Edward Monkton - The Connoisseur of Confectionery

After publishing the St George’s Day blog last week I was left a comment informing me not to forget the quirky Englishman Edward Monkton!

So I have decided to dedicate this blog post especially to him.

Some of you may be wondering, who is Edward Monkton?

Edward Monkton is a British artist best known for his quirky and philosophical musings on life. You are most likely to find his designs on greeting cards and an ever increasing amount of products.

Here at Just For You Confectionery we have a number of delightful treats from the Connoisseur of Confectionery himself. Each product is decorated with a quirky illustration and a novel piece of Edward’s wisdom. But what is better than wisdom? Chocolate and wisdom of course! His profound yet humorous insights will brighten up your day and inspire you in equal measure, whilst the delicious Belgian chocolate will most certainly satisfy your sweetest desires. 

Click here to view our range of Edward Monkton confectionery!

Take a look at his website for more interesting thoughts of Edward Monkton and a gallery of his artwork. http://www.edwardmonkton.com/.

101 Things to do with Jelly Beans #8

Jelly Bean Sorting and Graphing

101 Things to do with Jelly Beans #8 - Make maths more fun!

Jelly beans are a fantastic way to get children engaged in maths activities. 

They can be used to help children learn how to count, add, subtract, sort, plot graphs and much more! 

They can make lessons more fun, interactive and rewarding! 

Take a look at this website for more ideas, http://www.ehow.com/list_6183987_math-activities-using-jelly-beans.html. 

St George's Day - Celebrating all things English

It’s St George’s Day and a day to celebrate all things English!

I thought I’d take this opportunity to tell you about some of our delicious products featured on the website that are manufactured in England!

Whitakers specialise in classic confectionery that tastes as good now as it did back in 1886 when the company was established. Based in Skipton, North Yorkshire, the family business has been passed down through four generations and the ideals that founded the company still remain true today. We have a fantastic selection of their chocolate Neapolitans, chocolate crisps and wafers and chocolate fondant cremes. Click here to take a look at their classic chocolate selection. 

Maxons is a family run business based in Sheffield and is one of the few remaining traditional sweet manufacturers in the North of England. They specialise in boiled sugar confectionery and flavoured sherbets. Their ‘Jesmona‘ brand initially started out solely as Black Bullets - a very traditional mint flavoured sweet said to originate from the North East of England, but 100 years later the range was expanded to showcase the art of the traditional confectioner and includes Old Fashioned Mint Humbugs and Liquorice & Blackcurrant, to name but a few. You can't beat a classic sweet! Click here to have a peak at the range of traditional confectionery.

Simpkins have been producing traditional confectionery in Sheffield for nearly 90 years. All their products are still made using methods and recipes first used by the founder back in 1921, incorporating only the finest ingredients and flavours available. Their travel tins are filled with sweets bursting with flavour that guarantee a mouthwatering taste sensation. The perfect companion to a long journey, take a look at our sweet selection!

A Brief Bit about Jelly Beans

As you all know by now it’s National Jelly Bean Day on Sunday 22^nd April! Unfortunately, this is not a National holiday, nor do we know who invented it or why. It is just a bit of fun and an excuse to overindulge in jelly beans … not that we need one anyway!

Here are a few facts about how jelly beans came about,

• The origin of the jelly bean is a bit of a mystery.
• It is thought that the jelly bean originated from Turkish delight but instead of a powder covering the soft, sweet, jelly centre, a hard sugar shell was created.
• The earliest reference to jelly beans is associated with an American candy maker called William Schrafft who asked people to send his jelly beans to soldiers fighting in the American Civil War.
• Jelly beans earned fame in the USA as they were apparently president Ronald Regan’s favourite treat. He was known for keeping a jar of jelly beans on his desk in the White House and he even had a blueberry flavoured jelly bean created in his honour.
• In America jelly beans are popularly associated with Easter due to the fact they are shaped like eggs!

So that was a short and sweet history of the jelly bean! 

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend and don't forget to let me know what jelly bean antics you get up to on Sunday.

Happy Jelly Bean Day! 

101 Things to do with Jelly Beans #7

101 Things to do with Jelly Beans #7 - Decorate a cake 

It’s National Jelly Bean Day on Sunday 22^nd April and when there’s cause for celebration there’s always cake!

