Like candy cigarettes, licorice pipes and cigars may be slowly drifting into extinction in the United States - perhaps because many American parents are understandably uncomfortable with candies which emulate smoking. For the record: I never started smoking because of these "gateway candies" - I started smoking because smoking is awesome. But cancer isn't awesome and maybe I should quit while I'm ahead.
Anyway. . . I recently bought a box of licorice pipes and licorice cigars with the expectation that they could soon vanish from stores before I have the chance to say goodbye. So I bought a couple boxes to say goodbye - like when you say goodbye to an elderly family member or friend, who you see on rare occasions, and you always suspect that this is the last time you may ever see them, because they are old.
To licorice pipes and cigars: Goodbye, in advance. If you two happen to die in the next few years, I want to say goodbye before you do. And thank you for being delicious.
To buy licorice pipes:
LINK,
LINK, and
LINK.
To buy licorice cigars:
LINK and
LINK.
Stopped by the Moonside Bakery in Half Moon Bay, California yesterday - had to buy this huge meringue mushroom just because it looks so much like the real thing. The top is dusted with powdered chocolate and powdered sugar to give it that tan and dirty look. Awesome.
A rare variety of cacao (the tree which chocolate is made from) called "Puro Nacional" was recently rediscovered in Peru; this variety was thought to have gone extinct in the early 20th century, due to disease. Marañón Chocolate is now resurrecting this variety, known for its purple beans and once prized for its floral and fruit notes - keep your eyes and noses peeled in select stores. 
In a Japanese grocery store, 
[click to enlarge]
