Lord Stanley may not be visiting the HSBC Arena for a few more years – but if you can’t kiss one, have you considered eating one?  Like they say:  “…if you can’t beat them, eat them…”

Easter is almost here and we are definitely getting blitzed at the store.  Busy beavers?  Not really – how about Rabid Rabbits.  Good Grief!  I am now seeing chocolate rabbits in my dreams!  This has got to stop.

Did I mention that the new Wonka Bars are now in the store?  I certainly don’t have any time to take a tour of the Chocolate Factory, but I am on the lookout for that Golden Ticket!  If you have not yet seen the new line of “Exceptional” Wonka premium chocolate bars, then check out the new photo album on our FaceBook fan page – Bella Mia wanted to show you just a little something to get you in the mood for the Summer that has yet to arrive.  Choose the Chocolate Waterfall, Domed Dark Chocolate or the Wonka Scrumdiddlyumptious Chocolate Bar.  Or just drop one of each into the kids Easter baskets.

Can’t wait for YOUR Easter basket?  Need to visit Wonka Candy Land after that boring Monday morning Staff Meeting?  Then stop in our web store and check out the new Wonka arrivals.  MoJo would be proud!

What Is It With Kids & Chocolate Rabbits?

 You can’t say “No” to the little kids that still believe in the Easter Bunny.  And don’t get me going on where does Santa live during the other 11 months of the year…

If you live in Buffalo, or are just passing through, stop in the store and buy a few tickets.  Each ticket is $0.50 – but if you want more – 3 tickets are $1.00 and, for those who are feeling really “unlucky” – they can buy 8 tickets for $2.00  Need more information?  Just ask the Bella Girl behind the counter. 

As Clint Eastwood would say:  Feeling Lucky?  And now for the fine print…the winner does NOT need to be present to win and Tom (aka The Boss…) will personally call The Big Winner (that could be you by the way…) at 6:00 pm on April 2nd (Friday).  So, during your next visit to our store, just reach into your pocket (or wallet), buy your ticket(s) to win (maybe…).  Unlike Timmy’s Contests, you don’t have to “roll up the rim to win…”

Hey – Just try eating the ears off this Bad Boy!  If you win you have a few options:  You can take it home.  You can melt it down.  You can give it away.  You can try to hide it in your closet to see how long YOU can resist the Siren’s call of chocolate from the closet!  Ahhh…the irresistible aroma of Merckens chocolate!

Tickets Anyone?

What?  Can’t eat the whole thing?  Then perhaps you should consider just picking up a pound (or two…) of foil wrapped Merckens solid milk chocolate eggs.  These foil eggs are always popular at Easter and always look great in your Easter basket.  But watch out.  IF you win the GIANT Bella Mia Chocolate rabbit – you just may have to build an addition on to your house!

Enjoy the warmer weather and the next chocolate holiday! 

Hey – Did I mention that Sponge Candy is always good to find in your Easter Basket?  Thought so!

Bella Sweet Heats – Bella Mia’s latest chocolate confection creation is a unique combination of chocolate with a long lasting flavor of cinnamon.  Remember the classic candy Atomic Fire Balls created way back in 1954?  This was one of the first “spicy” candy treats that caught the candy world by storm….Or should we say blast?  An estimated 15 million of those round, spicy, hard candy “Atomic Fire Balls” are now consumed per WEEK by people all over the world.  Wow!  Now that was a success story!

The Bella Mia Candy Store is now in hot pursuit.  No – nothing as simple as Atomic Fire Balls or Hot Tamales.  Something much more subtle – and definitely with some chocolate in (or on…) it.  Discovered almost by accident while testing new chocolate recipes very late at night along with his trusty dog Mojo.  The Boss (that would be our Tom…Not Bruce…) was suddenly distracted by Mojo – No, don’t ask what really happened…and accidentally combined Merckens milk chocolate and cinnamon flavor.  Bella Sweet Heats are a new tasty chocolate treat gives you the smooth sweetness of chocolate plus a lingering taste of cinnamon.  

Looking for something definitely different?  Perhaps need a new candy to pass around your Man Cave during Super Bowl Half Time?  Want to enjoy something just a little bit hotter than those NFL cheerleaders – but don’t want to explain to your wife or Significant Other about those pesky lipstick stains on your shirt collar?  Then try Bella Sweet Heats and put a little bit of spice back in your life!

Select either plain chocolate (choose either milk or dark chocolate) or step up your game a bit and add sesame seeds or cashews to your Bella Sweet Heats.  Chocolate makes a great foundation to build on!  Enjoy the flavors of chocolate, sesame, cashews plus that lingering flavor of “spicy” hot cinnamon.

Available in either milk or dark chocolate.  Available in “bark style” (break ups) or large cluster style.  Sold by the pound.

