Candy Dish Blog

If you have any of these little guys left over, and I bet you do, you may be wondering what to do with them. Here at Candy Dish Blog, we are hard at work and ready to offer solutions.

1. Use them in crafts. Glue them to earring posts to make conversation heart earrings or use them to decorate a Valentine’s themed picture frame.
2. Make a conversation heart martini. When you perfect a recipe, let us know and we will post it here.
3. Pastel food decoration. Grind them up in the food processor to make pretty candy dust you can sprinkle on cupcakes and other yummy goodies.
4. Send them to Susan. She loves them.
5. Wrap them in plastic and save them for summer. Extra conversation hearts in February? Who cares. Extra conversation hearts in June? Now you are the hit of the barbecue!

What? You already ate all your conversation hearts? I bet you could still find some in the store at a discount. After all, Valentine’s Week is just now ending.

Conversation Hearts by CraftyGoat.

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?

• At one time, conversation candies were made into many shapes including horseshoes, baseballs and watches

• About 8 billion hearts will be produced this year; that’s enough candy to stretch from Rome, Italy to Valentine, Ariz. and back again 20 times
• The peak selling season for conversation hearts last only six weeks, but confectioners produce the candy for nearly eleven months of the year
• At least 10 new conversation heart sayings are introduced each year. Recent additions include “Yeah Right”, “Call Home” and “Puppy Love”
• Each year the television game show JEOPARDY! includes questions about conversation hearts on its Valentine’s Day show

Conversation Hearts by Brent and MariLynn.

In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Queen Gertrude offers the now-loved sentiment “Sweets to the Sweet.” Perhaps this is the origin of the tradition of giving candy to a loved one. Early American colonists made homemade candies with love notes scratched on the surface for Valentine’s Day. New England Confectionary Company (NECCO) expanded upon the colonists’ idea and created the conversation heart in the mid-1800s.

In 1860, Daniel Chase, brother of NECCO founder Oliver Chase, invented the process to print motto candies. Originally, the candies were “cockles” – small, crisp, scallop shell-shaped candy wrapped in colored paper with printed sayings. The Sweet Hearts, the name used for candies with mottos inscribed directly on them, were invented in 1900. The candy was cut into shapes like horseshoes and baseballs. This allowed for longer sayings to be printed on them such as “How long shall I have to wait? Pray be considerate.” This enabled would-be-lovers to send messages to each other.

As time went on, the sayings became shorter and more to the point. The familiar heart shape was also produced. Original sayings include “be mine,” “kiss me” and “my man.” Every year new sayings are added.

Today, conversation hearts are one of the most popular Valentine’s Day candies. People all over the country love to give them to their valentines and they are especially popular with school children.

What would your suggestion for a new saying be?

Conversation Hearts by andrewds14.