I can’t believe that it’s been so long since I’ve updated the blog.  I’ve been super busy running BonBonBar and have become spoiled by Twitter.

But I am planning on updating more frequently because there’s lots going on that’s blogworthy!

I have signed a contract to write a candymaking book that’s scheduled for release in the Spring of 2011.  It is tentatively titled Beautiful Candymaking, and it will feature my take on candy recipes of all sorts — from bark and brittle to taffy and toffee.  It’s very exciting and fun to be working with so many varied ingredients and making them into so many forms of candy.  And I feel very lucky to have this opportunity, especially in the context of this blog.  When I look back at my first blog entries that were during culinary school in 2006, when baking and confectionery were completely new and somewhat curious to me, it’s nice to feel that I kinda, sorta know this subject pretty well now and feel kinda, sorta comfortable explaining it.  Being able to share it in a book form is just amazing to me.  I also want to share a bit about the experience of writing the book and developing different forms of candy on this blog… so woohoo, Sweet Napa lives on in a pretty cool way.

Also, I did a radio interview on Dining Around with Gene Burns today on 810AM that you can listen to here.  I start at around 25:40.

And if you’re in San Francisco this week, I will be featured at The Candy Store at 1507 Vallejo St this Thursday, August 26, from 5-7pm for their Confectioner Showcase for a tasting of BonBonBar candy.  There will be bubbly, candy, me, and the wonderfulness of Diane, Brian, and Liana at their equally wonderful store (where I like to stock up on candy myself!).

And you can also tune in to ABC7 News this Friday, August 27, if you’re in the Bay Area.  BonBonBars will be featured in a segment…

More soon!  I promise, promise, promise…

Caramallows, ready for action

Hello,

Happy Holidays!  Even though I have been quiet on the newsletter front, it has been busy at BonBonBar.

The most exciting news is that I have been hard at work writing a cookbook! It is called Beautiful Candymaking, and it is due out in the Fall of 2011 through Sterling Publishing.  The book will feature my take on a wide range of candy recipes — from toffee to fudge to caramel corn — along with candymaking tips/techniques and gorgeous photography courtesy of The White on Rice Couple.

After developing so many recipes for the book, I thought that it would be a good idea to recharge and seek new inspiration for the company’s confections.  So, BonBonBar will be closed from December 23 to February 1 as I eat my way around France, Italy, Brazil, and California.  I am looking forward to returning with refreshed ideas for new products, but it most likely also means that, unfortunately, some candies will be rotated out in the new year.

As always, thank you so much for your support and enthusiasm.  Happy customers have always been my favorite part of this BonBonBar adventure, and you have given me the amazing opportunity to run a truly artisan food company that will be going into its fourth year. I am grateful, and lucky.

All the best for a happy and sweet holiday season, and I hope that BonBonBar treats will be a part of it!

Thank  you!

Nina

Founder & Chief Chocolatier,BonBonBar

MORE BONBONBAR NEWS

So far, our candy bars are being featured in Fine Cooking, DailyCandy, and The Huffington Post’s 2010 holiday gift guides.

If you would like to place your holiday orders in advance of when you would like them to ship, please let us know in the comments of the order.

All orders placed during the break will ship after February 1.

Part of the fun of having a blog is being able to share things that I like with my readers, and part of the fun of having my own artisan business is meeting others with similar businesses… So, this post combines the two.

I’ve gotten to to know Jenna from Whimsy & Spice, a Brooklyn-based artisan sweets company that she and her husband, Mark, founded a few months ago. They specialize in handmade cookies and marshmallows that taste as delicious as they look on their website and etsy shop (they also sell at the Brooklyn Flea). In some ways, I think of them as “the east coast me’s,” and aside from the fact that they’re in my native Brooklyn, I think it’s because their flavor combinations are exactly the kind that I like — honey and lavender shortbread, chocolate chilli cashew biscotti (cashew, my favorite nut!), chocolate orange cardamom shortbread (I tinkered with cardamom in my Orange Bar, but couldn’t get it just right, so this cookie fills in the gap of flavor/texture that works for the combination), cinnamon chocolate malt biscotti (Malt in a cookie! I also tinkered with putting malt in the shortbread of my Malt Bar), rose and black pepper thumbprints, and well, all of their others. Their shortbread cookies also happen to be in my favorite shape — something about scalloped edges for cookies with a delicate snap makes them taste better. They make marshmallows, as well, and we don’t even overlap our flavors. So, if you’ve been wanting chocolate or caramel marshmallows, now you know where to find them.

And they blog — check out sweet fine day! Oh, and they like my sweets, too.

I went home to the New Jersey to surprise my Mom for her birthday last week, and in between wiffle ball games with my brothers, I scavenged for food in the area, including a brief trip to New York. So, here are the food highlights… and then some.

