Sunday, January 4, 2009

Great Candy Wedding Favor Ideas

Candy Wedding
Wedding favors are a great way to set-off your wedding. Guests will remember your wedding because you were different; you made them feel special for coming.


There are a lot of different types of wedding favors. One that couples commonly use is candy wedding favors. Giving your guest pieces of chocolate or a candy bar or even gummy bears, can make them feel special.

Depending on your budget and how much time you have, you can either make your own wedding favors or buy personalized ones. Either way, you’re guest are sure to feel more special. Remember, this is your big day and you don’t want your guests leaving unhappy. Because, trust me, they will talk about it…whether they had a wonderful time or didn’t.

One idea for cheap candy wedding favors is buy a couple five pound bags of gummy bears or whatever you and your finacee’s favorite candy is. Then buy little truffle boxes and embossed ribbon and assembled it yourselves. If you don’t like truffle boxes, try buying some tulle or fabric that you like and cutting it into squares. Then bring the edges up and tie the fabric with ribbon! This only cost about $30 for 100 favors!! You can’t beat that. That’s less than 3 cents per guest!! And you’ll leave your guests happy!

Another idea for making your own candy wedding favors is chocolate dipped spoons! These make great coffee stirrers and they flavor your coffee. You can either buy pre-made chocolate spoons, which will save you time. Or buy plastic spoons and chocolate chips (try flavored for a variety). Melt the chocolate and then dip the spoons in the chocolate and let harden. This might be a fun thing to do with a bunch of your girlfriends or even with your finacee!

Have candy bar wrappers personalized with your name! All you have to do is send off for these and then wait. When they arrive, they’ll be all ready to go. This is one less thing you have to worry about!

Here is a great resource to find candy wedding favors: www.ShopForBridal.com.

By Ashley Beck - 5 Healthy Alternatives To Candy This Halloween

Saturday, January 3, 2009

How to Make Chocolate Candy - A Fascinating Segment of Cooking

Chocolate Candy
If you like desserts, baking, and chocolate, then you might want to learn how to make chocolate candy. Don't be concerned; the process for creating the majority of candies is easier than you think, and with a some practice, and taste testing, you can come up with chocolate dessert recipes that's all your own.

Beginning With The Basics

Prior to starting to make chocolate candy, you might wish to begin baking more conventional chocolate desserts, such as chocolate cake or brownies. Chocolate candies such as fudge or toffee are the same as brownies, and you can even integrate these candies into your baked goods for a richer flavor. You can learn a lot of basic recipes for brownies and cakes on various internet sites, and once you get the used to these, you might feel more comfortable moving on to candy making.

You can also make the candies that you see in bakeries and speciality shops; all you will need is the right ingredients as well as a candy mold. With the mold, you can make candies that are in any shape you wish, and you can decorate or garnish the candies to taste.

In the majority of cases, you will have to melt down a certain amount of the chocolate of your choice, and you can add specific flavor extracts depending on the flavor you want the candy to be. You pour the chocolate mixture into the molds, and allow the candy to set. In most instances, the candy will set better, and faster, if you put it in the refrigerator.

Variations on a Theme

You can also make chocolate truffles, which can at times be intimidating for those who do not spend much time in the kitchen. Nevertheless, you can learn how to make chocolate candy by just combining melted chocolate and whipping cream, until it is at its desired consistency. Then, you can use an ice cream scoop to break up the portions of truffles, and put these in the refrigerator to set as well.

You can roll the truffles in nutmeg or cinnamon, coconut and crushed nuts, or even cayenne pepper after you remove them from the fridge. These candies make an excellent dessert at parties, or a great gift when you use decorated paper or bags for presentation.

If you still want to know how to make chocolate candy and are not sure you will be able to get it precisely right the first time, you can visit various internet sites like so that you can analyze the recipes as many times as is needed to, and view pictures of the finished product. Keep in mind that you do get to taste each batch you create, so this should be enough motivation to keep trying. Happy baking!

Korbin Newlyn - Lose Weight While Eating Candy?

