Good Housekeeping magazine did a brief profile on Katrina Markoff, owner and creator of Vosges Haut-Chocolat. It’s a nice article but I think the best part is the 10% off online orders coupon code at the end. (My reviews on Vosges.)

Gourmet Magazine has a great focus on Milk Chocolate in their February 2007 issue. They’ve posted a ranked list online of the top 25 chocolates and some notes from their tasting panel. Biggest surprise on the list? Ghirardelli was ranked lower than Hershey’s. (Thanks Jessie for the heads up on that one.)

There’s big candy news brewing in Japan. Fujiya, a confectionery company that makes candy, drinks and snack cakes with the mascot “Peko-chan”, has admitted to using expired milk and perishable products in its products that were later tested to contain 10 times the acceptable levels of bacteria in them. Products have been recalled and removed from store shelves and the ubiquitous vending machines all over Asia. The scandal has grown as past cases of food poisoning from the sweets have been re-examined. The president has stepped down and there is talk that Morinaga may be poised to take a bigger stake in the company.

I’ve reviewed two of their items, the Feel Envy (part of the Feel & Platinum line that has had a limited release in the United States and Canada and more recently the High Conc. Milk Candy.

In heathlier news out of Asia, Lotte is discontinuing the use of trans fats (partially hydrogenated oils) in their confectionery. Trans fats are blamed for raising bad cholesterol leves and lowering good cholesterol. Lotte is known around the world for their Koala cream line of products. (My reviews of a couple of their products here.)

In slightly related news an alternative to partially hydrogenated oils is interesterified fat is now turning out to have similar (but not as dire) effects on cholesterol levels and may not provide the salvation that food manufacturers were looking for. I don’t know much about interesterified fat, but it appears it has another name ... biodiesel.

Here are a few links for the long holiday weekend:

Missed Manners did more than just a gingerbread house for the holidays. He and his family recreated the seige on Helm Deep from Lord of the Rings book Two Towers in gummis, licorice and even catapults made from Tootsie Pops.

Pretty inventive stuff. If I had to do a diorama for a book report, I’d definitely tackle it in candy like they did!

Second - if you haven’t read it yet, there was an interesting expose by Scott at DallasFood.org about a super-expensive chocolate called Noka. If you read through all of it, including the comments in the forums you’ll find out that Noka later engaged one of the defenders of Noka in the comments. It’s a very odd story. I have nothing against expensive chocolate. I highly doubt that any chocolate is worth that much, but as has been pointed out in the newest press release since this whole thing broke, you get a really nice collectible box! (I’ve never tried Noka but now I’m curious to try Bonnat.)

Powell’s Sweet Shoppe has opened in Boise, Idaho. I mention this because people have been visiting Candy Blog looking for info about this. I did email Powell’s corporate headquarters for more info, but my request went unanswered. Luckily KTVB did a story on it and gave me the scoop.  The new store (only the second outside of California) is off Parkcenter in Bown Crossing.

I’ll use this as my opportunity to rant about the Powell’s website, which has NEVER listed the locations of the other stores besides the one in Windsor.

UPDATE 1/16/07 - I found the Boise location:

Powell’s Sweet Shoppe
3064 S. Bown Way
Boise, ID

(208) 424-6099

Hours:
Mon-Sat 10AM to 9PM
Sun 10AM to 8PM

Finally, if you’re planning a wedding, there’s a great article about the new trend in Candy Bars for a make your own wedding favor area at the reception. What’s really great about it is that people get to pick. It’s great when a wedding recognizes that the people who attend are individuals and might not like the little chocolate truffles and might prefer some jordan almonds. And let’s face it, a huge table of candy can be drop dead gorgeous. You can adapt this idea for all sorts of occasions like birthday parties, corporate thingies, baby showers, engagements, retirements and anniversaries.

I regret to say that I’ve had to implement comment moderation on the site.

Not because of anything that you, my sweet readers, have done.

It’s the spammers.

So many of you have opted in for notification when there’s a new comment on posts that you’ve participated in that I’d rather not expose you to the nasty spam.

