The Gift of Life

As I have mentioned My wife and I feel that it is important to give back to community.  We  have done this in numerous ways mostly by giving gift certificates to the local library, charities and schools. But the one project that we have been working on,  now going onto our Third year is our annual Life Source Blood Drive. This year's  drive is scheduled for Sunday December 12, 2010.

How does candy / chocolate and blood mix? It doesn't really but here are a few ways using my creativity...

chocolate makes you feel good

                        ---- giving the gift of life makes you feel good

showing your appreciation through a gift box makes the recipient feel good

                        ---- receiving the gift of life makes you feel good

Each year the blood drive has grown. Our first year we collected about 22 pints of blood, last year we collected 29 pints of blood. These numbers do not include the number of people who came and were not eligible to donate or those who had prior commitments on that day so they gave a different day.

This year I a happy to announce that Jennifer Naida the 2010 Mrs. Illinois International will be at our

 blood drive helping recruit donors.  Jennifer's personal platform is Help and Hope: The Vasculitis Foundation, as well as the International Pageant’s national platform, Go Red for Women for the American Heart Association.  Additionally, Jennifer is the founder/support group leader of the Northern Illinois Vasculitis Foundation Chapter.

So over the next few months I will periodically blog about the blood drive. How can you help me?

-1- Spread the word everyone who comes to my store on Sunday December 12th will get FREE treats. Besides for helping to do a good thing it is a great networking opportunity.

-2- Volunteer to donate. The first 10 people who sign up and show up will get a special gift.

Thank you for your support and helping me live the Life of the Candy Man.

The Taffy Apple

Living the Life of the Candy Man one observes many trends. Such as the current in color, the current in flavors. But one thing that is constant is that during this time of year apples are very popular for a variety of reasons.

Whether it be for the Jewish New Year Rosh Hashanah with the dipping of an apple in honey, families going apple picking  (which I have happy memories of as a kid ), or people bobbing for apples (do people still do that or am dating myself?) Apples are an integral part of the fall.

My wife recently bought a book for our kids about apples I learned more facts about apples that I ever wanted to learn. I was surprised that the book did not discuss the taffy apple. But what it did was give me the idea for this entry. 


We can thank the Brits for this awesome creation at the end of the 19th century.  Over the next 200 years or so a variety of people and companies made taffy apples too. In addition to the many companies making taffy apples so did the previous owners of Illinois Nut & Candy. They  made 4 basic apples, the classic, the half dipped sprinkle with a variety of sprinkle colors (which we turned into a full dip), the traditional New York Style candy apple and the fudge apple.

As we grew the business and developed new recipes the number of taffy apples continued to grow. Some of the apples were because of customer requests like the Chocolate Taffy Apple with Caramel and Buttered Popcorn Jelly Beans. Not my favorite but it made someone happy.

Others were from our staff experimenting with new flavors and textures. Regardless, everyone has their favorite taffy apple mine is pretty boring the simple classic apple.

But for those who like to be adventurous we have over 25 varieties of apples which now include a yes if you can believe it Sugar Free Taffy Apple option too!


So since a picture is worth a 1000 words...

 ... please enjoy the sweet site of the following and feel free to indulge by order one online. Use the promo code lotcmapple and get 25% off of your next order.

Have a sweet day! 

Fifty Golden Years

The Life of the Candy Man is sweet. You see many memorable milestones from Baby Showers to Birthdays Religious life cycle events and then the Golden Anniversary.

About a week ago a nice women called the store asking if we could help with her party favors for her 50th Anniversary Party. I told her we could and suggested that she come to the store so we could talk further and let her pick something that really made her happy. Her fear was that the store was not wheel chair accessible.   I assured her that the store was and we scheduled an appointment for later that day.


About 2 hrs later she and her husband showed up. After we talked we decided to do a custom four piece candy box in gold with a gold hot stamp on top.

We then selected the chocolates to place inside.  As planned her husband picked up the chocolates the other day. He was thrilled with the way the boxes looked.

So whether we are doing unique corporate gifts, party favors, or helping people with matching a color to a party the Life of the Candy Many is really sweet.

Six Years and Counting

Part of Happy Occasion Lolli Series

People often ask how did I become the Candy Man. Let me tell you this was not what I had planned on when I was growing up. I rode the dot com wave only to be unemployed and then I worked in a municipal government position prior to owning Illinois Nut Outlet with my wife which we renamed to be Illinois Nut and Candy.


The life of a candy man is at times truly sweet but it takes a lot of blood, sweat and tears. So here are some examples of the blood sweat and tears that I have shed.

Blood -- When I thought about blood the first thought that came to mind was the red chocolates that symbolized blood in the chocolate ten plagues. The plagues are very poplar Passover confection, but then I realized that I had really bleed. Being we make our own confections we have numerous pieces of equipment. As a owner I have two choices pay to have them fixed when they break or repair them myself. As every mechanic will tell you you need the right tools. Unfortunately I do not always have the correct tools the end result is a cut so yes I have bleed for the business.

