Weddings & Parties & Showers, oh my!

The candy business is a very seasonal business. This is one of the lessons I learned very quickly during my first foray into the candy biz. I worked for a Hershey Chocolate and it was explained to me like this: Halloween is (obviously) the biggest candy holiday, followed by Easter, Valentine’s day and Christmas. Of course, there are other candy “holidays” as well, Back-to-School, Harvest, and Summer Camping. (Yep, think of all the displays for S’mores. You’ve probably already seen a few in some of the big box grocery retail stores.)

So, I shouldn’t have been surprised to realize that City Caramels also are sensitive to the ever changing seasons. It’s slightly different than the schedule laid out above. Holiday time is a big season for caramels. Another huge season? Now. Weddings and showers and summer parties galore.

An aspect that I’m really proud of about City Caramels is that they are truly representative of Sweet Home Chicago. I love that people can give (and get) a little piece of caramel that exudes Chicagoness. I’m always so honored to be asked to provide caramels for wedding favors or as part of a welcome bag. Please contact me at citycaramels@gmail.com if you have an upcoming event and are considering using City Caramels. My weekends are filling up quickly, but I do have a few left and would love to put together a bunch of favors for your guests.

Tis the caramel season!

They’re back…

So many things to love about late spring/early summer.  One of my favorites: the return of farmer’s markets. I went to the Green City Farmer’s Market today. The purple asparagus stalks were a sight to behold. Gorgeous.  I love that the fruits and vegetables that you can pick up at farmer’s market are oftentimes so different looking (and tasting) than what you normally pick up at the grocery store. I’m including a link with a list of all the ‘official” city of Chicago farmer’s markets listed by day of the week.

Of course, there are way more market’s than just the ones in the provided list.  For example, in my hood, the city hosts the market on Tuesday a.m.  Whereas my neighborhood’s chamber of commerce hosts the one on Thursday evenings. I’d really like a comprehensive list that gives me ALL the farmer’s markets in the city, but I’ve yet to find one. I’ll be on the lookout and if I find something I’ll be sure to post.

In the meantime, I’ve gotta grab another slice of bread from the delicious boule I snagged this morning.

Later!

Green Acres…

Have you ever read Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle?  If you haven’t, let me sum it up: the author and her family decide to live on a farm for a year and be localvores.  Growing all their own vegetables, raising livestock and only purchasing/eating items that were made within a 120 mile radius (I think, don’t quote me on that stat) of their home.  It’s a fantastic book for a number of reasons. One, B.K. is an amazing writer, I’m a big fan of her fiction.  Two, even if you’ve never, ever had any desire to farm, this book is going to make you curious about the farming lifestyle.

Everyone knows there’s a world of difference between a tomato purchased at the grocery store versus a tomato grown in your own backyard. Now, imagine those amplified tastes being applied to everything else you put into your mouth.

Sadly, many of us will never have the experience of living and maintaining a farm.  But, not so sadly, we can still enjoy the fruits of local farmers labor.  Go to a farmer’s market. Yes, you’re going to pay a little more. And yes, the taste experience will be worth it.

I was so happy to learn that a local restaurant who is committed to the farm to table philosophy has started a Tuesday evening farmer’s market. The Center Square Journal reported that the Brown Trout will open it’s doors on Tuesday evenings and serve as a venue to various small farmers with unique items.  Here’s a brief excerpt I lifted off of Brown Trout’s website:

Browntrout will be having a farmers Market every Tuesday Night From 5pm-8pm May 1st till August –September. This is to try to help grow our community of small farmers, chefs, and community. It will be called Ground Up Farmers Market…It is part of Ground up group created by Chicago chefs and Marty and Kris of Spence farms. We will have small farmers, Childrens cooking classes, and tales of sustainability. Please come help us start a solution.

I’m planning on checking out this market on Tuesday evening. Hope to see you there!

Something New

I spend a lot of time on this site writing about caramels, stuff going on in Chicago (or rather, things I like to eat in Chicago!). Tonight,however, I thought I’d mix it up just a bit and leave you with a recipe.  

 We’ve had a ton of asparagus as of late and I always have lots of cream left over from caramel making.  One Friday night a few weeks ago I made this recipe from Bon Appetit.  I modified the ingredients & directions just a bit, but certainly wanted to give credit to my source of inspiration.  

So delicious! Reminds me of the classic artichoke dip you can get pretty much anywhere.  Completely different experience when made at home with fresh ingredients like asparagus and herbs.  Loved this!

Asparagus and Goat Cheese Dip

Ingredients

• 1 bunch of asparagus cut into 3/4-inch pieces 
• 1 scallion diced
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups cream
• 1 cup grated cheese (whatever you have on hand!)
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 14-ounce can chopped artichoke hearts in water, drained
• 1/4 cup frozen peas
• 4 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs (I had rosemary and parsley on hand)
• 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• 4 ounces crumbled fresh goat cheese, divided

How to prepare:

• Preheat oven to 450°. Cook asparagus in a large pot of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Drain; let cool. 
• Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Add diced scallion and cook until  translucent. Whisk in flour; pour in cream. Bring to a low simmer, whisking constantly. Cook, whisking occasionally, until thickened; remove from heat.  Add cheese; whisk until cheese is melted and mixture is smooth. Season to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Fold in asparagus (reserve tips), artichoke hearts, peas, herbs,  lemon zest and 2 oz. crumbled fresh goat cheese. 
• Transfer mixture to a 4–5-cup baking dish; arrange asparagus tips on top and dot with another 2 oz. goat cheese. Bake until golden brown and bubbling, 15–20 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Marzipan

I’ve had cake on the brain since Easter. A very particular type of cake. the marzipan torte from Lutz Bakery on Montrose.  Love!  Marzipan is one of my all time favorite things–not sure if I should describe it as a candy, I guess it’s more of a confection,  ground almonds and sugar. 