Until I get that fixed it just means that any comments you submit are held until I look at them. In most cases it shouldn’t be more than a couple of hours. Thanks for your patience.

UPDATE 1-8-07: Well, that didn’t take long to fix. I’ve installed a more secure form of CAPTCHA (that little string of letters and numbers you have to input with your comments) that should do the trick. Thanks again for you patience.

You thought the staff meetings where they talk about who’s responsible for filling the candy jar at the reception desk were difficult!

Looks like the non-re-election of Rick Santorum from Pennsylvania will have a lasting effect on the Senate.

Santorum was responsible for the “candy desk” which has been around since the sixties. Anyone holding that desk has traditionally been responsible for supplying treats to the Senators and staff. Santorum, as the Pennsylvania Senator, was given candy by his home state producers (Just Born, Goldenberg’s & Hershey’s) as ethics rules allow. But the new occupant of the seat is from a non-sweet producing state, Wyoming.

Read more here at the Wall Street Journal. (Story found via ObscureStore)

How did new visitors find Candy Blog in December?

1. merry christmas
2. christmas candy
3. choxie
4. reeses
5. kissables
6. butterfinger
7. razzles
8. lemonheads
9. max brenner
10. rockaleta

Nothing suprising there, Christmas was higher on people’s minds in December than in November.

The continued appearance of Rockaleta does suprise me though, not that people come here (I’m the first result) but that the candy company (Sonric) that makes them doesn’t make more of an effort to get their web page higher.

M&Ms did not even make the list this time (that doesn’t mean people aren’t looking online for M&Ms, they’re just not coming to Candy Blog for their M&M content).

One of the most flexible things you can make out of old candy canes (or any hard candy) is candy cane sugar which can be used just like regular sugar in a variety of ways.

I made mine from a couple of humongo peppermint sticks by Spangler (each weighs 4 ounces). Two of these sticks will make 1 Cup of candy cane sugar.

There are a couple of ways to make it, I use the old fashioned method.

Supplies:
1 cutting board
1 kitchen mallet or hammer (with a flat surface to it)
2 heavy duty (freezer) plastic bags

Put the candies into one of the ziploc bags and then into the other. Once you start pounding away the sharp pieces will cut the bag a bit and if you don’t want a powdery-sticky mess, it’s best to double bag.

Whack away. Break up the big pieces first, hitting them as best you can with the flat side of your mallet or hammer.

After breaking up the candy, dump it into a bowl. Shake the bowl gently to get the larger pieces to the top, scoop them off and return them to the plastic bag for further pulverization. Repeat until you get your candy sugar to the grind that you desire.

Alternate Method:

Break up candy canes into small pieces by hand.

Put into clean Coffee Grinder (or food processor).

Pulse grind to break up big chunks. Continue until you reach the desired consistency.

For best results:

When finished put into an airtight container. If you live in a particularly humid area keep it in the fridge to prevent it from reforming into a sticky pile.

Use single-colored candy. Multicolored candy canes (such as red and green stripes) will make for a rather muddy colored sugar once it’s pulverized.

Do not use plastic produce bags, they’re just too thin and you’ll end up with bits of plastic in your sugar.

See the grand list of 33 Things to do with Candy Canes for ideas on how to use your Candy Cane Sugar. I made the Peppermint Stick Layer Cake!

In the previous 365 days:

● 437 posts (wow, that sounds like a lot of candy)
● 3,960 comments

So what were my favorite things from this year?

● Pink Grapefruit Mentos - the most beautiful and tasty Mentos ever, don’t waste them on any soda fountains
● The Saga of the Valomilk - my strange journey with a box of Valomilks and my examination of them at the Candy Blog Labs (5 parts).
● My discovery of Junstuyu (which tastes like Barley Sugar Candy)

I also had some amazing experiences, ones I probably wouldn’t have had if not for Candy Blog:

● My visit to the 10th All Candy Expo in Chicago
● CocoaBella - The Night of the Chocolate Hangover

It wasn’t all happiness:

● One of my favorite candies of all time was discontinued: Reed’s Cinnamon, Butter Rum & Root Beer rolls
● I gave out my first 1 out of 10 rating to some old fruit chews that called themselves Bonkers (but weren’t)

I got you talking, too:

● Beware of internet stores that take your money and don’t send you candy
● You weighed in with your experiences when I tried my first salted licorices
● You asked me questions for my FAQ and I answered!