Sweat -- As a small business owner you wear many hats; custodian, chocolatier, stock boy, sales person, HR you get the idea. Well all of the those jobs can make you sweat but the one that truly causes one to get a workout is unloading a truck . Can't decide which causes you to sweat more unloading  a truck in the heat or unloading a truck in sub zero temps -- yes you can sweat even when the thermometer reads below zero.

Tears -- Sometimes this job makes you laugh so hard you cry and other times you simply cry. This past year I admit I sat at my desk and cried numerous times. It all goes back to a little boy named Carter who we donated over 8000 gumballs to. Carter was dieing and his dream was to have it rain gumballs. We made this dream come true. As a result I followed his Dad's blog for the better part of a year and a bit until unfortunately Carter passed away. The day that I read his eulogy I cried.

So as I/We celebrate our 6th year in Business and my 6th year living the Life of the Candy Man I know I will bleed this year because something will break, I will sweat because we will get deliveries, and I hope the reason I cry is because I am laughing so hard.

Have a sweet day!

Getting Ready for the Jewish New Year

The Life of a Candy Man is a cyclical life. I go from Holiday to Holiday helping my clients/customers either create a unique corporate gift for themselves or their company or at times simply coming up with cute hostess gifts in our store.

As the Jewish New Year approaches for many Jews this is a time of self introspection. For me and my staff it is a busy time. The Rabbi's work on their speeches and I / we (my staff) work on orders. For the last few years as the Holiday approaches the Rabbi is walking to Synagogue while I am rushing home to get ready myself ready for the Holiday (its hard not to let that last minute shopper or two in).

In the store we have created a chocolate bee hives, an assortment of  chocolate lollis that are seasonal as well as many gift baskets and boxes of chocolate ready for our customers to bring as hostess gifts as they go to Family and Friends.

Something new this yeas is a Chocolate Rams Head Lolli. Why you may ask? Sephardic Jews eat the head of a Ram to symbolize the animal with which was sacrificed by Abraham as a substitute for his son Isaac. Just as our customers have been easting the heads of chocolate fish which is a Rosh Hashanah symbol that we should be leaders and not followers. Yes an animal head of chocolate is much easier to stomach than the real thing.

It is a traditional that many people wish each other a sweet new year which is so similar to what I wish people on a regular day when I close many a conversation with Have a Sweet Day!

To which I say have a Sweet New Year as well as a Sweet Day!

PS -- promise the next post will not be a lesson in Judaism

The Chocolate Hebrew Alphabet and an Upsherin

No two days are alike in the life of a Candy Man. I am always gettin many different requests for life cycle events. This weeks life cycle request was for an Upsherin.  For the vast majority of the Jewish and Non Jewish population here is a definition of an Upsherin:

"A child's third birthday signals a major transition in his or her education. For the first three years of life, a child absorbs the surrounding sights and sounds and the parents' loving care. The child is a receiver, not yet ready to give. At the age of three, children's education takes a leap—they are now ready to produce and share their unique gifts.For a Jewish boy, this transition is marked with a ceremony. It is age-old custom to allow a boy's hair to grow untouched until he's three years old. On his third Jewish birthday, friends are invited to a hair cutting." Source Chabad.org

Our customer requested that we help with the hair cutting party by supplying a chocolate party favor. I spoke with her on the phone and we came up with the idea of doing a small Chocolate  Hebrew Letter for each child who attended. Additionally the customer wanted something unique for her son as some families have the custom that at the party the child has a sweet experience with the Hebrew Alphabet. We decided to create a Jumbo Chocolate Hebrew Alphabet Bar

 that her son could eat the letters off of.  We delivered the order last week and the customer was really happy with the uniqueness of it. I was happy that the project gave me the push that I needed to get a set of Hebrew Letters online.


So another week another unique chocolate creation and for those who are of other faiths we do those life  cycle events as well.

Have a sweet day!

A Day in the life of the Candy Man - The Candy Man Helps a Customer Say Happy Birthday

People on a regular basis call and say help I need a unique gift. Some time it is for a corporate gift such as a referral gift, holiday gift or even an I'm sorry gift. Then there are time when I get asked how about a unique gift for a life cycle event. Well that is what happened the other day.

One of our customer's called and said, "I need something unique and different for my husbands 30th birthday." She did not want a typical cake and needed something that she could take with to a dinner party that she was having for her husband at a restaurant.


After thinking I suggested that we make a milk chocolate candy box (yes the actual box is chocolate).

 

I then suggested that we fill it with a variety of milk and white chocolates (since she said that was what they liked) and then we personalize the top.

The customer loved the idea and you should have the seen the smile on her face when she picked up the gift for her husband. 

Have a sweet weekend.