Liddabit Sweets Updates

Liddabit Sweets Update

2010-09-17T11:14:45Z

Dear friends,

Okay, so first thingâ€™s first: we just (like, JUST) launched a Kickstarter project to raise funds for new equipment that we need to get through this holiday season. We canâ€™t finance it, we have no investors and no loans. Please check out the project â€“ as little as $1 will help â€“ and forward it to your candy-loving friends. Itâ€™s at least worth a visit for the video that Liz shot & edited in one dayâ€™s time: http://bk.ly/t0P

Anyway, the weather is cooling down now, which makes us super happy, and a bunch of crazy stuff has been going onâ€¦so here goes!

MARKETS
Starting tomorrow, 9/18 weâ€™ll be back outside at the FORT GREENE FLEA every Saturday! No more One Hanson unless we tell you otherwise â€“ weâ€™re trying to get a handle on the holiday season.

And, as of last Sunday, NEW AMSTERDAM is weekly! Thatâ€™s right, every single Sunday until the end of the year, you can come out and grab delicious prepared food, local wine, artisanal cheese, pastured meat, unbelievable produce and more!

NEWS
Liddabit is now in DEAN & DELUCA stores nationwide! Find the King bar at their New York Soho and Madison locations; as well as in DC, North Carolina, California and Kansas. Check out our full list of retail locations here: http://www.liddabitsweets.com/locations/

SWEETS
SLURTLES are back at the markets! Also keep an eye out in the next month for BRITTLE and our new CHAI LATTE lollipop. Fall PIE BARS coming soonâ€¦plus a new winter bar that you wonâ€™t want to miss (itâ€™s Jenâ€™s new favorite).

EVENTS
Weâ€™re teaching another class at the BROOKLYN KITCHEN! Learn how to make delicious caramel and candy apples, as well as the best popcorn balls youâ€™ve ever had â€“ just in time for Halloween. Sign up here: http://bit.ly/bG9Ey8

PRESS
Did you hear? Weâ€™re in OPRAH MAGAZINE! An eight-page spread features yours truly and a gaggle of our delectable recipes. Pick up a copy, or check it out online here: http://bit.ly/9prSrA

We were also featured in the July and September issues of FOOD & WINE Magazine (http://bit.ly/9PEsrJ and http://bit.ly/c8HzOp, respectively) â€“ and even though itâ€™s not really â€œpressâ€, you should check out Dorie Greenspanâ€™s gorgeous new cookbook, â€œAround My French Tableâ€; in the acknowledgements, youâ€™ll find a really nice mention of Jen, who tested a bunch of recipes for that book.

We also know a bunch of you have been asking about shipping costs â€“ those will go down in the next week or two, once the weather is consistently cool. Expect Ground and Priority shipping options by early October.

Thatâ€™s about it! Thanks so much for all your support, and weâ€™ll see you at the markets!

Cheers,
Liz & Jen

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Liddabit Sweets Update - July 2010

2010-07-10T12:52:56Z

Hey all! I know itâs been a while â and weâre going to keep it short and sweet. I do tend to run onâ¦

Firstly, I have a favor to ask â it will help me enormously in drafting our new business plan. Itâs an 8-question survey, just about things like age, where you live, etc. Itâs completely anonymous and will take you 30 seconds â just tick the boxes! Thanks in advance, and hereâs the link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/FRRGXGK

MARKET DATES
Weâll be back at One Hanson starting NEXT SUNDAY, 7/18. Come say hi! Also donât forget that this monthâs New Amsterdam Market is on a SATURDAY â the 24th, more precisely.

NEWS
The summer heat continues to wear us outâ¦but thankfully we have a new team member! We just hired our first full-time employee, miss Joan Baker â FCI friend and crazy-talented chef (plus sheâs more organized than us). Welcome, Joan!

SWEETS
Itâs fruit jelly season! That means Black Raspberry, Sour Blueberry, and Cucumber-Mint jellies will be on handâ¦all vegan, all made with greenmarket produce, and all frigginâ delicious.

The SâMore is continuing to knock everyoneâs socks off â but whatâs this? A NEW bar? Thatâs right folks, weâll have a summer pie bar too. Pie crust, delicious fruit preserves and crunchy streusel topping, all dipped in dark chocolate. â¦awwww yeeeeeah.

