Candy Dish Blog

Live in Maryland? Forget to get your sweetie some sweets for yesterday? Hope is not lost. Head out to the store now, get your mitts on some discount candy and blame it on the recent storms. Gov. Martin O’Malley has declared this week Valentine’s Week. I bet the CVS around the corner has all that yummy chocolate and other goodies at 50% off this morning.

So if you didn’t stick the landing yesterday quite as well as Alexandre Bilodeau did in the Freestyle Skiing Moguls, fret no more. Just go to the nearest drug store, supermarket or convenience store and stock up. I won’t tell your secret. Just give Gov. O’Malley a thumbs-up or a high-five for saving the relationship.

Chocolate Valentine’s Sculpture by emilywjones.

We already know that candy in its various forms is the best Valentine’s Day gift. What about the worst? I surveyed our staff here at the Candy HQ about their worst Valentine’s Day gifts, either given or received, and found these selections:

1. A crock pot
2. An ant farm
3. A singing stuffed animal
4. A unicorn dancing on heart shaped clouds (No, I didn’t make this up.)
5. Nothing. Zip. Nada. Bupkis.

Remember – Getting your sweetie a bad gift can be even worse than getting nothing at all. Be sure to get out today, before the pickings are even slimmer, to get your Valentine’s candy.

And if you get someone a unicorn-themed gift, be sure it is a candy unicorn, like on the cupcake above. They are sweeter than the normal ones you encounter.

Unicorn Cupcake by kristin_a.

You may have forgotten with all the Super Bowl hoopla, talk of chocolate rivers and birthdays for our mothers, but Valentine’s Day is this coming Sunday. Remember to make this a sweet holiday for your special sweetie. Everyone loves a little candy, so stop by your favorite store and stock up.

I just got a Valentine’s Day gift from Susan, who was in New York yesterday with Jacques Torres, one of our favorite chocolatiers. Jacques’ work is incredible. It may be a bit late to order something from him, but if you are in New York, stop by one of his stores. In LA? Stop by and see Hasty Torres. Together they are a prime example of how chocolate brings people together and makes love grow. Great folks.

Think chocolate is too normal for Valentine’s Day? How about a gift basket of classic or old-time candies? Sweethearts, Mary Janes, NECCO Wafers, circus peanuts, mints, Boston Baked Beans, Lemonheads – they are all timeless in their appeal. Sometimes classic candies can be a great way to show that your love, strong as it is, is a classic itself.

What are you getting for your sweetheart for Valentine’s Day?

My favorite thing about the arrival of February? Easy – Sweethearts conversation hearts. I love the way they taste. I love the inscriptions. I love that kids still exchange boxes of them in school. That’s why each February I await the new Sweethearts messages like a kid waiting for Santa.

This year’s new messages do not disappoint, but I was sad to see one go.

First of all, in 2010 we say goodbye to ”Fax Me” which I wholeheartedly support.  Has anyone ever received a romantic fax?  I mean really.

We say hello to, among other things, “Text Me” and “Tweet Me,” both of which I can get behind.  “Text Me” is especially a natural since I am told by Candy Science Laura and the other people in the office who do not remember Commodore 64s and Ataris that texting is the preferred method of communication in a budding romance these days.  “Tweet Me” is a little more unexpected since most tweets would appear in the streams of everyone following you and therefore you’d be unlikely to type “@CandyUSA Last night was brills and I think you are totes cute.”  However, I suppose you could direct message @CandyUSA to pass along your sweet nothings.*

Other new messages messages this year include: “You Rock,” “Soul Mate,” “Love Bug” and “Me + You”. NECCO, the makers of these tiny little romantic candies, also brought back some classic expressions: “Puppy Love,” “Sweet Love,” “Sweat Pea” and “Love Me.”  Are you as surprised as I was to learn “Love Me” had been out of the mix for awhile?  I’m so glad they brought it back.

And finally, on a personal note, I was sad to learn that “E-mail Me” was being retired even though I think it was the right call.  In the early days of our romance, my husband and I did a lot of flirting via e-mail.  No one does that now.  E-mail is a business tool.  My husband IMs me, my friends write on my Facebook page, even my Dad texts me.  No one sends e-mail anymore. So, it was time to say goodbye to the “E-mail Me” Sweetheart, but I’m still sad to see it go.

Apart from the new sayings, Sweethearts have made some other upgrades for Valentine’s Day this year.  New flavors include Green Apple, Blue Raspberry, Strawberry, Lemon, Grape and Orange. On top of that, the colors are a lot brighter and more fun. 

