Whew – Halloween is over! I love Halloween but it’s always a lot of work. It’s like the Holy Grail of candy holidays, the Hope Diamond crown jewel in headdress of the Candy Queen, the Slant 6 of candy engine holidays. You can tell that Halloween may have left me a little bonkers.
Just when you think you have time to put up your feet and relax, the winter holidays are looming ahead in the not-so-far-off future. Interested in making candies as gifts? If so, check out The Chocolate Gourmand, where the host, Brian, not only is an expert candy maker, but makes it as holiday gifts. He doesn’t just make a box or two, but a whole bunch of tins of it. In fact, last year he made a total of 50 pounds of candy, spending approximately 40 hours on the process, and he isn’t a professional candy maker. That’s dedication.
You can visit Brian’s site and see his recipes there. He doesn’t just give out the recipes, though. He gives you step-by-step instructions, along with photos, in an easy-to-understand style and format. He walks you through every step of the process, which helps, especially if you are making something for the first time. Candy, especially chocolate, has a mystique surrounding it and lots of people think they could never make such things. Brian lays it all out for you.
He posted a list of the 2006 holiday goodies and I am sure every year he gets even better at what he does, tries new things and tweaks the recipes just a little. That has got to be a great gift list to be on.
If you are inspired by Brian, be sure to let him know. If you need a taste-tester for your candy creations, please be sure to let me know. I am glad to do that step of the hard work.
Sick Pumpin by Artrim.