EVENTS
Weâre tentatively scheduled to do a demo at our alma mater, the French Culinary Institute! Itâs really only open to students and alumni, but if you really want to sneak in, we canât stop youâ¦thatâs Tuesday, July 27.

PRESS

Did you catch us in Real Simple? No? It might be too late, but if you can pick up a copy of the June issue, weâre in there (as is Brooklyn Brew Shop)! p. 76, to be exact.
Food & Wine also had a very nice mention of us in an article about pop-up stores â who knew weâd have our names in the same paragraph as Dorie Greenspan someday?
Attention TV junkies: The Cooking Channelâs show FoodCrafters airs every Monday â and in a few short weeks, theyâll be featuring Liddabit! Tune in Monday, August 2 at 10pm to see us in action.

Thatâs it! Stay cool, and weâll see you at the markets.

heart,
Liz & Jen

Liddabit Sweets Update

2010-05-07T18:08:59Z

April showers bring Mayâ€¦heat wave?

Shrug. Works for us! Hereâ€™s the latest with Liddabit.

IN THIS ISSUE:

-Market Dates â€“**NO FLEA June 19/20** -News: Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes (organic ones!); NonaBrooklyn launch; Cooking Channel -Sweets: RETURN OF DOOM! (and sâ€™mores! And jellies!) -Events: BPeace, AWNY, Brooklyn Kitchen -Press: FindEatDrink, Imbibe Magazine, Real Simple

MARKET DATES

Nothing too new to report here â€“ just a reminder that weâ€™ll be out that one weekend in June (19/20). As the weather warms up, weâ€™ll also have to pick and choose which weekends weâ€™ll be able to stay outside for Saturdays; stay updated on Twitter (@Liddabit) or Facebook.

NEWS

Weâ€™re extremely pleased to announce that weâ€™ve switched to using organic butter and vanilla extract; and are in the process of sourcing organic sugar! This is immensely exciting news, and does entail some other changes â€“ namely, prices. Ours will be increasing slightly over the next few months, and we wanted to let you know in advance. Nothing will be too drastic; most prices will only change by 10-15%, and some wonâ€™t change at all. Itâ€™ll be a gradual process so it doesnâ€™t hit you all at once; but we wanted to make sure not to blindside you. You, our friends and supporters, customers and cheerleaders, have made us who we are today, and we want to be totally transparent about where weâ€™re coming from.

Weâ€™re also thrilled to invite you to join Nona Brooklyn, a site where you can get tasty updates from your favorite local (or far-away) artisanal producers! Itâ€™s in soft-launch mode now, meaning not everyone knows itâ€™s up â€“ but we wanted to extend the first invitations to you, our favorite candy lovers! Check out the goods at www.nonabrooklyn.com.

Finally, we filmed for The Cooking Channelâ€™s â€œFoodcraftersâ€ last weekend! You may have seen some promos featuring us (we havenâ€™t, yet); but weâ€™ll be on sometime this summer. Keep a sharp eye!

SWEETS

All hail the return of CHOCOLATE DOOM! Just in time for Motherâ€™s Day, the quadruple threat will be back on the table: chocolate cookie, milk chocolate ganache, and whipped white chocolate, all coated in dark chocolate. (mmmâ€¦doom.) Itâ€™s only around for a couple weeks, though â€“ so act quickly.

Weâ€™ll also be making some heart-shaped rose-and-honey lollipops for Mom (or you), and heart-shaped rhubarb jellies, fresh from the greenmarket. And the Sâ€™MORES bar will also be returning in time for the steamy weather! Crisp graham cracker, subtly smokey ganache, and fluffy homemade marshmallow all dipped in milk chocolate. I can personally say â€“ Iâ€™ve been waiting all year for this one to come back.