Plus (this is my favorite part), there’s now a Sweethearts iPhone app that allows you to send a customized heart to someone you love.  You can also use the online version of the application to post to your own Twitter account or send it via e-mail.

If you were in charge of NECCO for the day, what message would you like to see on a conversation heart?

______________________________
*You figured it out.  @CandyUSA is our handle on Twitter.  Not following us yet?  What are you waiting for?

Your Christmas Shopping List:

• Aunt Ida, who still knits you a pair of mittens and a matching hat every year for Christmas
• Your next door neighbor, Sally, who always brings in your mail when you’re out of town
• Paul, your dog walker, who was the first to notice the cute new neighbor had a Golden Retriever which led to your first, second and third dates with the Golden Retriever’s owner
• The Golden Retriever’s owner with whom you have now had three officials dates (not counting the time you ran into each other at Starbucks after your second date)

What do all these people have in common? They all love candy and would like very much to get some for the holidays.  Don’t ask me how I know since I’ve never even met Ida, Sally, Paul and the Golden Retriever’s owner.  I just know.  Trust me on this one.  Almost everyone likes candy.  It’s universally appealing.

Even better, there are thousands of different types out there – each one as unique as your recipients – so you should have no problem picking out something “sweet”.  Oh, but wait.  You want to get something new, something that Ida will not have encountered in her 87 years on earth and that will let the  Golden Retriever’s owner know that you’re cool and trendy.  Well, try a few of these items on for size:

• Jolly Rancher® Smoothie flavored Candy Canes in Strawberry, Watermelon and Mixed Berry flavors
• TERRY’S CHOCOLATE ORANGE Toffee Crunch
• Sugar Cookie Taffy(it comes as part of the Fairtime Festive Mix Taffy from Adams & Brooks, along with candy cane and choc-o-mint)
• Rocky Road Holiday Assortment from Annabelle (each tub contains three flavors of Rocky Road and you can only get it online!)

I’m also a huge fan of these Hershey Kisses which let people know how your recipient behaved during the year:

 OR 

Were you naughty or nice this year?  What are you hoping to get in your Christmas stocking in the way of candy?

One way to save a bit of money and look fancy in the process is to make your own chocolate and candy gifts. We have a whole mess of holiday recipes on the CandyUSA site, and Susan shared her favorite and even gave a recipe for her signature peppermint bark. But first, how can we take some homemade stuff and make it look nice enough to be a gift for someone?

Find decorative tins to put gifts in.
Usually a tin holds only one or two homemade items. Especially if you are making something with a strong flavor or scent, like Susan’s peppermint bark or else your own concoction of bacony chocolatey goodness, it’s best to separate the sweets you make. Refer to our tips for storing candy when you package your goodies. Put the cand in a tin, along with some colored tissue paper and you have a nice gift.

Make your own gift baskets.
This can be a fun way of incorporating your homemade candy treats with something else, possibly a commercial product from the store. For example, if I were Susan and wanted to give Carl (that’s me) a holiday gift, I would put some of the peppermint bark in a gift basket with a package of Trung Nguyen coffee or maybe Luzianne coffee with chicory. Either way – I’m not picky. Include a fun holiday mug and a chocolate bar for extra sweetness and voila – your own gift basket. Wrap it in cellophane and you have a nice-looking homemade, custom made gift for less than it would cost to order a gift basket.

These supplies – baskets, tins, tissue, cellophane – can all be found at your local craft supply store.

What would you want in your gift basket if Susan were making you one?

Candy Gift Basket by Sifu Renka.

As you will recall, yesterday I told you about lovely Karen’s lovely chocolate cookie peppermint bark.  Today, I thought I would share this chocolate bark recipe from the December issue of Real Simple magazine*.

Chocolate Nut Bark

Makes: Two gifts (22 ounces in all)
Total Time: 45 minutes

What You Need:

• 12 ounces chopped semisweet chocolate
• 2 1/2 cups mixed nuts

What To Do:

• Melt the chocolate in a heat proof bowl set over (but not in) a saucepan of gently simmering water, stirring occasionally.
• Spread the chocolate evenly on a parchment-lined 9-by-13-inch baking pan and sprinkle with the nuts.  Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Break the bark into pieces.  Keep at room temperature for up to one week.

There you have it.  A recipe for those who like peppermint, and a recipe for those who prefer nuts.  Have you ever tried to combine the two?  What interesting inclusions have you used to make bark candy?

*Karen, creator of yesterday’s famed chocolate cookie peppermint bark recipe, suggests that a gingersnap crumb base would work very well with this chocolate nut bark.  I agree.  And I hope she will try it out and bring us samples.