It's been a long time. Looking at the posts on this blog bring back such amazing memories. We had an amazing business and it was growing and people loved our product! It was so much fun and someday we will open up Gabbie's Goodies again.

We had to stop because life took a turn and we needed to raise our children. We adopted our son and he had special needs so we needed to make a choice. We don't regret it at all.

So here we are almost six years later. We had one more child and moved to a new place. A lot has changed. Things have been difficult and wonderful....joyful and painful.

So maybe it's time to post some more. I love to cook and take pictures of it and this FAS journey can sometimes make me need an outlet.

I'm not sure if anyone is really interested in what I have to say but I can write for me.

We have Moved!

Our blog has moved! It is now incorporated into our new website!

All these changes are so exciting. C'mon over and visit us would you?

Click here

Hopefully Our Gourmet Bon Bons will be in Good Health soon!

We have submitted a proposal to Good Health Natural Foods of Hanover & Quincy. We shop at the store in Hanover & highly recommend them. Gabbie's Goodies is a perfect fit for this store as they carry high quality natural & organic products. Their supplement section is fabulous! Also they support local businesses which we really appreciate that!

Stay tuned Gabbie's Goodies fans.....hopefully an announcement will come soon! And you can buy our goodies locally!

Create Your Own HEALTHY energy bar??

Here is your chance to win 12 Element Bars! A fellow blogger called The Pretend Chef is having a contest. Click on the blog name & enter. Hurry it ends soon!

My bar creation involved Peanut Butter & Chocolate....I am so predictable! 

Our Blog is linked to Boston Food Bloggers!

We recently got linked up to Boston Food Blogger! This is very exciting first of all to be linked to anything is awesome & also it will help get the word out about our wonderful treats!

We are still being found by new customers. I will really be working on getting a better presence on the web & could use your help. 

Would you "like" us on Facebook? Click here

Follow us on Twitter? Click here

And lastly, link us on your own blog! Tell all your friends about us. We appreciate it so much & hope to win them over one bon bon at a time.

Check out the new threads!

In order to help spread the word about Gabbie's Goodies locally we got some snazzy hats, shirts & aprons. Now Travis can sport a nice Gabbie's Goodies shirt & hat while he is handing out free bons bons to local businesses.

 See I told you he looked snazzy! This is Travis co-owner of Gabbie's Goodies!

 

Sawyer sporting the Gabbie's Goodies hat. Sawyer has also been our official salesperson spreading happiness via bon bon. He gives out samples & goes with his Dad to market us. He is as charming as he is handsome.

 

Here is Gabbie wearing the apron. I can see Gabbie & I handing out samples at Whole Foods one day! 

SO if you are local look for us!

New Flavors Available!

We have three new flavors for sale on our website so come on over & get some!

Coconut Macadamia
Hazelnut Latte
Lemon Macadamia

Let me tell you....the Coconut Macadamia is TO DIE FOR if you love coconut. I have a full time job at EHS & our IT guy Ruben practically made a fool of himself after he tried one of them. Now I know what to get Ruben on his birthday!

The Hazelnut Latte is fast becoming my new favorite which is strange since I am not the biggest hazelnut fan. The combination of coffee kissed hazelnut & dark chocolate is divine.

 

Here is the photo of the Hazelnut Latte Bon Bon. I mean how gorgeous is that? I ate two for breakfast this morning with my cup of coffee. SO.GOOD.

I already posted photos of the other new flavors but they are so pretty I am going to post them again.

 

Mother's day is around the corner so place your orders now! She will be thrilled & you will get serious points.

Happy Spring!

Come to Hingham Jewelers on Saturday!

Hingham Jewelers is a gorgeous jewelry store! Come to their trunk show on Saturday! It starts at 10 o'clock and goes until 5 o'clock so you have no excuse! Gabbie's Goodies will be providing some yummy bon bons to help you get into the jewelry buying mood.

They have expanded collections of Lagos, Roberto Coin, and Tashka by Beatrice. This is a great chance to check out new pieces introduced for the spring, or to update your wish list before Mother’s Day!

