Dairy State Omiyagi

While at the independent retailer called Evans in Sheboygan Falls Saturday before last, I bought a few souvenirs, so that I didn't have to face my family empty-handed when I returned. Returning from even a short trip with small gifts is a Japanese custom called omiyagi, which I've adopted. The gifts themselves are called omiyagi as well, as in "Where's my omiyagi?"

Ann received a Polly Pocket doll, which has the virtue of costing less than $5. For about that price, I got Lilly a Solar System mobile -- nine glow-in-the-dark plastic orbs (count 'em, nine), some of which resemble the planets we know, though not all. The one that seems to be Mars is more bright orange than rust red, and the putative "Neptune" is pimp purple. All the orbs come with string, and some Silly-Putty-like adhesive to fix them to the ceiling, which she has done over her bed.

Yuriko got omiyagi from a cheese shop near Belgium, Wisconsin, but that's another story. While at Evans, I also checked out the candy rack, hoping to find something novel. But novel candy racks are hard to find. Just once, I want to find a Yorkie bar in the United States; I can get Ritter Sport in this country now, why not Yorkie? (Then again, that unavailability adds to its desirability.)

But I did find a thing called the One Dollar Bar. Evans was selling it for 79 cents, so maybe that's a discount. According to the packaging, "the original One Dollar Bar was founded by chocolatiers Mark and Erica Van Wyk[,] who value premium chocolate." Van Wyk Confections LLC has an address in Colorado, but the bar I bought says Made in Canada.

A simple search reveals that the One Dollar Bar is fund-raising chocolate, a lesser-known player in that game than World's Finest. I bought one for each of the girls, and one for myself. Not bad. But expect to pay at least a dollar if a kid shows up at your door peddling them.