I first learned about Celiac Disease a few years ago, when a client who suffers from the disease came to a South ‘n France party.  Prior to his arrival, I checked all of our bon bon flavors and their ingredients to determine which ones he could enjoy during the evening.  Our gluten-free bon bon flavors are:  Café au Lait, Coconut, Pistachio, and Peanut Buttah.

According to The Today Show, 5% of Americans have a gluten intolerance, and one in 33 Americans has Celiac Disease — that’s not to mention the fact that 95% of Celiacs go undiagnosed. As a result, the gluten-free market is exploding.  Restaurants are offering gluten-free menus; food manufacturers are developing gluten-free products; gluten-free bakeries are popping up around the country; celebrities are converting to a gluten-free diet.  First Daughter Chelsea Clinton even served gluten-free cake at her recent wedding!  Now that all of the wedding planning is over, we’d like to suggest that Chelsea take a break.  She can sit around eating our gluten-free bon bons:  Café au Lait, Coconut, Pistachio, and Peanut Buttah.  I bet her dad would willing scarf up our other three flavors:  Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Cookies ‘n Creme, and Fudge Brownie!

I know that I just posted a blog about my nephew, but I couldn’t resist doing it again.  You see, Carter and his parents paid us a visit last week.  And now that he is old enough to chew (he’s got at least five or six teeth), his Mom said that he was ready to try his first bon bon.

We gave him a Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bon Bon (still in its pink wrapper) and let him go at it with no interference from the adults.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I really don’t think I need to say anything more about what Carter thought of his first taste of Uncle Pascal’s handmade, hand-dipped gourmet chocolate confections:

Trump Towers has nothing on us.  South ‘n France has ventured into the worlds of architecture and real estate.  Chocolate architecture, that is.  And coveted real estate at wedding dessert bars.  Recently, Jennifer of Salt Harbor Design asked us to create Bon Bon Towers for a creative and sophisticated bride with a unique vision for her special day.  To communicate what she was after, Jennifer sent over a mood board, a collection of inspirational photos that illustrate the look and tone the event should convey.

The mood board included a photo of a croquembouche, the traditional French wedding “cake”.  Not a cake at all, the croquembouche, (which comes from the French words croque-en-bouche, meaning ‘crunch in the mouth’) is a conically shaped tower of  cream puffs or profiteroles.  It can be decorated with spun sugar, caramel, or chocolates, flowers and ribbons.  You can also find croquembouches made of macaroons.  In addition to weddings, these show-stopping dessert towers can also be found at baptisms, and first communions.

 A croquembouche can also be referred to as a pièce montée (which means “assembled” or “mounted piece”.  What’s the difference?  Croquembouches are always inteded to be eaten.  Their counterparts, pièces montées, are often are merely decorative.  Although made of edible components (like marizpan, confectioner’s paste and spun sugar), a  pièce montée is meant to serve as a visual centerpiece, a type of food architecture. 

Here are our bon bons towers, which pay homage to the French croquembouche.  I wouldn’t classify them as pièces montées since they were definitely meant to be consumed.  In fact, photographer Millie Holloman assures us that not a single bon bon was left at the end of the night!  Look closely at this photo, and you will see that at least one bon bon has already been removed.

Want your own bon bon tower for an upcoming party?  It takes approximately 120-150 bon bons to create one tower.  Pricing starts at $275.  Call us for more details:  910-762-6882.

I decided to go on a diet, so I started researching diet programs that I thought would be appropriate for a woman who spends her days around vats of melted chocolates and freezers full of bon bons. It didn’t take me long to find this educational magnet from allposters.com. Can we say ‘love’? This will be my new mantra. Okay, maybe it’s not the best mantra for a girl who’s starting a diet, but I DO love it!

I also discovered The Fantasy Diet, which doesn’t sound half-bad. Here’s how it works: You eat a Collard Wrap while fantasizing that you’re really eating Death by Chocolate. Of course, I realize that diets don’t work, even if you are thick and tired of it. It’s all about lifestyle changes. In other words, you’ve got to be willing to go to great lengths to change your width.  So, here’s my first lifestyle change:
 
I wasn’t a big soda drinker until we started the bon bon business. In those early days, I would get extremely tired from our 18-hour-bon-bon-making marathons. So, I started drinking colas in the afternoon to boost my energy. I learned to love that afternoon pick-me-up – the crackle and pop of the fizz in my glass; the cool, refreshing taste. And I became an addict. Since then, I’ve tried a few times to break my afternoon sugar-caffeine habit, never lasting more than a week. But this time, I’m determined. I’ve replaced my cola drink, with Perrier. And with God as my witness, I’ll almost-never drink an afternoon pick-me-up cola again.