Ronald Regan never had to worry about this stuff.  Sure, the Berlin Wall came down during his time in office – plus he was associated with taking short naps during Staff Meetings and eating a lot of Jelly Beans – but the stakes are now much higher now.  Those folks on the east side of The Wall may be easily confused with Russians further to the east.  But now those pesky Russians have upped the ante.  Jelly Belly Beans have morphed into something akin to a game of Russian Roulette.  I did warn you, didn’t I….

Caring for and sharing your stash of Jelly Beans is nothing new.  But BeanBoozled Jelly Beans take it to a whole new level.  The new BeanBoozled Beans are packaged in a new, nifty box with colorful graphics on the outside. However, when was the last time you enjoyed a candy that requires a “legend” or “key”.  Some people would call this additional information a “fair warning”.  Beware kids!  Stranger danger!

Now you can “pay your money and take your chances…”  Ten different colors of jelly beans BUT 20 different flavors.  Sound like a good deal?  Then you better keep on reading…

Flavor Danger – Beware!

The boys in the Taste Department at Jelly Belly have mixed up a few treats AND a few surprises.  Sure – you could just flip a coin and plunge ahead.  But a little strategy or Game Theory may be in order.  Basic math tells me that you have a 50 percent chance of getting a treat and a 50 percent chance of getting a “stinker”.   But who wants to look for that old textbook to read about probability and statistics.   Nope.   Not me!   Too easy!

And some of these flavors are downright weird!  When was the last time you looked forward to chewing on an “ear wax” flavored jelly bean.  O.K. – possibly back in Third Grade – but since you probably made it through Graduate School – you should know better.  My strategy?  Let the OTHER person reach in and take a chance.  If you are lucky – THEY pick up the Skunk Spray flavor, gag or possibly Up-Chuck – then you both get a laugh as you walk out of the room to have lunch…A great way to end that boring 3:00 pm Staff Meeting.

Get my drift?  Don’t be a hero.  Share the wealth!  Kinda’ like opening a door for a Senior Citizen – only to have them get hit by a bus!  Whoa…I’m kidding!  Jelly beans, Retro candy and chocolate candy is available from the Bella Mia Candy Store.

Why not put a few of these Jelly Belly beans in a dessert bowl during Super Bowl Sunday?   BeanBoozled Jelly Beans might just have those Big Guys running for the exits. Revenge is best served in a bowl!  Enjoy!

What’s in it you ask? Well, you start with three scoops of Perry’s  

MoJo At Rest

ice cream – you can pick from either Vanilla or Chocolate or just mix them together.  The MoJo Sundae is topped with Peanut Butter Sauce and Hot Fudge Sauce, then you sprinkle some crumbled Oreo cookies on the top, add a squirt (or two) of whipped cream then finish off the whole she-bang with a bright red cherry on top!  Whooeee!  What could be better for you?  Not much!  Certainly beats a dish of dry dog food for dinner…

Actually, I’m not allowed to eat ANY chocolate (especially any one those Canadian Candy Bars or those delicious looking British Candy Bars that just came in…) or have ANY Hot Fudge Sauce – but I have been known to dip my hairy chin into a large bowl of Vanilla ice cream that is sometimes enhanced with a dollop of peanut butter sauce.  After all, ice cream is just frozen milk and we all know how good calcium is for your body.  A small but growing dog needs all the calcium it can get.  And yes, too much Peanut Butter Sauce is definitely not good for my slim physique – but what the heck, you’re only a dog once!  And remember, every calendar year puts 7 years on MY clock – so please don’t tell me it will shorten my life.  I fact, don’t tell me any short jokes at all!

Unless you live in Western New York, there is absolutely NO way you are going to get your hands (or a spoon…) into a MoJo Sundae – but you can still dream!  In fact, that is how I spend most of my days – laying around the house, sleeping and dreaming.  My day is sometimes broken up by an occasional pee break when I can get outside in the yard.

And no, the Boss won’t let me spend any time in his Bella Mia Candy Store due to those pesky Erie County, NY Health Department regulations, but it doesn’t bother me anymore.  I learned long ago to put on my “sad face”, hang around the kitchen after dinner and presto – a scoop of Perry’s Vanilla Ice Cream shows up in my bowl.  Life Is Good!

If you ever get a chance to try my MoJo Sundae, give me some feedback on FB.  I won’t be able to reply, but I always enjoy it when someone reads me the email.

Hey – Gotta’ go and chase a bus!

The Marketing Department at Mars must be from another planet…Definitely NOT Mars…What were these guys thinking?

Delicious chocolate covering a tasty coconut center!