EVENTS

We love to donate to worthy events whenever weâ€™re able; and while weâ€™re not about tooting our own horn for all of them, two this month are extra special:

The Business Council for Peace (www.bpeace.org) helps women in countries emerging from war, like Rwanda and Afghanistan, expand their businesses, create employment, and strengthen their communities. Info on their annual DanceGiving fundraiser can be found here: http://bpeace.donorpages.com/Dancegiving2010/

On May 16th, tens of thousands of New Yorkers will take to the streets for AIDS Walk New York to help fight - and educate about - HIV/AIDS. Last year, 45,000 walkers participated to raise over $5 million for this worthy cause. For more info on GMHC and AIDS Walk New York, go here: http://www.aidswalk.net/newyork/index.html

â€¦on a more selfish note, weâ€™re teaching another class at the Brooklyn Kitchen! The focus this month will be on jelly candy made with fresh greenmarket produce. Our past flavors have included Cucumber Mojito, Peach-Basil and Fresh Raspberry â€“ come learn about jellies and be the first to discover our next delectable concoction! (did we mention they're totally vegan?) Register here: http://www.thebrooklynkitchen.com/calendar-of-classes-and-events/

PRESS

-FindEatDrink.com just published an interview with us about our process, purveyors and recommendations for yummy things! Check it out here: http://findeatdrink.com/Index/Purveyors/Entries/2010/4/29_liddabit_sweets.html

-The Beer & Pretzel Caramel was featured in Imbibe Magazine recently; the item isnâ€™t featured online, but go get a print version while you can! Itâ€™s a great issue. Y'know; if you like booze and stuff.

-Weâ€™ll be included in Real Simple magazine this month, as well! Rumor has it that the issue drops next week; grab a copy and pray that we can keep up with the ordersâ€¦

...well, that about does it for now. Thanks for reading, and weâ€™ll be back soon with more exciting news in June! (hint: TONS OF EVENTS.) Until then, see you at the Flea!

Heart,
Liz & Jen

Liddabit Sweets Update

2010-04-02T17:31:31Z

Hello dear subscribers,

Wow. Do you SEE how nice this weather is? I meanâ€¦wow. Justâ€¦wow.

Ahem. Anyway, we do apologize for the lack of communication lately â€“ but, you see, weâ€™ve been working our little tuckuses off making and shipping out candy! As youâ€™ll find in the newsletter, our friends in the media have a lot to do with why weâ€™ve been so busy lately. Lots of exciting stuff coming up, so letâ€™s get to it!

IN THIS ISSUE:

-Market Dates â€“ Movinâ€™ on back outside (sort of); **NO FLEA April 17, June 19/20**

-News: Serious Eatsâ€™ new not-so-serious blogger; NEW locations!

-Sweets: Bourbon, coffee, andâ€¦yup, bacon

-Events: Formaggio Kitchen (MA) tasting 4/17; BK Kitchen Class

-Press: DailyCandy, UrbanDaddy, Uncrate & some television excitement!

MARKET DATES

The Flea is moving back outside NEXT WEEKEND (April 10/11)! Saturdays will be at the original location at Bishop Laughlin Memorial HS in Fort Greene; but Sundays weâ€™ll be back at One Hanson.

What does this mean for you? Well, weâ€™ll be on the main floor instead of down in the vault, so weâ€™ll actually get some sunshine (hooray!); and our Flea dates will extend through the season, since One Hanson is air-conditioned! Once it gets really hot weâ€™ll only be doing Sundays; but fret not â€“ weâ€™ll certainly let you know when that happens.

Also note that we will NOT be at the Flea on Saturday, April 17th (see the reason why in Events); or for the weekend of June 19/20. Thatâ€™s it for the foreseeable future â€“ but stay updated by following us on Twitter (http://twitter.com/Liddabit), and/or becoming a fan of ours on Facebook.

NEWS

It seems as though someoneâ€™s been paying attention to the blog and this very newsletter (however neglected they may beâ€¦ahem) â€“ and thought yours truly would be a good fit to write about chocolate for a James-Beard-Award-nominated food blog! So it is with great pride that I announce my bloggership with the one, the only, Serious Eats. Iâ€™m truly humbled and thankful for the experience, and hope to learn a lot from it â€“ as well as teach a little along the way. You can find my latest post (on drugstore Easter candy) here: http://bit.ly/cfwDC3 - previous posts included a hot-fudge recipe, a bean-to-bar tutorial, and a how-to on chocolate tempering. Got something you think I should blog about? Send it on over to liz@liddabitsweets.com - Iâ€™m always looking for ideas!