Another really cool thing about marzipan?  It’s so cool how it can be molded into different shapes like fruit or animals.  Hence the picture above. Search online, you’ll see marzipan shaped babies that are so life-like looking it’s creepy!

But, back to the cake, what I especially love about Lutz (besides all the nostalgic memories of visiting this restaurant when I was a kid) is that you can buy cake, including my favorite, by the slice!    

So, my love for marzipan is revealed…

Little Blue Bird

Blue Bird

Hello there!

It’s been a week since National Caramel Day and the Cubs home opener. My social media giveaway experiment unfortunately did not overwhelm me with thousands of new followers as I had hoped it would. However, with that being said, I did gain some new Facebook fans as well as some new twitter followers. So, I’m happy–because I guess it’s better in the long run to have a targeted audience as opposed to a very general audience, right?

Anyway, this past week my social media forays have brought new things–like the update to the Facebook timeline,  It’s not so bad.  I’ve also been back on Pinterest. Very cool concept, I just don’t want to get sucked in…But I did get sucked into Houzz just a little bit.  I love perusing design websites and this one is a lot like Pinterest, but focused solely on the home. Love!

My next endeavor is to begin Networking.  That’s kind of a dreaded word for me, don’t get me wrong, I love to meet and connect with new people.  It’s just somehow as soon as what would have been a natural and organic interaction is labeled as ‘networking’…well, it does seem to cast a gray cloud over the interaction, don’t you think?  Anyway–there are so many incredible bloggers out there. I’ve enjoyed plenty of things that I’ve read online and never one actually checked in with the author.  I think it’s about time I start doing that…After all, I can’t expect people to check in with me if I’m not doing it in the first place.

Talk to you next week!

 

Caramel Eve

Twas the night before the give away…

Short blog this evening because tomorrow is National Caramel Day AND the Cub’s home opener.  To celebrate–City Caramels will be giving away one 1/2 lb. bag to a very lucky Facebook fan and one 1/2 lb. bag to a Twitter follower.

Could be you! Check back tomorrow to find out who the winners are.

Thanks!

Give Away!

I don’t usually post on Friday’s–but a special occasion, make that TWO, special occasions are occurring this upcoming Thursday, April 5th.

The First–It’s the Cubs home opener! I’m so excited for baseball to be back. I especially can’t wait to see all the changes that Theo Epstein has implemented.

The Second–April 5th is National Caramel Day!!!

To celebrate two of my favorite things–I’m GIVING AWAY two 1/2 lb bags of Wrigleyville City Caramels.  My current favorite. Think Baby Ruth candy bar, with a twist.  Lots of salty, roasted peanuts embedded in caramel that’s been infused with Old Style beer.  A taste of Wrigley!

The Contest Details:

1) Tell me who your favorite Cub player (past or present) is and why.  Also, just for fun, let me know the number of games you think the Cubs are going to win this year. At the end of the season I’ll send a bag to the person whose guess was most accurate.

2) There are a number of ways you can let me know your thoughts:

a) You can leave your answer directly on this blog.

b) You can LIKE City Caramels  on Facebook and leave a comment on the wall.

c) Or you can follow City Caramels on Twitter and tweet me your answer.

3) I will randomly choose two winners on the morning of Thursday, April 5th. I’ll contact you directly and then you can let me know where you would like the caramels delivered.

 

Sound good? Okay. Let the games begin!

 

Tweet, tweet, tweet…

Week one of my social media experiment is done.  This past week I concentrated on getting to know Twitter.  Of all the social media out there, this was the one that I had the worst handle on.  

I’m proud to write that I (think I) get the concept of Twitter now.  Downloading Tweet Deck made understanding Twitter infinitely easier.  I was also incredibly impressed with the amount of free tutorials that one can find on line–what did people do before You tube?  

What I found disconcerting? The amount of spam that exists out in tweet land. And lots of it is of the triple x variety. Gross.  A few times this past week I was so excited to see that I had garnered a few new followers, only to discover that these followers were less than desirable…Block.  Block. Block. Yuck. I’m taking about caramel, people–let’s keep things G rated.

There’s still loads for me to learn, but I do like the format.  One must be pithy and succinct. 

I’m going to continue my tweeting and add on face booking this week as well…

Etsy Love

City Caramels has been on Etsy for a while and it’s been a great forum for getting City Caramels out to people who don’t live in the immediate Chicagoland area.  

Recently, I decided to really try and ramp up my usage of Etsy. One, I love the concept behind the site. I’ve purchased unique, one of a kind items. (I really enjoy buying and using something that not everyone else has–Etsy makes that easy.)  

Two, It’s been a goal of mine to get better at social networking–that includes blogging, face-booking, tweeting, pintetest etc.  I’ve been saying this for a while, but haven’t actually executed anything.  It goes back to business 101–a goal’s gotta be S.M.A.R.T. I know the acronym is cliche, but there is something to be said for measurement…

And that brings me back to Etsy, a lot of sellers who do well on Etsy do so because they are social networking super stars.    So, I figure now’s City Caramels time.  I can really delve into social networking and measure my success (or lack there of) based on Etsy sales.  

I’ll keep you updated in the weeks and months to come on how my social networking experiment is working out for City Caramels. I’ve never been a great fan of self-promotion but I’d like to think there’s a way to be authentic and promote yourself/one’s business while still adding value and helping others.  We’ll see how it goes. I’ll keep you updated.

Thanks!

Oh! A website that I came across that I am loving right now,  

http://www.handmadeology.com.  Great site for any of you who might be contemplating Etsy…