Friday, January 2, 2009

Chocolate Candy Gift Basket - A Tasty and Easy Gift Guide

CANDY GIFT BASKET
One of the nicest gifts you can give, or receive, is a chocolate candy gift basket. Whether you're attempting to find a gift for a wedding, searching for the perfect anniversary present, or if you can not seem to find the perfect item to take along to the office Christmas party, you are sure to find a gift basket that has the desserts that everyone would want.


Personalize For That Special Effect

The basket can be individualized to contain all a person's favorite types of treats, and there are so many low-cost options. Here are some of the things you will wish to include in whatever chocolate candy gift basket you might be giving away.


Because you you have the ability to customize the basket in in the majority of cases, you should include the recipient's favorite items, such as colors, objects, as well as candy flavors will all play an important part in your decision.

If the person's who is getting the gift favorite color is purple, you can request that the basket be lined in purple fabric, or that the box that the chocolates come in have purple trim. You also can include other items inside the basket, such as red grapes or wine to preserve the 'purple' theme.


If you are aware that your loved one likes dark chocolate, try to include as many varieties of this kind of chocolate as you possibly can, and make sure that the presentation is elegant and classy. You can also include other food items that might be layered with dark chocolate, such as strawberries or popcorn, as well as chocolate treats that are decorated with sweet toppings such as caramel or coconut.


Complimentary Items


A chocolate candy gift basket can also have items that go well with chocolate, such as champagne or cheese. There are several companies that will pair the best types of cheese, wine or champagne up with your loved one's favorite chocolates, and larger gift baskets will make a terrific spread at a party or small gathering. You can check out sites on the internet to find out which pairings you need to pay particular attention to, and which basket presentations would be suitable for the person you are giving the gift to.


While you can order your chocolate candy gift basket over the internet, you can visit places such as Godiva to tailor-make your basket, and to get a taste of all the exceptional chocolates that will be included within your basket.
You can even check out discount department stores like Wal-Mart and Target for unique gift basket ideas, in addition to some candy making tips that you an use to create your own gift basket. All you'll need is a basket at the size you want, gift paper, ribbons, and all the chocolate you want.


Korbin Newlyn - Lose Weigth While Eating Candy

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Sugarless Candy Treats

SUGARLESS CANDY
Once upon a time if you were hypoglycemic or diabetic or maybe on one of those low carbohydrate diets, you were prohibited certain foods that could trigger unhealthy reactions in you body: Namely, sweets. Yes, that wonderful delicacy, CANDY. The day sugar became public enemy number 1, is the day you lost the freedom to consume your favorite treat and had to expunge all sugar from your home, system, and memory.

Well, of course, in the 60's and 70's and maybe even further back, there were sugar free candies. There were those little lollipops the dentist always gave the kids. And, there were also chocolates. I even tried a couple of them. Hummm! Let me see, what can I say about them? Oh, yes, they were tasteless and waxy: So much for sugar free candy back then.

However, there is great news for those who have to remain candy less! New discoveries in the food industry have provided us with many choices of delectable goodies we can indulge in. Oh, there are still the cute little lollipops the dentists give out ( I actually resorted to stealing those from my kids once.) But, today there are so many choices in other sweet treats to choose from. Everything from no sugar added chocolate almond bark to sugarless toffee bits. The selections now are immense. Hooray! Not only do we have many chocolate goodies to choose from, but we can also indulge in a great selection of that American favorite ( made famous by President Ronald Reagan ) the Jelly Belly.

Now, in the recent past, some companies have come out with low carbohydrate chocolate bars, but many who tried them, while loving the taste, had a negative reaction in the tummy. Yes, they got upset stomachs and, therefore, couldn't eat the little yummies! Now, due to newer sweeteners on the market, the taste is not only great, there are few negative, laxative type effects from consumption. Yes, those of us who are glycemically challenged can now safely nibble away on our sorely missed candy morsels.

So, take heart! There are new discoveries every day that help those who are forced to live the candy less lifestyle, and now there are many, many choices with which to titillate our palates. So go ahead and enjoy, who says you can't have candy?

Christopher Pratt
- My Best Chocolate Candy Bars