I’ve been so busy recently, I’ll post more soon… but just to let everyone know that I’ll be selling all of my products every Thursday at the Century City Farmers Market btw 11am-2pm (the hours on the website are out of date). It’s my first farmers market, and I’m super excited to sell directly to people on a regular basis and get to know customers face-to-face. And it turns that I can (just) fit a canopy tent and two small tables into my l’il Beetle along with my products, and me.

So, stop by if you have a chance! This Thursday, July 3, might be a good time, because I suspect that most people who work in the area will be leaving early and it’s going to be a pretty sparse day… so I’ll have time to talk.

And I want to add a weekend market in a residential area once I can find one that has an opening for a confectioner and is the right fit. I’d like to stay within the central L.A. area. Santa Monica markets are all impossible for me to get into, as are some of the more popular ones, too, for now… I wouldn’t mind going to the Valley, except that it’s significantly hotter there… So I’ll see how it goes.

Oh, and I also look forward to blogging about what it’s like to be a vendor at a farmers market.

I sent out my first promotional email to my mailing list today…. so I figured I’d republish it here, too…  Orders close this Saturday!

Father’s Day 2008: The Candy Bar Edition

Looking for a way to surprise your Dad? A box of BonBonBar’s handmade candy bars will probably do the trick. They may look like the candy bars that he grew up on, but with fresh and organic ingredients, they take the flavor to a whole new level. And whoever heard of Single Malt Scotch in a candy bar? Well, you… and me…. and maybe soon your Dad.

And marshmallows for Dad? Why not… He has a soft side, too.

Please place your order (hopefully using the included coupon) by this Saturday, June 7, at Noon so that the confections can be made fresh and sent to him in time for Father’s Day on Sunday, June 15. All 2-Day shipments will be sent out on Tuesday, June 10, unless otherwise requested.

Nina

Save 10%

on orders over $50*
until 6/8/2008.

Use coupon code: fathers

* Price does not include shipping and handling charges, or applicable taxes. Rates may vary.

Will close tomorrow (Saturday) at Noon PT.  They’ll be mailed out on Monday.

But if you live in LA, you can tune in to 94.7 The Wave every day next week during lunch to enter to win BonBonBar candy bars and marshmallows for Mom!

Check it out — Katie Ricketts, the community/market organizer for the Southland Farmers’ Market Association, has written a wonderful post about her experience with me and my BonBonBars on the “Emerald City” Green Living Blog of the LATimes. You can also follow the SFMA link above to read about their “Celebrate the Market” Gala Dinner and Auction on May 18. In addition to many other fantastic things, they’ll be auctioning off a basket of my candy bars and marshmallows.

And yes, I do respond to “marshmallow lady!”

And thanks so much to everyone for the caramel feedback! I’m going to respond to the new comments and post the results of my recipe trials before the weekend.

It’s coming very close to the brink of scary melty chocolate season hot weather, and I’ve decided to partially fight it and partially give in to it. Fighting it means insisting on overnight shipping with gel packs and insulated boxes until mid-to-late October for all candy bar orders; only SoCal orders could still go Ground and Priority Mail.

Giving in to it means playing with a new line for BonBonBar — caramels. Like my marshmallows, they’re not ruined by heat, and last for a long time, to boot. Ironically, though, it’ll mean spending my summer standing over sweltering pots of boiling sugar (followed by lots of wrapping and twisting).

Like candy bars, I think that caramels are an under-developed area of confectionery that could be enjoyed a lot more. There are Kraft cubes, of course, as well some artisans making better ones with cream, butter, and salt and some flavors — coffee, chocolate, and some fruits (esp from Europe).

But there’s so much more than can be done! Real caramelized sugar has a complex flavor that goes with so many others flavors…. and since the majority of my bars have caramel components, they can be converted to caramels, for something like bare candy bars.

I’ve begun developing a few so far, and I think I’m going to aim for 5 flavors. And as always, I’m putting together packaging. They’ll either be candy-bar sized or bite-sized, in some form of cellophane.

My ideas so far are:

Malted Chocolate Caramels - in honor of the Malt Bar. The original malt bar actually had caramel in it, so it’s nice to bring it back.

Salted Caramel Nut Chocolate Caramels - this is like a stable version of a melted Caramel Nut Bar, with Almonds, Walnuts, Pecans, Cacao Nibs, and Maldon Salt.

Single Malt Scotch Caramels - I’ve made this with Balvanie, and it’s crazy delicious. I’m actually torn on whether or not to add salt. Unlike my Scotch Bar, I don’t think this one will involve chocolate.

Cinnamon Almond Caramels - Also. Crazy. Delicious.

Chocolate and Vanilla Caramels - A layer of chocolate and a layer of vanilla, inspired by a scoop of each in an ice cream cone. The layers could be parallel or swirled.

Rum Caramels - Maybe with Mount Gay Spiced Rum. Maybe with brown sugar, too, if it needs it.

Honey Walnut Caramels - I’m addicted to Bill’s Bees honey from the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market, and would love to feature one of their honeys in these (I already use their Orange Blossom for my Orange Bar)

Orange Caramels - Maybe with a layer of pecan nougat, too, like in my Orange Bar.

Pistachio-Cardamom Caramels - Possibly with apricot.

Salted Honey Peanut - If I can deal with my peanut issues (my understanding is that conventional peanuts are heavily sprayed with pesticides b/c they’re very susceptible to mold damage, which makes me a little scared of organic peanuts, too)

Coffee-Hazelnut

Any other ideas? If I develop your idea, I’ll send you a free package!