In honor of the Halloween season I would like to take a moment to reflect on what can be considered the best candy ever: Hershey's Take Five chocolate bar. If you disagree that is fine, but this is my blog and my blog says that Take Fives are the best chocolate bar, even candy, EVER.

The Take Five represents the pairing of what is right in the world: Chocolate, Peanuts, Peanut Butter, Caramel, and Pretzels. Take away or add anything else and you would ruin the balance of what makes this candy so damn good.

Let's focus on each ingredient:

The pretzel part is extremely important to the mix. In life it’s all about the savory and the sweet. The salt and sugar. Just the perfect balance of these two things brings an eating experience to the next level. Hence why most people crave something sweet after a big savory meal. Or why sweet BBQ sauce is so good. The folks at Hershey have also picked the perfect pretzel shape. They chose the waffle pretzel shape as oppose to the traditional pretzel knot shape. The waffle evenly distributes pretzel taste in every bite. My intern Zoë, described the pretzel as the "foundation" of the candy, and she is right. She is a very bright intern.

Next the peanut butter. I know people that don't like peanut butter, and frankly thank goodness these people have other good traits, because it is not liking peanut butter and liking George Bush that makes me wonder the most about people. If you don't like peanut butter and you like George Bush I just hate you, point blank. The peanut butter in the Take Five doesn't over power the candy; it adds creamy texture and just the right about of richness.

Now for the nuts. Nuts are more for crunchy texture than taste. They are chopped up small so even your average nut hater can enjoy a Take Five. The nuts are closer to the layer of caramel than the layer of peanut butter, so it’s not like you are having "chunky peanut butter."

The caramel is the glue that holds this wonderful mix of heaven together. You get the caramel chewiness, without the "pull out you fillings" factor. The caramel is not overly sweet or sticky, it is just right.

The final layer of chocolate that coats the entire bar is more than the "icing on the cake," it’s the chocolate in the chocolate bar. Even with all of the other players, you still note the chocolate. The Take Five in general is a testament to the perfection of the ratio between ingredients. There is just enough chocolate.

So that is my ode to the Take Five. It’s the perfectly engineered candy bar. I suggestion you buy a bag of the minis and pretend they are for the non-existent kids that will come "treat or treating" on 10/31. That is what I did.