Again, promises of a real blog post soon…

How to Scrape a Vanilla Bean

How to Make Marshmallow Pops

How to Melt Chocolate in the Microwave

Salted Caramel: Smooth or Crunchy?  You Decide

Using Vanilla Extract Versus Vanilla Beans

Below is the email that I sent out to my mailing list today.  I’m very excited about this candy bar.  Although I’d conceived of it as a lighter Valentine’s Day-like candy originally, it ended up taking up the tones of bbq — with salt, pepper, and corn.  Oh well… I think it works.

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Hello,

The Bourbon Candy Bar is here!  For its launch, we are honored to be using George T. Stagg Bourbon in this bar. This 141.8 proof bourbon is renowned for perfectly balancing intensity and finesse.  It is made in small batches that are released to the public only twice a year.  When our supply runs out, we will switch to another bourbon.  We have rounded out this bar with caramel, salt, black pepper, dark chocolate, and a corn wafer.

We are also using this opportunity to raise funds for Haiti relief.  10% of all product sales until Midnight on Sunday, January 31, will be donated to the American Red Cross for Haiti.  Advance Valentine’s Day orders placed during this time will also be included.

Thank you!
Nina
Founder & Chief Chocolatier, BonBonBar

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Hello,

I just wanted to wish everyone a happy and healthy holiday season, perhaps enhanced by handmade candy bars, caramels, and marshmallows!

BonBonBar received its first online order two years and one day ago.  During all of the adventures and surprises that have unfolded since then, I’ve been consistently amazed by how lucky I am to have such fun and kind customers.  So, I also wanted to thank you for making this such an exciting and rewarding experience.  I have learned much and enjoyed much since Dec 2007, and I am looking forward to 2010!

Thank you!
Nina
Founder & Chief Chocolatier, BonBonBar

Hello,

First of all, I would like to thank everyone for such an enthusiastic welcome back!  It’s been exciting to cook and enrobe in the kitchen again for BonBonBar, and the days are flying by once again.

This is just a quick reminder that orders for Thanksgiving should be placed as soon as possible.  I will be shipping out the last Thanksgiving orders Saturday & Monday to ensure that they arrive in time.

Our seasonal Pumpkin Pie Candy Bars and Pumpkin Pie Caramallow are perfect for the holidays!

Thank you!
Nina
Founder & Chief Chocolatier, BonBonBar

Pumpkin Pie Candy Bar Pumpkin Pie Caramel & Graham Cracker

Pumpkin Pie Caramallow Pumpkin Pie Caramel wrapped around Vanilla Marshmallow

Single Malt Scotch Bar Chewy Caramel, Malt Ganache, & Maldon Salt.

I thought that I’d write a few thoughts and experiences about working in commercial kitchens.  I remember when I first starting working in commercial kitchens, everything seemed so heavy duty and intimidating.  Now, I’m used to it, and when I’m in a home kitchen, everything seems so small and cute!

SIZE

I’d say that I’ve rented one HUGE kitchen, two medium kitchens, and two small kitchens.  While the larger kitchens are impressive and great for setting up multiple stations, I’ve come to really respect the simple efficiency that I’ve felt in smaller kitchens.  There’s a lot to be said for being able to put ingredients directly onto the table from the fridge, to place them near the appropriate equipment after weighing them out, to cook at a stovetop, to turn around to pour out the result, and then to step a couple feet to the side to wash the dishes.  And repeat.  In the larger kitchens, you spend so much time traveling between the different areas that you lose time… and have time to think about losing time.

And as much as I try not to, I have a tenacious habit of spreading my stuff out when I work, and the larger kitchens act like enablers to that.  Though speed racks, which hold multiple sheet pans, are a great way to keep things condensed, and mobile, since they have wheels.

STORAGE

Some people assume that a candy company needs just a little space as if the making and distributing of candy has to be a sylph-like enterprise.  But stuff adds up — cases of chocolate, cambro containers of ingredients, pots, tools, chocolate melters, cutting boards, sheet pans, gift boxes, mailing boxes, candy pads, labels, molds, finished products, foil pouches, etc.  So, a decent amount of storage space is also necessary, usually under work tables, in metro racks, or in speed racks.

WINDOWS

Wonderful for getting a sense of the day and the neighborhood.

Bad for working at night and perhaps being watched.