So grab your recipe book and start baking! Whether it’s a traditional Victoria sponge or the ever so popular cupcakes, decorate them with jelly beans for a delicious treat this weekend!

Please send me any photos of your jelly bean cake creations and I’ll feature them in the blog! Just email them to info@justforyouconfectionery.co.uk.

Countdown to National Jelly Bean Day 22nd April - Win a Bean Machine!

Jelly bean lovers can rejoice as one of the most highly anticipated days of the year is nearly here ... National Jelly Bean Day!

Every year on the 22^nd April jelly bean lovers all over the world celebrate these sweet delights which are bursting full of flavour.


You may be wondering, how do people celebrate National Jelly Bean Day?


Well that's easy. Eat more jelly beans of course! But there's more! 

• Remember sharing is caring! 
• Present them in jars as gifts to family and friends.
• There are loads of jelly bean craft ideas and recipes which are great for kids! Look at the '101 Things to do with Jelly Beans' feature on the blog for ideas!
• Play the classic 'How many jelly beans are in the jar' game and have friends, family and colleagues guess the correct number. Whoever comes closest to the answer wins the prize!
• Have a jelly bean themed party!

So with only 6 days to go Just For You Confectionery want to kick start the celebration by giving away one of these brilliant Bean Machines from The Jelly Bean Factory!

This novel  product comes filled with 600g of delicious jelly beans! 

Around 26cm tall, it'll happily fit on your desk at work and you'll be the envy of your colleagues! Or pop it  the kitchen counter for everyone to see and share. 

I can guarantee the beans won't last long but not to worry, this Bean Machine can be refilled and reused time after time. 

How to enter –

• It's really simple, if you could create your own jelly bean flavour, what would it be? Let me know by,
• Leaving a comment on my blog OR
• Posting a comment on the Facebook Page http://www.facebook.com/JustForYouConfectionery

The rules –

• The competition will finish at 17.30 GMT Thursday 19th April 2012.
• The winner will be chosen at random and announced on Friday 20^th April 2012.
• Only available to UK mainland addresses.
• Your details won’t be passed onto any third party or kept in any way.
• This promotion is no way sponsored, endorsed or administrated by, or associated with Facebook.
• Unless otherwise requested at the time of the post the winner’s name will be announced on the blog.
• The lucky winner will be sent an email asking for their delivery address details. 

Whilst you’re there share the competition with your friends, ‘Like’ our Facebook page and follow the blog and Twitter to keep up to date with Just For You! 

Good Luck!

20/04/2012 - Thank you to everyone who entered into the Jelly Bean Machine competition! You definitely came up with some weird and wonderful suggestions for new jelly bean flavours! 
The lucky winner of the fantastic bean machine is Tracey Gibbons! Congratulations! If you'd like to email me Tracey at info@justforyouconfectionery.co.uk I can arrange delivery of your prize. 

Sweet Surprises Associated with Eating Chocolate

Over indulged on chocolate this Easter? Here are a few surprising reasons not to feel so bad,

• Chocolate can make you more intelligent - A study in 2009 showed that chocolate can help people do maths calculations more accurately. Compounds found in chocolate, called flavonols, have antioxidant-like properties which are thought to improve circulation, including blood flow to the brain.
• Chocolate fills you up - Did your Mum ever warn you of spoiling your dinner by eating sweets beforehand? Well she was right! Danish researchers report that people who ate a tiny bit of dark chocolate before a meal consumed 15 percent fewer calories than those who didn't have a pre-dinner treat. Eating it also lessens cravings for sweet, salty and fatty foods.
• Chocolate makes you feel better - It contains phenethylamine, which triggers endorphins. This reaction is similar to the one that people experience when they fall in love!
• Ever felt stressed and in need of a chocolate fix? There’s a reason for that. Chocolate helps you relax. A study found that people who rated themselves highly stressed to begin with had lower levels of stress hormones after eating dark chocolate every day for two weeks. 
• It can help you live longer - A study showed that participants who ate chocolate one to three times a month had a lower mortality rate than those who abstained from the sweet treat. It was concluded that this was most likely due to the antioxidants in chocolate.

Yes, there are underlying health benefits and yes, it’s delicious but it’s not advisable to eat it by the pound ... however tempting it may be!