Come on down & bring some of you friends!

Two new flavors coming soon!

So the flavors I thought I was going to make ended up falling to the wayside & two new flavors were born! Drum roll please.....

Coconut Macadamia- Fresh made macadamia butter infused with organic coconut extract dipped in luscious white chocolate then sprinkled with organic unsweetened coconut.

Lemon Macadamia- Fresh made macadamia butter infused with organic lemon oil & lemon zest bathed in smooth white chocolate topped with organic lemon sugar.

I will have them up on the website in the next few days but if you want to order just send me an email to info@mygabbiesgoodies.com and we will whip up a batch for you! $7 for a six count box & $14 for a twelve count box.


Trav has not given up on red velvet yet. More tweaking needs to be done but I have high hopes for that. I will also finalize chocolate hazelnut in the coming weeks so look for that announcement.

Partial success

I was a total slacker and did not take photos of the process (sorry about that!).
We didn't succeed in the red velvet bon bon department yet. The walnut butter smelled soooo good but the texture wasn't quite right. I think it needs a little more texture. You know that aftertaste walnuts sometimes cause? It was there & we need to figure out how to work around that. I love walnuts & chocolate together so I am not sure if walnut butter is right with white chocolate. Take two will involve brazil nut butter. Also natural food coloring doesn't have the same ooomph as fake food coloring.

We decided to do two macadamia centers to be dipped in mango flavored white chocolate. One was lemon (wicked yummy) and the other was coconut (also wicked yummy!). I can not decide which one I like better. 


Not sure how I feel about flavoring oil for chocolate...

I evidently I have a lot to learn about flavoring chocolate because I overdid it & had to throw out a batch! This stinks for several reasons...1. this is not cheap chocolate.....2. How horrible to actually throw chocolate away? I mean seriously?

Take two!



 

Let the testing begin!

Today is testing day at Gabbie's Goodies. Trav has an infinity for red velvet cake so he is going to invent a red velvet bon bon. He is going to start with freshly made walnut butter (the pistachio cardamom tastes so much better since I started making the butter myself so we are going to make our own walnut butter too) since the cake of his childhood had walnuts sprinkled on top. Of course we will never use artificial flavors or colors so we had to order some of the flavoring oils & natural food coloring.

I can not wait to try them! Can he create the cheesecake frosting his grandma used to make using white chocolate? We shall see.....

 

I have been thinking about mango a lot lately. First of all I love mangoes and second of all they pair well with several types of nuts so the mango seems like a natural fruit version of a Gabbie's Goodies bon bon. I always want chocolate but I know lots of people that don't care for chocolate that much (I know, that is really weird). I wanted to come up with a fruity, nutty bon bon. At first I thought lime would be a wonderful flavoring for the nut butter but when I saw organic lemon flavor on sale at Whole Foods I changed my direction. I have no idea what I am going to do with lemon sugar but c'mon doesn't that sound so good???

 

Deja Brew Coffee Shop & Gabbie's Goodies

This morning we brought an assortment of bon bons to Deja Brew Coffee Shop in Abington. Lynda Landreville, the owner graciously agreed to let us give samples away to her customers. Her coffee is amazing & her sandwiches are even better!

How cute is her shop?

All ready for their debut!

This is also the debut of Chocolate Hazelnut!

Thank you Lynda for opening your shop to help another local business. Everyone please patronize Deja Brew in support because local is better!

Pistachios are loaded with healthy things! Who knew?

Did you know that almost 90% of the fat in a pistachio is the healthy mono & polyunsaturated fats? Neither did I!

Did you know pistachios are a good source of fiber providing 3 grams per serving, that’s more than many types of whole fruit. You would have to eat three plums to get the same amount of fiber found in one serving of pistachios.

Pistachios are related to the mango fruit and the spice sumac. Who knew!

So they are good for you & taste fantastic. I realize it is a bit of a stretch to say that the Pistachio Cardamom Bon Bon is actually good for you but I feel totally comfortable saying that it is at least a "little" good for you!