At Momofuku in NYC, the Fried Green Tomatoes with Anchovies, Chervil, and Kimchi was one of the most boldly delicious plates of food that I’ve had in a long time. The perfect bite involved the cold and spicy kimchi hitting your tongue first, followed closely by a piping hot wedge of green tomato that crunches open to let loose its almost molten interior, and then finished with the sharp salty tang of the slightly chewy anchovies and chervil. It reminds you how much flavor food can have. Even though most dishes contain elements of crunch/chew/salt/hot/cold, this was one of the few that made it seem special, like an elaborate balancing act. And now I much prefer the wedges of fried green tomatoes to slices; there’s more room for flavor and texture that way.

Unfortunately, my Momofuku Ramen, which ironically came out in better focus than the FGT’s, was insipid at best. Everything in it seemed over-cooked and tired. During last year’s visit, my bowl had been perfect, bordering on transcendental.

And I got to sit at the counter directly in front of the cooks, which was great entertainment.

The caramel ice cream sandwich from ‘Wichcraft in Bryant Park was boring and very sweet… though there was a ballerina for entertainment.

I went to Columbus Circle to get something from Bouchon Bakery at 5pm on Sunday, but the prices stood out more than the small variety of food remaining ($4.75 for a donut, $3.75 for a linzer cookie??). I didn’t get anything.

I was amused that Per Se had ratatouille on the menu, echoing Thomas Keller’s involvement in the Pixar movie.

Back in NJ, Umberto Pizzeria in Fair Haven is my pizza of choice. It’s a mom & pop pizza shop with a Sicilian pizza that has a gooey top, pillowy middle, and crunchy bottom. They don’t deliver, but we’ve been taking it out for years. Their NY-style is also quite nice.

The Steak au Poivre at Avenue in Long Branch was velvety and juicy, and satisfied my steak craving.

The restaurant is on the water above the beach that now has palm trees (!).

I also wandered into my parents’ garden and yard, in search of any and all things edible among the beguiling greenery and flowers.

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I was delighted to discover that the cherry tree that I used to be only vaguely aware of is actually a sour cherry tree.

My parents had already picked most of them for liqueurs, but I had plans to make a pie, or compote if need be, the next day with the rmg few… but they disappeared overnight! Either by the birds or spoilage, I guess.

At least this one will be forever in mid-bite…

Then there were the black raspberries…

And the wild black raspberries. The immediate gratification of impromptu berry-picking is one of the greatest pleasures I know of.

There were blueberries in the making.

And apples.

And pears.

And there are always more flowers…

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Please enjoy this shameless plug for my boyfriend’s new website, Socialverse!

You may already know that Chad’s good at thinking up dreamy birthday cake ideas, but you should also know that his true area of expertise is software engineering. With Socialverse, I like to think that his company has developed a way for people to walk the world from the comfort of their computers.**

When you sign up, you get your own little doppelganger who can stroll around a map of the US. While you can explore cities and states that you dream of visiting, the site is mostly geared towards local search and social networking. So, you can chat up locals and friends near and far as well as browse businesses. Of course, people like us would probably first think to check out and add our thoughts to the restaurants and markets, but even I sometimes need to go to the hardware store or see a dentist. Socialverse lets you put your favorites on the map and find new places to go.

I suppose that it’s like citysearch and yelp, but Socialverse is cooler because it’s in real time (using Web 2.0 in clever ways) and you can actually see where these places in the country are b/c “you” are there, too.

In a typical move, Chad has thoughtfully provided lots of goodies that go above and beyond basics. So, here’s a cheat sheet to my favorite things that you can do that might not be obvious right away:

• Click on the “online” line on the upper right of the screen to see who else is online. Click on someone’s name to move closer to them.
• Place your blog (as an object) in an area where people will find it useful. You’ll find Sweet Napa already on the map somewhere in LA.
• Find the nearest ATM.
• If a location isn’t on the map yet, add it and talk about it.
• Use additional motions — such as sleeping, meditating, dancing, and acting scared.
• Adjust your appearance — clothing, size, hairstyle.
• If you are a business owner, you can promote your business online.
• Check the weather.
• You can’t zoom in or out on the main map, but if you click on “Self” then “Mini Map” in the “Navigate” menu, you can see where you on a zoomable mini map.
• Share photos.
• Search local classifieds and post your own.

Please keep in mind that this is, as Chad says, “the early public beta.” There are still bugs, but he’ll happily be the victim of anyone’s criticism… or suggestions… or insouciant banter. When the basics are ironed out, the long-term goals are to make it a nexus of local search for any type of person, business, or organization you may be interested in, and in turn, a way to build relationships and become closer with your community. More features will be added — such as perhaps coupons and ads for shops around the corner being implemented, trees being planted, menus being posted, icons being customizable, and whatever people want that the world can support.

So, feel free to sign up, check it out, and tell everyone you know about it. The world is wide open.**

**Right now, the map only functions in the US, but there are plans to make it international down the line. Also, the faster your internet connection is, the faster you’ll be able to do things. Broadband is recommended. It is also only compatible with Firefox and IE for now.