I traveled:

● I tried some of the best chocolatiers in New York City and explored some other candy shops as well
● I went to San Francisco a half a dozen times and always had good things to report
● I went on a full week vacation!

If 2005 was the year I was on the radio, 2006 has to be the year of multi-media coverage:

● I was interviewed for The New York Times Magazine
● I had a full page in The National Post (with some of my photos!)
● And of course I made my first appearance on television for CNBC (part 1 + video)

Of course things weren’t just happening here on Candy Blog ... here’s a round up of other candy news from my fellow sweet bloggers:

SugarHog reviewed just about every Hershey’s Kiss on the market ... David Lebovitz had a sweet year and took us behind the scenes of some great chocolatiers and confectioners ... CandyAddict added new writers, making it a group blog ... SugarSavvy.net transitioned leadership and added writers as well ... The Girl Who Ate Everything sampled Max Brenner ... If I were to start making candy again, this is what I’m gonna make: Cocoa Nib Caramel & Almond Butter Nougat Bars from Habeas Brulee ... William at Chocolate Obsession drank a lot of hot chocolate ... Slashfood seems to spend as much time talking about candy as I do ... and the latest breaking news about Noka in Dallas ... finally, you can keep up on everything in one place with Candy.Digesty.com

Here are some great candy and sweets-themed raffle prizes for this year’s Menu for Hope (raising funds for the UN World Food Programme):

David Lebovitz is offering up one of his Paris chocolate tours. Must get yourself to Paris in order to claim it.

EU08

A Japanese Wagashi Making Kit from Obachan’s Kitchen & Balcony Garden. If you’ve never had wagashi, keep an eye out for it during the New Year, it’s both beautiful and tasty - it’s like the mochi ice cream you get at the sushi restaurants but 100 times better.

AP16

She Who Eats is offering up an assortment of European and American chocolates. All dark chocolate. All right already! I’m entering!

AP31

A mess o’ Swedish sweets (candy and chocolate) from Clivia’s Cuisine. I have no idea what’s in there, but I hope it’s licorice!

EU20

Fair Trade hamper of coffee from Republica, Cocolo chocolate, Hope honey,fairtrade rice, handcream and a handbag as well! All donated by Mocktale!

AP40

Ala Cuisine has donated the “Ultimate Chocolate Tasting Kit” ... I have no idea what’s in there, but it looks like some Michel Cluizel at the very least.

CA13

Two dozen hand made chocolates from Linda at Kayak Soup ... not only do they come in a hand painted box, but once you win you can even do a bit of personalization to it!

CA11

There are oodles of other fine prizes and you can choose to throw all of your donation tickets ($10 each) towards one item, or break it up.

Here’s what you have to do to donate:

(They’re still in the process of adding prizes so check ChezPim for the latest!)

1. Choose a prize or prizes of your choice from our Menu for Hope.

2. Go to the donation site at http://www.firstgiving.com/menuforhopeIII and make a donation.

3. Each $10 you donate will give you one raffle ticket toward a prize of your choice. Please specify which prize you’d like in the ‘Personal Message’ section in the donation form when confirming your donation. You must write-in how many tickets per prize, and please use the prize code?for example, a donation of $50 can be 2 tickets for EU01 and 3 for EU02. (Please use the double-digits, not EU1, but EU01.)

4. If your company matches your charity donation, please check the box and fill in the information so we could claim the corporate match.

5. Please allow us to see your email address so that we could contact you in case you win.  Your email address will not be shared with anyone.

Entry deadline is December 20th at 6PM Pacific time.

Check back on Chez Pim on January 15 for the results of the raffle.