Thank you www.pistachiohealth.com for the fun facts

Bon bons are for baby showers.

I went to a baby shower a few weeks ago and brought some peanut butter & also pistachio cardamom bon bons. I wanted to dress them up so they all sat in cute little cupcake liners (with blue & pink baby footprints on them!). Of course I was not organized enough to take a picture of them but they looked really great. Travis suggested I make little signs so people knew what flavors they were (he is so smart!) so I used toothpicks for that. Trust me they were cute.

 

This photo is from an order this weekend for another baby shower! I learned my lesson and took the photographs this time.                                                                                     

This is them all packaged up for pick-up

 

If you are having a baby shower or even a bridal shower they make a wonderful presentation & they go fast!

 

Toppings make it!

Toppings complete the little package...they make the presentation complete. You wouldn't think it would matter much but I am finding out that it does. Those smooth little bon bons need something on top to make them important, cute & to tell everyone what yummy center is inside!

Our first BIG order

Environmental Health Services, Inc (www.ehspest.com) ordered 40 boxes to give out to their clients. At first I said "no problem!" not having to fill such a large order before. Once we started making, rolling, dipping, packaging all 240 bon bons I thought different! I work full time & we have two children so we are still trying to find the balance starting & operating a new business together. There are a few things I learned during this process.

1. We make a great team. Travis & I shared the responsibilities & since we are both hard workers we got the job done.
2. Gabbie isn't just the namesake, she is a worker too. Now she didn't help as much as I wanted her to but she grabbed a hair net & gloves & pitched in. (I will try to get a picture of her in a hair net next time)
3. We need a chocolate tempering machine. This delicate process takes a lot of time & if you make the chocolate too warm you will not get the gorgeous shiny finish. Having a machine will cut the tempering time down considerably & will keep the chocolate at the right temperature during the entire dipping process so I do not keep having to bring the temp up on a double boiler a million times!

This was a great experience & it helped us envision how we will pull this awesome business off when orders start pouring in. Lastly, it made me thankful to God for the blessing. All these things are a gift from Him.

WRKO- Tom & Todd show likes Gabbie's Goodies!

So here is how it all went down....I listen to the show every morning on my way into work. I decided to follow Todd on Twitter after hearing him talk about it one morning. He sent me a message asking about Gabbie's Goodies so I offered to deliver some to the studio. We made fresh batches of all the flavors, packaged them up & delivered them early Monday morning. 
Todd met Travis & even gave him a tour of the studio (how nice is that!). 

 
Evidently they opened them right up & started eating them while on the air. Both Todd & Avi Nelson (who was filling in for Tom) said they were delicious! Todd mentioned the website & how Travis had just dropped them off. I know it seems silly but it was quite a thrill to hear them talk about our bon bons! It takes a lot of hard work to get a business up & running so every little bit helps. Hopefully some day we can actually make some money of Gabbie's Goodies! They mentioned it again at the end of the show which I heard since I was in my car listening at the time. I clapped & screamed a little. I had to resist the urge to text while I was driving to tell Trav they mentioned us again. It just felt really good....

Thanks Todd & Avi for giving us a plug! Tell all your friends :)

Tempering Chocolate

We had to prepare about 200 bon bons on Sunday to fill various orders. The most time consuming part is tempering the chocolate. Tempering gives the chocolate a nice shiny look & also gives it a nice snap when bitten into. It takes melting it, cooling it & raising the temp again. Each phase must be exact or you will not get the results you are looking for. This takes a tremendous amount of time!

We are likely ready to make our first business equipment purchase. We are looking at a small table top tempering unit but even they are expensive! But it will be worth it in the end since time is money. Even saving an hour off each bon bon making session would mean a lot.

The magical world of flavors

My mind is constantly dreaming up flavor and nut butter combinations.....cashew butter with butterscotch? Brazil nut butter with cinnamon? Macadamia nut butter with coconut? Pecan nut butter with maple? oohhh what about cayenne pepper in the chocolate? YES!

