Some years ago I worked in a chocolate factory. I got all the free chocolate I wanted, but working in a chocolate factory isn’t all edible flowers and oompa-loompas. The unnamed company was one of those fancy, schmancy chocolate sellers at the mall where all the last minute mother’s day shoppers go.
Regarding Ceccil’s “Swizzle Code” column, I have nothing further to add, except that while working at this particular factory, there were two or three ladies whose job it was to sit there as the candy moved out of the conveyor and swizzle the candies with their fingers.
This was done by dabbing the finger on the chocolate quickly and making a line of wet chocolate across the top of the candy. This is beside the point, however, as none of these ladies wore gloves :eek: .
So each and every candy you buy from this particular company has had a real, live, crunchy, dead, ungloved hand touch it. They should put a warning on the box, if only to protect the public.
I’m wondering, first of all, how you get that the hands in question were “dead” or “crunchy”, and second of all, how this is a problem. As long as they washed their hands, bare fingers should be just as hygenic as gloves.
All I have to say is damn you Fannie Mae for closing down. Their chocolate could have been coated in black plastic and saran wrap and I always knew what I was getting. That was the best chocolate in the whole world. :mad:
I know, I know, you were really talking about Fanny Farmer, but somebody had to point it out, and at least I didn’t use that thrice-cursed “roll-eyes” smiley. I wish to heaven that one had never been created.
RR
Re: Hands being as clean as gloves.
With gloves, you don’t have to guess whether the person washed thier hands or not. Even with washing, maybe they washed their hands but not very thoroughly. OR, maybe they are less likely to lick off their fingers if they know they will taste latex. Or, maybe I get hung-up on things that aren’t actually that bad. After all, nobody’s died yet from eating their (potentially) dirty chocolates.
Okay so I did screw up the spelling on Fannie May Candy . It’s been so long since I had any. All I know is when I went home to Illlinois in August the shop had closed down.
So are they going by the same recipes used by Fannie Mae? I had heard they may sell the recipes but didn’t know they did. I will be going to a Fannie Farmer website to check out and see if they carry my favorite, trinidads, vanilla creme, aprocot dipped in white chocolate and coconut. That would be awesome, but it has to be the same recipes in order for me to take a bite.
I thought everyone knew about the demise of Fannie May and Fanny Farmer candy stores!!! Thankfully, there has been a recent development that bodes well for Chicagoland candy lovers!
Fannie May and Fanny Farmer (please note the correct spellings) chocolate brands, with their respective stores, located mostly in the upper MidWest and the NorthEast, were owned by Archibald Candy Co. Sadly, Archibald Candy Co. found it necessary to shutter the Chicago area plant that made the candies in January, and closed down all 228 stores for the two brands on February 15. The company also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late January (the second such filing in less than 2 years; gotta love American bankruptcy laws).
Happily, Alpine Confections, Inc., managed to purchase the brands, and at least some of the stores, in an auction approved by the bankruptcy judge in April. The companies had reached a preliminary deal in January, prior to the filing. Alpine will make the chocolates in its already existing facilities.
In a news item from September 9, Alpine announced it would be re-opening 40 stores of Fannie May, mostly in the Chicago area where the brand was VERY well known. So far, no indication of any intent to re-open Fanny Farmer stores.
If anyone is hankering chocolates of similar, if not better, quality, I recommend See’s California’s Famous Old-Time Candies. The company is located mostly in the West, though there are now stores in Texas, Kansas and Nebraska. In addition, there is a most delightfully surprising kiosk maintained at the Detroit Metro Airport, Northwest Airlines Terminal, which sells pre-packaged boxes. The company also ships the product packed with dry ice to maintain a proper temperature. Rum Nougat, Scotchmallow, and lemon truffles are my favorites.
So I may have my favorite chocolate by Christmas? YEAH!!! Thanks for the great news. I feel better already!
Sorry about my previous mistakes on the spelling of Fannie May. YEAH, I’m getting some candy, I’m getting some candy, I’m getting some candy. Okay I’ll calm down and go to bed now.
