Well, it’s February 1st! The month for sweethearts is upon us and I am thrilled! I’m all for using holidays as an excuse to consume massive amounts of sugar, but for me there’s no candy more fun than the traditional Sweethearts conversation candies during February! While I do love all of my sweethearts, the sheer joy of eating this candy (and, yes, sharing it with them, sigh) is the real highlight of Valentine’s Day for me each year!

I know, men. You’re deciding that this is your cue to click off “the fishbowl” for more important testosterone induced blogs. Not so fast. Just think of the fun you could have, not to mention the points you could score with your sweetheart if you were to just take a few minutes to eat up these fun candy facts! Won’t she be impressed with you? 

*Check out this bit of trivia: The treat of giving homemade candies with love notes scratched on them for Valentine’s Day started with the early American colonists. The New England company, NECCO, took the idea a little further and came up with the conversation heart in the mid-1800s. The little Sweet Hearts were introduced in 1900. Originally, the candy was cut into shapes like horseshoes and baseballs so that longer sayings could be printed on them such as “How long shall I have to wait? Pray be considerate.”

I’m glad they nipped that idea. I don’t even know what that means. The smaller and more get-to-the-point heart shapes came about soon afterward. What’s so fun about those is that there are at least 10 new sayings introduced each year. Some of the newest additions say, “Yeah Right”, “Call Home” and “Puppy Love.” Even more fun…you could have your very own saying added one of these days!

What would you put on a conversation heart if you had a shot at it? Here’s your chance: http://www.necco.com/FAQs/Default.asp ! If you’re really brave, let me know what you came up with! This could get dangerous…

from my candy bowl,

tessa

*National Confectioners Association