Pralines & New Orleans

Pralines is to New Orleans just as Hersey chocolate is to Pennsylvania. Yes, I think they are just that important to our area. When visitors come down our way it is one of the first things they think to enjoy and purchase to bring home to family and friends. It's always a nice feeling for us when we know that the candies we make are traveling all over the world. Last week the big trip for our pralines was to Costa Rica. They were being used as a "taste of my hometown" by a group of students visiting there. We hope their host families will enjoy them and the other local fare they brought as gifts.

One speceial treat for us is always when children come in and are fascinated when they see us making our pralines. It's their wide eyes that gets my attention. Of course, the sweet smell is a delight to them too. They wander around the store but keep turning their attention back to the source of that sweet aroma. The favorite question of the kids from away from here is simply
"what's that?" Of course, we love telling them the story of how pralines first began to be made in New Orleans. While they listen, we always give them a taste (with their parents permission, of course). There is nothing like a hot praline. Let's face it, there is nothing like fresh candy of any kind. That's why we have never kept our pralines on our shelves in our shop. We are a small enough business that we can continue to cook just what we need to service our customers that day which allows us to sell fresh candy all the time. It's almost a common question is our store when someone says "Where's the pralines"? It's not that we hide them , its that we are busy making and packing them most of the day. All our mailorders are packed just after our pralines are made. That way, we make sure that those we ship to are getting the freshest candy we can possibly send them. This is not a commercial for our candy. It is a statement to let you know a little more about how we operate. And by the way, when we sell our products wholesale to other outlets we always make sure they understand the shelf life and that it is monitored.

Later, we will tell you the story of just how the praline was first made in New Orleans.

Mary Lou