Meanwhile, I leave you with this puzzle to solve: How can a two-pound box of chocolates make a woman gain five pounds?

This week we’re playing in the kitchen, experimenting with new bon bon flavors. We promise that we’re not creating a chicken-flavored bon bon (!), but there is such a thing as Bon Bon Chicken. Available in many Chinese restaurants, Bon Bon Chicken is basically poached chicken cut into small pieces, and then drenched in a bath of spicy sauce. It’s topped with chopped scallions, chilies, sesame seeds, crushed peanuts, a pinch of sugar, Sichuan peppercorn powder (and sometimes other mystery ingredients).  I found this photo on rasamalaysia.com, where the blogger ordered up this tasty dish in Chengdu, Sichuan for approximately US$1.50. The author declared it sinfully delicious and addictively spicy. To create Bon Bon Chicken at home, try this recipe from the Seattle Times.  

If you’re in New York City, you can find an entire restaurant called Bon Bon Chicken. Check out this odd review of the place by New York Magazine. The reviewer likens the dining experience to a visit to Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. In the movie, there is a scene where Willy Wonka has geese that lay golden chocolate eggs.  But, I never knew he also raised chickens.

I bet our Coconut Bon Bon would be the perfect dessert after a plate of spicy Bon Bon Chicken. Anyone out there ever tried Bon Bon Chicken? If so, I’d love to hear about it…
 

We are frequently asked two questions to which there are no simple answers: "Which bon bon flavor do people like best?" and "Which bon bon is the best-seller?" Because all of our bon bons are so delicious, there is no stand-out favorite. Our best-seller (by far!) is the Bon Bon Sampler, which is an assortment of all seven flavors of our hand-dipped chocolate confections. As to specific favorites? We can only tell you our own: I like Coconut best (Cookies ‘n Crème runs a close second for me); Pascal’s favorite flavor is Café au Lait (with Coconut in second place). When the staff at Focus on the Coast came to a South ‘n France Bon Bon Party, they took their own informal poll. Here are the results:   

Focus favorite Bon Bons
Kelly W.: Café Au Lait and Pistachio
Krista: Coconut
Jess: Café Au Lait and Coconut
Brook: Coconut
Tessa: Coconut and Café Au Lait
Laurel: Café Au Lait
Abi: Coconut
Kelly M.: Café Au Lait
Kristi: Coconut and Pistachio

Can I just say that I have a new favorite treat? If I could have a chocolate chip cookie dough bon bon every day, I would be a very happy man; Absolutely delicious!!

My favorite is definitely the chocolate chip cookie dough bon bon!

Oh my God! These Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bon Bons are complete joy. You cannot eat just one. Better than scooping cookie dough out of the tub - I gotta have more!

Then there’s Chris, who commented on this bon bon photo shown in our MySpace photo gallery: 

I’d like to see a picture of the Pistachio ones, but only if it doesn’t get in the way of you making them. They are definitely the best ones; Coconut is a somewhat close second, but not close enough to cause confusion.

Speaking of confusion, see why we can’t tell you which flavor is everyone’s favorite? Go ahead-  try them for yourselves - and join in the discussion! Maybe one day we’ll get to the bottom of which one bon bon flavor is "everyone’s favorite" and "our bestseller". 

This past weekend, The New York Times featured a sweet love story in the Weddings/Celebrations section of their Sunday paper. The story chronicles a courtship that spanned three decades, with a plot reminiscent of When Harry Met Sally. It all started when Michelle Rosen first offered candy to David Zornitsky during the first lecture at a C.P.A. course. The couple married at Dylan’s Candy Bar in Manhattan. The bride wore a dress made of candy wrappers that was designed for Project Runway. The groom wore a matching Kit Kat wrapper bow tie. The aisle was lined with lollipop trees. The bouquet was made with candy. And the guests got to eat Cotton Candy, candy sushi and peanut butter and jelly tarts.

New York Times photographer Karen Cunningham must have felt like a kid in a candy store getting to photograph these bright, colorful, surreal wedding images. Check out the entire slideshow of Ms. Cunningham’s photos here.