Weâ€™re also thrilled to announce that weâ€™re at several new locations! Blue Apron Foods, Bklyn Larder, Get Fresh Table & Market (all Park Slope) and Kill Devil Hill (Greenpoint) now carry our delicious sweets! Just make sure to check in with them before you stop by, if youâ€™re looking for something in particular â€“ not all stores stock the same things. Links can be found on our Locations page: http://www.liddabitsweets.com/locations/

SWEETS

Okay. So when we started the business, we swore up and down that we would never do certain things: enforce good work habits with a bullwhip, climb our way to the top of the corrupt capitalist system over the backs of the proletariat, make a candy with bacon in it. But then Jen came up with this amazing recipe, and we couldnâ€™t stop eating it â€“ and decided we just had to share it with you guys.

To that end, weâ€™ve made some caramel corn with â€“yes â€“ bacon. But hereâ€™s the thing: itâ€™s FREAKING AWESOME. We wouldnâ€™t sell it if it wasnâ€™t. The caramel is made with bourbon and a little bit of coffee; then we add the cooked bits of bacon, which immediately crisp up and candy in the syrup. All that is poured over air-popped organic popcorn and mixed to crunchy, salty, smoky boozy perfection.

Damnâ€¦now I want some.

You can usually find it (we call it the Breakfast of Heroes) at the Flea, but we just so happen to be out this weekend. Sorry! You can check out Marlow & Daughters, Northern Spy or Bedford Cheese shop to see if they still have any this weekend; or if you canâ€™t wait for next weekendâ€™s Flea, you can order it at our online store here: http://bit.ly/cPJLPT

EVENTS

-On Saturday, April 17th, weâ€™re going to Massachussetts! Weâ€™ll be joining some of our BK Flea buddies (McClureâ€™s, Nunu, Fine + Raw) and Brooklyn Brewery at Formaggio Kitchen to chat with folks and give out some samples! If youâ€™re in the area, definitely come on down and say hello. Details here: http://www.formaggiokitchen.com/huronave/classes

-Weâ€™re teaching another class at the Brooklyn Kitchen Labs! Mark your calendar for May 25th; weâ€™ll be cooking up some jelly candies, and discussing the challenges and rewards of making them with fresh greenmarket produce.

PRESS

As mentioned above, a spate of recent press has been keeping us mighty busy! Hereâ€™s the scoop:

-The NY Times T Magazine blog called our Beer & Pretzel Caramels â€œthe sure thingâ€: http://nyti.ms/cT2SSG

-A Tasting Table featuring both our joint Valentine efforts with Red Hook Lobster Pound and Kumquat Cupcakes: http://bit.ly/b2L8UP

-The Timesâ€™ The Local blog on our special V-day sweets: http://bit.ly/cYWbCN

-Breakfast of Heroes as one of DailyCandy's excuses for a coffee break: http://bit.ly/9nUING

-Beer & Pretzel on Uncrate (mmm, PBR float): http://bit.ly/bsJ00w

-A cameo in an LA Times article about pop-up stores, also heavily featuring AsiaDog and the fantastic Dorie Greenspan: http://bit.ly/a0HwJA

-an awesome feature in UrbanDaddy on the good old Beer & Pretzel: http://bit.ly/910MAn

...In addition to this, we just shot a promo for The Cooking Channel, the Food Network's companion network that's launching on Memorial Day. So keep an eye peeled - you might just see us waxing poetic about candy in between commercials!

And, oh, did you know that Food Curated was nominated for a James Beard Award? Round of applause for our lady of awesomeness Liza de Guia! You can find her video on us, as well as a ton of other amazing producers, here: http://bit.ly/8zf8aN

As mentioned above, Serious Eats was also nominated â€“ and Iâ€™d like to submit that I technically started writing for them before the nominations were announced. So if they win Iâ€™d better get a medallion or something. (â€¦okay, maybe thatâ€™s a bit of a stretch.)

â€¦phew! Thatâ€™s it for now. Apologies for the length â€“ weâ€™ll be better about updating in the future. Hopefully. In the meantime, enjoy this gorgeous weather â€“ hope to see you at the Flea this weekend, and weâ€™ll write again soon!

