August’s Decadently Delicious Flavors Shipped
After expounding on the amazing perks of monthly club membership last week, I’m happy to announce that another delicious shipment of new monthly flavors went out on Monday. 
Our lucky club members this month are receiving gorgeous tropical Toasted Coconut Brownies, classically rich and decadent Original Fudge and ultra-elegant Cinnamon Snickerdoodle organic cookies. Hungry yet? You too can enjoy August’s distinctively delicious array of out-of-this-world compassionate baked goods. Order them individually or become a monthly club member today to receive a 15% discount along with your awesome sweet treats.
Already a monthly club member? Looking for ways to put that discount to work? Our gourmet Gift Samplers and Gift Sets make perfect presents for August birthdays and vacation treats. 
Since the warm weather this time of year makes shipping vegan chocolates risky, we recommend non-chocolate goodies for those summertime special occasions. Save yourself the time in the kitchen by serving our organic cookies and brownies for dessert at your next picnic or barbecue and wow both your family and guests by filling your candy bowl with all our outstanding assorted flavors of our individually wrapped caramels.
What are your favorite vegan hot dogs or other favorite vegan barbecue fare? We’re always looking for new and exciting grill items, and we love Allison’s All-American Potato Salad to round out a perfect summertime meal.
Summer Heat and Chocolates Don’t Mix
It’s been a whacky weather year here in California. We had an unusually snowy, wet winter, and we’ve had a ridiculously long, cool spring (we’ve even had some confused trees with their leaves turning colors already!) But the sun has finally come out, and I’m hoping that we might soon catch up to the rest of the country and have some real warm weather.
The prospect of summer heat has me smiling big time, but it also reminds me that summer is a hard time to ship vegan chocolates.
Even with a chill pack and 2-day air shipping, chocolates do not always survive the intense heat in many areas of the country during the warmer months. So, now that temperatures are really heating up, we’re recommending that you use caution when ordering chocolate items like vegan peanut butter cups, peppermint patties, cherry truffle hearts, and cherry almond bark. Check the weather for your shipping destination and if it’s going to be over 65ºF, consider ordering something less perishable.
Some non-meltable but still chocolate-y alternatives for summer gift-giving include organic brownies, Double Chocolate Chunk cookies, drinking chocolate (great in shakes and smoothies or as chocolate milk), and individually wrapped caramels in several chocolate and vanilla flavors. Cookies and brownies with chocolate chips in them are also a slight melting risk, but melted chocolate chips, while messy, won’t be a catastrophe. If your chocolate chip baked goods arrive melted, simply let them cool somewhere below 65º for a few hours before devouring them.
P.S. Remember to order your Father’s Day gifts this week. Dad will thank you!
Salted Is the New Sweet
Kelly’s salted Margarita Biscotti recipe from last week’s Friday with Friends got me thinking about how much I love the salty/sweet flavor combination not just in gourmet cookies, but in vegan chocolates and confections too. I’ve always loved to contrast salty and sweet tastes; on late nights in college I would go back and forth, eating candy, then chips, then candy… But I was still skeptical when Allison first suggested that we try tests of salted caramels and brittle. I thought “I love salty, and I love sweet, but both at once?!” 
If you haven’t yet tried the salted confection phenomenon, maybe you’re thinking the same thing. Let me assure you, then, that these aren’t some super-salty, sickly sweet aberration. Just the right balance of salt added to a sweet confection enhances all the flavors therein, making salted chocolate caramels taste more chocolate-y as well as sweeter and saltier. But tasting is believing, and with hand-crafted vegan confections of the highest quality as ours are, you’re in for a real treat.
In the past year or so Allison has developed several salted confections and there are more in the works. 
Available right now are her unbelievably delicious salted chocolate and vanilla caramels as well as you-won’t-believe-’em-until-you-try-’em salted lavender caramels and salted chocolate brittle (my personal pick for best Father’s Day gift idea). Salted confections make wonderful treats for those with salty palates like mine or for people who love to try new things.
What are your favorite unorthodox flavor combinations?
Order Now for Mother’s Day (It’s This Weekend!)
Spring is finally really starting to spring here in Northern California. We have oak trees putting out bright green leaves, the lilacs and redbud bushes are beautifuly in full bloom, and all the new seedlings are starting to push up in our gardens. 
Amidst all this growing and flowering, it seems a perfect time of year to celebrate all the strong and beautiful women in our lives: the mothers of all kinds who nurture and support us.
Mother’s Day is this weekend, and there is still time to order decadent vegan chocolates, melt-in-her-mouth vegan fudge and 
our luscious new Salted Lavender and Chocolate Rose Caramels in time for Sunday. Order before 9am on Wednesday and choose 2-day air shipping to guarantee on-time delivery.
What are your Mother’s Day plans? Any wildflower walks or sunny meadow picnics in the works? We’d love to hear your ideas and recipes!
Here Comes Spring!
Although it doesn’t feel like it yet, Spring is just around the corner and with it comes Easter only a month away. Whether you’re shopping for kids or kids-at-heart, now is a great time to start thinking about vegan Easter gifts, and you’ve come to the right place. 
Starting in April, we’ll be offering an assortment of fair-trade, organic and vegan chocolates for Springtime including nut butter, ganache and caramel filled chocolate eggs, solid chocolate eggs and adorable solid chocolate bunnies. Our Easter & Springtime vegan gift basket includes all of the above plus an assortment of chewy cookies and elegant green “grass” filling.
Worried you might forget to order in time for Easter? We will begin shipping these Springtime items in early to mid-April, but you may pre-order your vegan chocolates and vegan gift baskets now using our delayed delivery date option. Simply choose the date when you’d like your gifts to arrive and we’ll ship them accordingly. Easy and hassle-free, pre-ordering lets you get ahead of the game so you can start thinking about other things like planting your gardens and spring cleaning.