TABLES

I love wood-topped tables.  They don’t warp from heat (important because I cook and pour out a lot of hot caramel; I put the pans on wooden cutting boards on stainless steel tables).  They’re not not as loud when you place things on them.  They feel good when touched. My current kitchen is my first that has one instead of all stainless steel.

OVENS & STOVES

I grew up using electric stovetops and used induction burners in culinary school, so it took a little while getting used to the powerful flames of commercial gas stovetops that have been in my kitchens.  My current kitchen only has a large stock pot burner, so I’ve been using induction again when I need to heat smaller pots and I think I’m falling in love all over again.  They’re so smooth and efficient, they’re like the silk of the kitchen burner options.  I’d only use induction burners if I could, but my biggest pot would need a more expensive burner with a larger heating surface, so now I’m using a combination of the stock pot burner and the induction burner.

Many commercial ovens are convection ovens, but I don’t use the convection setting.  I only use ovens for two things — to roast nuts (which I roast as low and slow as I can to get the best depth of flavor) and to bake cookies like shortbread and graham crackers, which I’m just used to baking without convection and don’t take a lot of time anyway.

EQUIPMENT

Cool, big toys are great unless they’re not being used.  Then they just take up space.

For my marshmallows, I recently bought my first hobart mixer, which is the standard for commercial mixers.  In my last kitchen, I used someone else’s hobart when they weren’t using it.  Like most commercial equipment, it’s heavy and powerful.

TEMPERATURE

Chocolate work and storage is best for me between 68-72F degrees.  To maintain that, it’s a matter of storage upstairs/downstairs or front/back depending on the time of day, or near a door or around a corner from the oven, or in a separate AC’ed conference room, or using gel paks and coolers.

Fans can help a lot to move heat, as well as a cross-breeze from having the front and back doors opened (if there are both), or the hood above the stove (if there is one).  Kitchens tend to stay fairly warm — if they’re on the smaller side, the heat generated from the multi-door refrigerators and freezers can be significant.  This can be a good thing in the winter, if it would otherwise be too cold.

ODOR

Chocolates, like many foods, can absorb odors from their environment.  Sweet or savory odors, I try to protect every component and confection with wrapping or moving to a different/protected space.  Garlic, salmon, peppers, etc, are obviously bad, but any strong odor is bad.  For instance, the other day, I knew that I had to make strawberry jam, which is like unleashing the loveliest, lushest strawberry patch in your kitchen, and that I had to dip Scotch and Coffee Candy Bars as well as cut marshmallows.  I made the strawberry jam last, after everything was packaged and stowed because I didn’t want the lingering odor to affect the candy that I’d work with in the open air.

On a related note, I especially take care to isolate the coffee for my Coffee Candy Bar so that it’s as far away from other ingredients as possible — it’s so potent!  This is also one reason why I’m reluctant to do anything with chilis.

Equipment and tools can also retain odors.  I smell every cutting board before use, whether they belong to me or not (I use them for cutting, but also as handy flat surfaces).

The ONE time I let my guard down, I wound up with a painfully large batch of Garlic Malt Bars due to a contaminated spatula that someone had borrowed without asking (this is also the ONE time that happened) and that I was so grateful to get back that I used it without smelling it.  I was working with someone on a diet that day, and I didn’t taste one until we were packing up.  Then I had to start over.

PEOPLE

In some kitchens, the space was only for my company during my time, and in others, there were others around.  In the beginning, I only worked at night and alone, but as things progressed, I sometimes have helpers or work at the same time as others from other companies.

As in many other aspect of the business, the people make all the difference — btw having fun or slogging through.  On good days, it’s almost festive to have a group of people in the kitchen skipping along with their work and it’s also instructive when you can compare notes or help each other out, but on bad days, a bad attitude or a complainer can bring everyone down.  And that’s when iPods are especially handy, though not foolproof…

Here’s a copy of what will be going out to my mailing list…

Hello,

BonBonBar is up and running again!  We are now accepting orders to start shipping on Wednesday, Oct 28 — just in time to treat yourself and others for Halloween!  To commemorate the occasion and to thank you for your loyalty, we’re offering 10% off orders placed by this Sunday at Midnight PT. Coupon Code: sfbay

I’ve spent last the two months settling into Northern California… which has meant seeking out delicious food and thinking about how my confections could fit in.

The fantastic array of coffee roasters in the SF Bay Area has led to the creation of the Coffee Candy Bar.  We use organic, shade-grown Blue Bottle Coffee beans to infuse a layer of ganache that is topped by Chewy Caramel.  Maple-Roasted Walnuts provide subtly sweet and nutty notes to the finish.