Heart,

Liz & Jen

Liddabit Sweets Update

2010-02-01T15:24:01Z

Hello dear subscribers,

You might very well be asking yourself, â€œnow, why am I getting a newsletter from those nice girls at Liddabit? I just got one!â€ We would love to tell you that itâ€™s because weâ€™ve magically found a way to stop time and have quadrupled our productivity. Really itâ€™s because Valentineâ€™s Day is fast approaching, and we want to let you know about all the great stuff we have for you!

IN THIS (ABBREVIATED) ISSUE:

-Market Dates â€“ Full Weekends at One Hanson Place continue

-News: Foodzie

-Sweets: Passion, Spice, and Doom

-Events: Valentineâ€™s Pop-up Store with Kumquat Cupcakery, 2/11-2/14

MARKET DATES

Full weekends at One Hanson have been a smash hit! Weâ€™ll continue to man our booth downstairs in the vault every Saturday and Sunday throughout the indoor market. Show up early if thereâ€™s something in particular that you want â€“ weâ€™re constantly surprised by whatâ€™s been selling out!

NEWS

The lovely, kind, patient folks at Foodzie have been politely asking us to get our act together and help them put up a store for us. Weâ€™re thrilled to announce that we finally have! Right now you can order most of our standard favorites and a couple gift packages; weâ€™ll be doing exclusives with them in the future, so bookmark that page! Check out Liddabitâ€™s super cute Foodzie store here: http://liddabitsweets.foodzie.com/

SWEETS

Oh, man, what do we have thatâ€™s NOT brand-new these days?! Thereâ€™s a whole new section (http://bit.ly/6SHpQi) on the site for gift packages; and we have - count â€˜em - FOUR: two lil-bit-of-everything collections for the indecisive sugar fiend; a Game Day package, featuring all things beer/pretzel/chip-related; and, of course, our new Sweet Heart Valentineâ€™s day package.

In this package is where youâ€™ll find all the new stuff. Letâ€™s start with the bars, shall we?

The first is Chocolate Doom, featuring a salted cocoa sablÃ© cookie, creamy milk chocolate ganache, and airy whipped white chocolate.

The second is My Spicy Valentine, with a passion fruit/cayenne caramel and crisped rice. This bar sold out at the Flea this weekend, and it is even more awesome than it sounds. Which is pretty awesome, right?

Along with these lovelies, weâ€™ll also have a blood-orange fruit jelly - cut into heart shapes, of course. And a package of special, also-heart-shaped hibiscus/agave nectar lollipops. All of these four things are in limited production only for the next two weeks, so act fast! (and if you want guaranteed delivery in time for V-day, make sure to order before this Friday: http://bit.ly/bZ8GtJ)

EVENTS

This oneâ€™s for everybody who asks if we have a store: the answer is yes! â€¦For a week, anyway. Weâ€™ll be teaming up with Keavy from Kumquat Cupcakery to take over Kill Devil Hill in Greenpoint for four crazy days: February 11th thru the 14th. Thatâ€™s Thursday through Sunday â€“ which is Valentineâ€™s Day. Come say hello! Weâ€™ll have it done up all pretty-like, with specials and gift packages galore. Info on the KDH site here: http://bit.ly/bZ6cnl

That about does it! Weâ€™ll be sending out more news soon about some cool events and new sweets we have a-percolatinâ€™. Until then, see you at the Flea and on the other side of Valentineâ€™s Day!

Heart,
Liz & Jen

Liddabit Sweets Update - January 2010 (aka The Future)

2010-01-18T12:49:52Z

Hey there friends,

Man oh manâ€¦what a year 2009 was, eh? We didnâ€™t even manage to get a newsletter out in December (sorry!) The good news is that it was because we were so busy â€“ cranking out candy, putting together gift baskets and shipments, and seeing all your bright shining faces at the Gifted market . Luckily, things are a little (tiny) bit settled down now, so here you go â€“ enjoy!

IN THIS ISSUE:
-Market Dates â€“ Full Weekends at One Hanson Place -News: Haiti Donations
-Sweets: Peanut Butter and whaaaa?
-Events: Looking ahead
-Press: Edible Brooklyn, NYMag and the New York Freakinâ€™ Times

MARKET DATES

Saturday was our debut at the stunning Flea at One Hanson Place, in the old clocktower building near the Atlantic terminal on Flatbush. Whattaday! In case you havenâ€™t been, the main floor is a gorgeous, vaulted-ceiling wonder with all kinds of windows and a massive mosaic on the far wall. Vendors are spread out on the main floor and throughout the teller windows and mezzanine, creating a really cool labyrinthine effect.