Even though I am tempted to make a bunch of flavors I keep telling myself we need to get an actual customer base to get excited about new flavors! So I will keep focused on building our business then delight all our customers with these new creations.

Mommy's Little Helper

This is Sawyer. He loves bon bons! He is sporting a fabulous hair net so he can help dip bon bons in chocolate. I let him watch :)

Isn't he a doll? Maybe someday he will run Gabbie's Goodies with his sister Gabbie! Hopefully Gabbie will let me take a photo of her one of these days.

New Flavor Combinations

We are testing some new flavors. Travis wants to do it practically everyday! The latest flavor is using Brazil nut butter. Brazil nuts have a mild, slightly sweet taste that is not too "nutty" so I thought it would be a good candidate for vanilla. I also knew I wanted to try this wonderful cinnamon oil I got at Whole Foods so this seemed like a nice place to start. The center ended up being on the salty side so we decided to use milk chocolate instead of the usual dark/bittersweet we usually use. This combination worked really well!

The creamy, slightly salty nut butter and the sweet milk chocolate with a touch of cinnamon is a keeper. I do want to tweak the flavors a little but before we sell them. What's next.....something with coffee!

One Happy Customer!

So since we are just getting started friends, co-workers, family & locals all get to be our guinea pigs. We have dropped off bon bons to the groomer, the gas stations owner & co-workers have brought them home to their families. Here is what one happy bon bon eater had to say. 

"I received my selection of bon bons to test tonight. I have one word....DEE-LISH! My fave so far is definitely the dark chocolate coconut almond. I enjoyed the exotic flavor of the white chocolate pistachio cardamom. The chocolate peanu...t butter, the original is still yummy! ;-) Definitely recommend that everyone must try some! Variety is the spice of life!! ;-) Best of luck, keep up the yummy work! Can't wait to try all of the new flavors! What a great gift idea: holidays, birthdays, just because days, teacher gifts, and for those selfish indulgence days! ♥" Jamie Lopes

How wonderful is that? Come visit www.mygabbiesgoodies.com & see for yourself how delightful they are.

Heart Health Benefits of Dark Chocolate!

Ok, I do realize that I can not say that a Gabbie's Goodies Bon bon is actually good for you since it is technically considered a sweet treat. BUT, most of them are dipped in dark or bittersweet chocolate. Also, other ingredients are good for you like almond butter (more to come about that another time). So they taste fabulous & they are sort of good for you too!

 

As a woman that adores chocolate this is great news. Evidently this love of chocolate passes down genetically as well since my children are in love too.

Dark chocolate is good for your heart. A small bar of it everyday can help keep your heart and cardiovascular system running well. Two heart health benefits of dark chocolate are:

• Lower Blood Pressure: Studies have shown that consuming a small bar of dark chocolate everyday can reduce blood pressure in individuals with high blood pressure.
• Lower Cholesterol: Dark chocolate has also been shown to reduce LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) by up to 10 percent.

Other Benefits of Dark Chocolate:

Chocolate also holds benefits apart from protecting your heart:

• it tastes good
• it stimulates endorphin production, which gives a feeling of pleasure
• it contains serotonin, which acts as an anti-depressant
• it contains theobromine, caffeine and other substances which are stimulants

Doesn't Chocolate Have a lot of Fat?:

Here is some more good news -- some of the fats in chocolate do not impact your cholesterol. The fats in chocolate are 1/3 oleic acid, 1/3 stearic acid and 1/3 palmitic acid:

• Oleic Acid is a healthy monounsaturated fat that is also found in olive oil.
• Stearic Acid is a saturated fat but one which research is shows has a neutral effect on cholesterol.
• Palmitic Acid is also a saturated fat, one which raises cholesterol and heart disease risk.

That means only 1/3 of the fat in dark chocolate is bad for you. HURRAY!!

Macadamia White Chocolate anyone?

Ok, I mean does this not look amazing?

This is the second flavor to be field tested. People all over Massachusetts will be trying these gorgeous bon bons!

Testing....

We are busy testing out some new bon bon flavors! This one is Pistachio Cardamom bathed in white chocolate!