Based on my discovery of organic ginger at the Berkeley farmers market, I’ve designed the Ginger Candy Bar, which matches the House-Candied Ginger with a zesty Lemon Almond Nougat.

And with the holidays approaching, I couldn’t resist bringing back the Pumpkin Pie Candy Bar, with a Spiced Pumpkin Caramel and Graham Cracker enrobed in Dark Chocolate.  I like the Spiced Pumpkin Caramel so much that I’m also making a Pumpkin Pie Caramallow by wrapping it around our Vanilla Marshmallows.

I want to thank you for your support and enthusiasm for my artisan company throughout the hiatus!  I’m thrilled to have the company back, and I hope that you enjoy our new confections as well as your old favorites!

Thank you!
Nina
Founder & Chief Chocolatier, BonBonBar

OTHER BONBONBAR NEWS

We are now accepting holiday orders.  Please email nina@bonbonbar.com to discuss your needs.  Ordering early ensures a stress-free holiday gift season.

The Malt Bars, Cherry Bars, Orange Bars, and Hot Chocolate Mix have been rotated out of the current selection of confections to make room for the new ones.  I am truly sorry for any disappointment.  They may be rotated back in at some point.

Pumpkin Pie Bar: Pumpkin Caramel & Graham Cracker enrobed in Dark Chocolate

]]> http://www.sweetnapa.com/2009/10/20/coming-soon-norcal-bonbonbar.html/feed http://www.sweetnapa.com/2009/09/20/camp-san-francisco.html http://www.sweetnapa.com/2009/09/20/camp-san-francisco.html#comments Mon, 21 Sep 2009 02:10:09 +0000 Nina http://www.sweetnapa.com/?p=2746

A trailhead across from the front door was too much for me to resist when I was looking at the Presidio apartment that I now live in.  Where does it go, I wondered?   Where doesn’t it go? Every time I go for a walk in the Presidio, I discover something new and surprising in this unique corner of San Francisco.  For the first week, it felt like camp, or a college campus without the college.  It’s a place that I would normally think about driving to, so it feels a little peculiar to step right into it from my home.  Even my backyard is bordered by forest, but then, the city is right around the corner, too.

The Presidio used to be a military base until it was developed for civilian use.  Throughout the park, there are clusters of residences in addition to some businesses, from George Lucas’s companies to a bowling center.  And it’s federal land, which means that crime is in federal jurisdiction… which means that there is no crime, as far as I can tell.

Most of it is pretty open, with windy paths and roads and buildings….

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But there are trails to hike with varied foliage and views.  There’s the occasional coyote, too, though I have yet to see one.

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What gets me every time is that when you follow the natural descent of the land through the park, you find yourself on the waterfront with a wide open sky.  I never thought that the Golden Gate Bridge would be such a looming part of my life… in all its states of fog.

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I walked across the bridge one morning, but it was so loud from all the cars that I’m not sure if I’ll do it again.  But Crissy Field is lovely, and the walk on the path along the water to the bridge, or in the other direction, towards the Marina, is very nice, with a healthy traffic of bicyclists, runners, dogs, and baby carriages.

And the beach along the water…

And green art…

If you walk towards Fisherman’s Wharf (or better, the Ferry Building), you come across the Palace of Fine Arts, a monument that I’d managed to not know about before, but one whose idiosyncratic existence strikes me as wonderful.

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I also think that it’s wonderful that a family of 4 figured out how to have a thoroughly civilized lunch at a table in the middle of the dome.  Too bad they’re all but hidden in the shadow in my picture, but I’m posting it anyway, because as I have a feeling they would say, well, why not?

I’m still figuring out my food options around here– the Presidio has little, but the Marina and Cow Hollow and beyond are full of places to eat and buy food — but I think that my most satisfying prepared find so far is Bakesale Betty, which is in Oakland.  I went to try a dessert, but when I saw what looked like foot-high Fried Chicken Sandwiches being assembled, I had to get one.  Juicy and crunchy and little spicy… and I’d recommend doing away with the bread (although it’s perfectly fine in its soft, voluminous way) and eating each of the two chicken breast pieces cut side up/batter side down with some coleslaw balanced on top for a fried chicken experience to remember.

