Hugs and Kisses

When I was little, I was really close to my grandpa and dispensed hugs freely to him upon request. However, I had a thing with kisses. As much as I loved him, I always gave him the cheek and quickly wiped away any contact that was made. He always made a big deal if I actually kissed him and joked about it until the day he died.

Now truth be told, my grandpa was one of the greatest men ever.  While I realize no one likes wet kisses, we also used to joke that we could put his shirt in the fridge and serve it to him for dinner due to the amount of leftovers spilled down the front. Not appealing.

But the real reason?

When I was little I thought you could get pregnant from kissing, so I avoided it at all costs with anyone of the male species—especially those with kielbasa on their chin. Now I am still a hugger much more than a kisser, but it’s because I am totally OCD and have intimacy issues.

Even when it comes to chocolate, on most occasions I still prefer the Hug to the Kiss—of the Hershey variety, of course. So while I’ve presented this “recipe”—it’s so easy I hesitate to call it that—before, I recently made a fall-themed batch and thought I would reintroduce it to the blog so you remember to make it too.

There are many variations that can be created with any kind of Hershey Kisses/Hugs, and it’s also fun to use a Rolo and a pecan or walnut for a turtle version. However, I still defer to the Hug—I like the stripes and it looks cool.

All you need are three ingredients: pretzels, M & Ms and Hershey Hugs.

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees, line a baking sheet with foil and cover the foil with plain mini pretzels (either the normal twisty kind or circles).

2. Unwrap the hugs, and then place a hug in the center of each pretzel.

3. Stick the pan in the oven for only around four minutes (depending on the oven). You want to make sure the hugs get melty, but don’t want them to burn (hence the low heat).

4. As soon as you have meltage (technical terms), remove the pan from oven and immediately place an M&M in the center of each melty hug/pretzel hybrid.

5. Either cool on the counter for a couple hours, or if you have no patience, stick the pan in the fridge for an hour or so.

6. If you’re feeling so inclined, fill some little fall baggies with the treats, pair them with the turkeys you made a couple weeks ago and take a totally crappy picture of them to put on your blog.

If that doesn’t impress your friends…well, I wouldn’t be surprised. However, throw a few fun facts into the conversation and you’re good-to-go.

• “Kisses” were first introduced in 1907 and are thought to be named for the sound or motion of the chocolate being deposited during manufacturing.
• “Hugs” got their name because they appear to be little “Kisses” being hugged by white chocolate.
• Hershey makes more than 80 million Hershey’s Kisses brand chocolates every day in its chocolate factories in Hershey and Virginia.
• It would take around 95 Hershey Kisses to equal one pound of chocolate.

Considering my last post and question were about the dentist, I find it only fitting to ask you about your favorite sugary Hershey Kiss flavor today.

There are a million varieties now—caramel, almond, even candy corn—what do you prefer?

Are you a hugger or a kisser?