent the alcohol from evaporating, and are common in northern Europe. Marzipan is also used in cake decoration. Its lower-priced version is called Persipan.
Divinity: A nougat-like confectionery based on egg whites with chopped nuts.
Not all confections equate to "candy" in the American English sense. Non-candy confections include:
Dodol: A toffee-like food delicacy popular in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines
Mithai: A generic term for confectionery in India, typically made from dairy products and/or some form of flour. Sugar or molases are used as sweeteners.
Pastry: A baked confection whose dough is rich in butter, which was dispersed through the pastry prior to baking, resulting in a light, flaky texture; see also pie and tart.
Chewing gum: Uniquely made to be chewed, not swallowed. However, some people believe that at least some types of chewing gum, such as certain bubble gums, are indeed candy.
Ice cream: Frozen flavoured cream, often containing small chocolates and fruits[citation needed]
Halvah: Confectionery based on tahini, a paste made from ground sesame seeds.
Alfajor: a traditional South American cookie typically consisting of two round sweet biscuits joined together with a sweet jam, generally dulce de leche (milk jam).
Dragée - Coated almonds and other types of coated candy.

Excessive consumption of confectionery has been associated with increased incidences of type 2 diabetes, obesity, and tooth decay. [1]
Some sweets contain traces of nuts which poses risks for those who are allergic to them.

Vintage Clothes Shop... In Scunthorpe?

Vintage Clothes shops are fantastic, they are like treasure chests with many precious items waiting to be discovered, and I am lucky enough to be involved in a project with Voluntary Action in Scunthorpe, to help open Scunthorpe's first Vintage Shop. The aim is to help young people, and with the money from the shop, it can be put towards workshops etc. to help young people make the most of their spare time, and maybe even build skills to help them later on in life.

http://oldschoollogo.tumblr.com/
This is the website for all Vintage-y type research... still under maintenance.

The shop itself we want to be similar to others in the fact that the furniture will be old, to create the right atmosphere, although originally the idea was Ikea furniture... which soon got scrapped.

London 2012...

In July 2005, London won the vote to host the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. London has previously hosted the games in 1908 and 1948, but this time round a new stadium is being built to honour the event. In 2003, nine cities had submitted their bids to be the host for the event, they included; Havana, Istanbul, Leipzig, London, Madrid, Mosow, New York, Paris and Rio de Janiro.
In 2004 the International Olympic Committee, reduced this number to 5 cities; London, Madrid, Moscow, New York, and Paris. Moscow was knocked out followed by, New York and Madrid, leaving head to head between London and Paris.

The Olympic Stadium in progress...

How the stadium will look...

I think this is really exciting, and I have even considered volunteering to help be part of the biggest team recruited in Britain since WW2, working at the Olympics.

Flowers... My Photos from Kingsway Gardens

London... My Visit in August 1st-6th 2010

The main purpose of my London visit was to visit family, but I also wanted to take advantage of the time in the city, shopping and galleries. Originally the plan was to go on Sunday (in the car with my Auntie Rachel and my cousins who had been visiting in Scunthorpe) and return on Tuesday... However, I was enjoying myself that much I had to keep extending my trip everyday, and I finally returned home on Friday, all spent up...

I have visited London every year for over 10 years and still I find new places to explore, and sometimes head back to places I have been to before and really enjoyed. Family attractions I have visited and thoroughly enjoyed over the years are:
- Madame Tussauds (visited twice)
- London Planetarium
- London Eye
- Natural History Museum (twice)
- Science Museum (twice)
- National Gallery (three times)
- London Dungeon
- London Planetarium
- London Zoo
- London Transport Museum

Art Galleries/Museums I have visited over the years:
- V&A (three times)
- National Portrait Gallery (three times)
- Tate Britain (twice)
- Tate Modern
- Taschen Exhibition Space - Duke of York Square
- The Saatchi Gallery
- The Design Museum

And then obviously there are the shops... which I will not list as the list could go on forever.

I do also enjoy walking around London and just taking in the sights and surroundings, especially when I have a camera with me to document this. The following photos are from this August trip...



Looking down the Thames landscape.



Looking across the Thames portrait.



Shopping/ Places to eat along the Thames bank.

Flowers... My Photos from Twigmoor Woods

Past Visits...

Of all the years I have been visiting London, it is only in the past few years that I have been creating what I call a London 'stock library'. Instead of photographing the people I am with, I photograph everything of interest to me, this first started when I went with my AS Level Graphic Design and Photography group, and the experience really opened up my eyes to what was really in London. I visited again with my Art foundation group in 2009, and built on this library of photos, and I visited earlier this year on my own for my trip week.

From February 2010:

Art on the Underground - different coloured circles which from a distance make the Underground symbol in the centre.



The very famous Underground map. Fantastic. Enough said.




Untitled - Bharti Kher 2008
Taken in the Saatchi Gallery, at The Empire Strikes Back: Indian Art Today exhibition. I loved the bright colours of the bindis stuck down, it even inspired my book fair project earlier on this year.

This piece consists of 4,500 bone shaped letters to form the speech by Gandhi on the night before the 400km 'Dandi March'. I thought this was an innovative way of exploring a historic event.

'Public Notice 2 recalls the historic speech delivered by Mahatma Gandhi, on the eve of the epic Salt March to Dandi, in early 1930 as a protest against the salt tax instituted by the British. Through this speech he lays down the codes of conduct for his fellow revolutionaries, calling for complete civil disobedience, the only fierce restriction being that of maintaining ‘total peace’ and ‘absolute non-violence’. In Kallat’s work, Gandhi’s ardent speech is recreated as a haunting installation with around 4500 bone shaped alphabets recalling a turning point in the nation’s history. Each alphabet, like a misplaced relic, holds up the image of violence even as their collective chorus makes a plea for peace to a world plagued with aggression.' - The Saatchi Gallery website.

This is also from the Saatchi Gallery, it is a sculpture of a deer, which comprises of many different sized glass spheres. Close up it is even more impressive...

Out into London...

Taken from Trafalgar Square.

Taken in the Underground.

This is also taken at Trafalgar Square, I really like the contrast of the blue against the white building. The blue progresses from a light blue to a darker blue, but still has a warm feel to it. This area was actually really busy so to take this picture with hardly anyone in the foreground was quite lucky.

This is looking from the top of the stairs at Trafalgar Square too. This shows more accurately how busy the area is.

This is again at Trafalgar Square looking up at the National Gallery.