So… why am I moving?   I think that the short answer is:  as much as I’ve tried, I can’t conceive of a future for myself in LA.  I think that BonBonBar as it is would best flourish as a storefront supplemented with web orders, but the thought of anchoring myself to a storefront in LA and driving through LA traffic to get there every day depressed me more than it excited me.  I was able to work practically non-stop on BonBonBar because there was little else I wanted to do in LA — or at least, little else I wanted to do that would justify so much time in traffic and smog.  And after Chad and I broke up in June, it seemed like a good time to call a hiatus and choose a new place to live.  It was tempting to stay through the holidays given that this year has been so busy so far, but then Valentine’s Day would be right around the corner, and then Easter, and then… and then… another year would go by in limbo.  Once I started to think about how nice — how pretty normal — it would be to reside in a place where I would think about living rather than leaving, it was hard to stop.

I kept telling people that “I just don’t want to live in a big city anymore.”  I went to Google Maps quite a few times just to zoom out on a map of the US.  I could live anywhere I wanted.  Anywhere!  I tried to imagine what life would be like here or there.  I considered new places and familiar places.  I thought a lot about Montana (Bozeman!).  And Wyoming. And giving in to my perpetual whim to live in a cabin in Maine. I thought about flying back up to Seattle for the second time ever to check it out more in depth.  Or maybe New York or New Jersey, to be closer to my family.

I actually flew to the Rockies to scout out Utah and Colorado ski areas.  I particularly loved the beauty of Aspen, but I thought that my wintertime ski antics would be cramped by the very real, very snowy winter… which would mean limited local, fresh food that I could work with.

That sunk in.  It’s somewhat arbitrary that California happens to be an enormous state with so many different climates so it’s easy for us claim such an awe-inspiring variety of “local” food year-round, but still… there’s a lot of good food grown around here that is best fresh — and can be used to great effect in sweets.

So, yes. Seriously.  I came to California for the film industry in 2002, and I stayed for the citrus in 2009.

I thought about Berkeley.  I drove up to check it out more, but the possibility of something happening in SF and having to commute made me start to think about SF more.  When I saw that there are apartments to rent in the Presidio in San Francisco, I felt like I’d found the perfect compromise between rural and urban life — I would get to live in national park while living in a city.  So… here goes!

Though don’t get me wrong — I know that that there’s so much great food across the country.  But the thought of turning 30 soon and moving to an entirely new — and possibly remote — place alone with a business based on fresh ingredients to think of was a slightly scary one.   So it made a difference that I already know Northern California and its people a bit.   SF seems so full of energy and fun, and it just thrills me to drive around Marin, Sonoma, and Napa.  And there’s also still so much that I don’t know about the area, and I get exciting just thinking about having the opportunity to explore more.  Of course, I am very familiar with the sometimes harsh realities of Bay Area traffic, but I don’t think that it’s as bad.

I really do hate to turn my back in LA because I think it’s often unfairly criticized.   When I moved back to LA in 2007 from Napa, I was ambivalent about the city.  I spent the better part of my first year in our apartment researching and testing recipes for BonBonBar, partially as a way to avoid the people and congestion that I’d left in 2005 after working in the film industry.  But as I experimented with different ingredients, I realized that the food and farmers markets here are fantastic.  I learned so much from the Santa Monica Farmers Market; it was like a second culinary school.  And when I launched the business and when I started selling at farmers markets myself, I met so many amazing people who have influenced me for the better and who I’ll never forget.  So, in a sad-but-happy way, I can say that when I leave LA this time, I’ll miss the people.

I honestly am not sure what will happen with BonBonBar yet.  I’ve been so touched by how many people have taken the company to heart and have gone so far out of their way to help it/me that I feel awful about putting it on hold; I can’t help feeling like I’ve let them down.  But I think I need to know more about conditions in SF before I make any decisions about restarting, and since I can’t know more until I move up there, I’ll have to wait and see.  I know I’m curious…

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Hello,

I am very sorry to write that BonBonBar will be going on hiatus.  I am relocating to San Francisco, and I cannot say when I will be able to restart production.

This change was a difficult decision to make, especially since I have been so thankful for the phenomenal goodwill and enthusiasm of my customers since the company’s founding.  It has been a pleasure to make candy for you.

If you would like to enjoy or share our handmade candy bars, caramels, and marshmallows one last time before the hiatus, I will be accepting orders until this Monday, August 17th.  The final shipping day from Los Angeles will be Wednesday, August 19.

Thank you!
Nina
Founder & Chief Chocolatier, BonBonBar