So where are the foodies, you ask? In the safest (and awesomest) place of all â€“ the vault. Thatâ€™s right â€“ walk downstairs and through the giant, 3-foot-thick metal door, and thatâ€™s where youâ€™ll find us! Weâ€™re joined by our buddies at Early Bird Granola, Kumquat Cupcakery, McClureâ€™s Pickles and more; as well as the Red Hook pupusa vendors, Asia Dog, Red Hook Lobster Pound, and all kinds of other nom-ables.

The best part? Weâ€™ll be there FULL WEEKENDS (Saturday and Sunday!) starting this weekend, January 23/24! Thatâ€™s two whole days of awesome candy available to you for a last-minute hostess gift, afternoon pick-me-up, or pre- or post-brunch nosh. All the info you need can be found on the website here: http://bit.ly/6VebmI

NEWS

Not a ton going on at the moment on our end, so weâ€™ll keep it short. The people of Haiti need whatever aid we can afford to give right now. In that spirit , weâ€™re donating 10% of all our online sales through Friday 1/22 to Heart To Heart International for their relief efforts. Find out more about their mission here: http://bit.ly/6YVOMC

SWEETS

If you visited us at the last New Amsterdam Market (kudos to you if you did!), you snagged some of our amazing caramel corn. We were bombarded with requests for it after that; and since we canâ€™t resist your wiles, we put it on our regular menu. Look for big, sharable, snackable bags of caramel corn with honeycomb crumbs and dark chocolate drizzle for sale at the Flea every weekend! Perfect to sneak into a movie or bring home for some couch-potato time.

Weâ€™ll have all kinds of other new stuff coming up; but the newest is truly, totally retro. Itâ€™s a fluffernutter bar. A perfect combination of crunchy/crumbly, sweet/salty, and fluffy/tender, itâ€™s arguably the most comfort-food-y of our bars so far. If you like it half as much as we do (which is a lot), weâ€™ve done our job.

Also debuting this weekend is a new caramel flavor. Lizâ€™s obsessive love of anything involving preserved lemons, combined with Jenâ€™s genius for pairing flavors, gave rise to the new Preserved Lemon/Olive Oil caramel. Tangy, citrusy and smooth, we promise youâ€™ve never tasted anything like it. Pick some up at One Hanson next weekend! (Theyâ€™ll be up on the website shortly.)

EVENTS

Weâ€™ve got some really cool stuff lined up for the spring and summer â€“ tastings, anniversary celebrations and more! Weâ€™ll let you know as the dates approach, but think Brooklyn Botanic Gardens and some out-of-state funâ€¦

PRESS

We got a lot of amazing press in November/December, which is partly why we had such an incredible season. Hereâ€™s a quick recap:

-Edible Brooklyn featured us in their Notable Edibles for December (all hail The King, indeed!): http://bit.ly/91P7DT

-we did a fun interview with Serious Eats about our favorite places to go and things to nosh: http://bit.ly/52TyiR

-OH MY FREAKING GOD THE NEW YORK TIMES MENTIONED US IN THE DINING CALENDAR: http://bit.ly/6sGi4b

-UrbanDaddy helped us get rid of all our Slurtles with their last-minute gift guide: http://bit.ly/4UeCAL

-we fared well as the rookies in NYMag/Grub Streetâ€™s roundup of chocolate gifts (we love you, Michael Laiskonis!): http://bit.ly/5xzqZe

-and finally, Food Curatedâ€™s Liza de Guia shot a lovely video starring our candy (and yours truly): http://bit.ly/8zf8aN

Well, that about does â€˜er for now! Hope you enjoyed this edition, and weâ€™re really looking forward to 2010. As always, all comments, questions, suggestions or flattery can be sent to us anytime at info (at) liddabitsweets (dot) com. Have a healthy and prosperous new year -- and happy (symbolic) birthday, Dr. King!

Cheers,
Liz and Jen