  If you have not been tuned to the Chocolate Channel or the Candy Channel this week – you may not have heard that Mars lost a legal battle when they tried to trademark the “shape” of their Bounty Bar.  Can you imagine what it cost to make the legal claim based on the unique shape of their candy bars?  Obviously, not a strong enough of a case to hold up in court…Nice try though… 

There may be two distinctive pieces inside each Bounty Bar – but surely whatever machine squeezes and shapes “The Twins” before they get wrapped and packed at the candy factory can’t be that unique.  Come On Folks – it’s just a candy bar – True, the Bounty Bar is a tasty little gem.  Even Saddam Hussein had a few Bounty Bars in his stash when he was found!  Now that is definitely a strong endorsement…What else comes to mind?  Mutiny On The Bounty?  A movie based on a “boat load” of candy in a wooden ship sailing around Tahiti?  Life can be good. Bella Mia Candy Store has plenty of Bounty bars in stock.  We import them directly from our distributor in Canada so there is no need to worry about the “sell by” date.  If you are in the Buffalo, NY area – stop in at our retail store and say hello.  You never know – if Tom The Boss is making a few of his locally infamous chocolate creations – he may even offer up a sample.  Doesn’t hurt to ask!

Aye Aye Captain Bligh!

Oh – No!  Not again!  Why can’t we just all get along?  Allegations of price fixing?  I remember something about that from Economics 101.  Oligopoly come to mind?  Thought so…Many serious chocolate fans may have been over paying too much for too long.  Or that’s what a few of the Government (G-Men) have to say…I can see as a well informed consumer, and assuming that my eyeglasses still work – that the product size has been shrinking while candy bar prices have either been steady or in the worse case, actually going up.  Now that is what the Bella Mia Candy Store calls a “double whammy”…

In the short run, I can see no solution.  If you like chocolate, you LIKE chocolate.  If chocolate manufacturers raise their prices, you probably will buy the same amount of their products and hopefully just chew a little slower or let the chocolate melt in your mouth just a little longer.  In the long run you will pay more – we saw that with copper, gasoline and a many other commodities last year…

There are just more of us (a reference to the Human Race of course..) and many things on Gods Little Garden (aka our Planet Earth) are finite in supply.  I don’t plan on eating any Soylent Green in my lifetime – but you never know.  Could be that Aunt Martha has to be recycled as a Protein Bar – you just never know.  I’m going to put my faith on the side of  of Modern Science!  But when it comes to price fixing and my candy bars – well, I have to draw the line somewhere.  As I get older, I appreciate more and more that there is “so much chocolate and so little time…”  So I better get crackin’ on trying any ( and all ) of the high quality chocolate and candy bars made in North America – possibly The World!

Since the Bella Mia Candy Store is right next to Canada, we get to bring you any ( and all ) of the “hard-to-find” Cadbury, Nestle and Kinder and will ship from our Retail Store directly to your door step.  We hope in our car, make the short drive across The Mighty Niagara River using any of the three Bridges that connect us to our neighbors to the north…and voila, we are in Wonka Chocolate Land!  And if the Bridge Traffic isn’t too bad, and the Customs and Border Patrol let us back in – we can get these items shipped out to you in very short order.  Our products are always fresh and delivered to you just in time for that Family Reunion, Corporate Picnic or just a bonfire on the beach…Pick up a box of Cadbury Candy and pass it around – make friends in high & low places…Cadbury may not beat a Cold Beer on a hot summer day – but when the sun goes down and it’s time to watch another sunset – it sure tastes good! 

The good news is that Summer 2009 is finally here (well, almost…)  And with the heat of the summer comes the less than sizzling summer TV shows.  Now, I’m not against all of the reality TV that is being thrown at us – but how many times can we watch a blonde girl – or just a Tough Guy WannaBe – consume worms, bugs, insects and other creepy crawlers?  I mean – Come On!  If you really want to bite Mother Nature on the ass – then talk a hike down to the Bella Mia Candy Store at 1096 Hertel Avenue.  This Buffalo candy store has an adequate (whoa – check that…) MORE than adequate inventory of HotLix bug candy and other insect candies.  Personally, if you really want to host a great Survivor party with your friends or get in the mood to view any of those Lost episodes from last season – what better item to get you into that Tropical Island mood than chomping on some tasty Bug Candy.

From the number of items that have been “flying out the door” at the Bella Mia Candy Store  – no, not literally – the vast majority of online customers for bug candy have been female.  Surprised?  Thought so! Now that definitely throws down a Gender Gauntlet for any of you guys to pick up and challenge the opposite sex.  For me, I have no immediate plans to pop no stinkin’ insect into my cake hole!  No way!  But Hey – that’s just me…

There is just something about going to a summer picnic – or possibly the Drive-In on a hot summer night – to get you into the mood for Buffalo’s upcoming warm weather.  Just don’t call the boys from Terminex – they just would NOT understand.  A lot of things in Life are going to bug you – but HotLix Insect candy should not be one of them.

Father’s Day is just around the corner.  What better way to see “dad” Man-Up in front of the family than give him a surprise gift box, and as he unwraps his first Scorpion Sucker – then pops it into his mouth while Mom is in the room.  Better yet – just unwrap some of these Bad Boy Bug Candies and pass them around your dinner table and see who is the first one to bolt!

You can Burn & Chocolates Can Melt - In The Sun!

Bella Mia Candy Store has already stocked up with our summer supply of Crystal Beach suckers plus the original Crystal Beach waffles. And don’t get me going on the subject of Loganberry flavored syrups… We have all of the basic ingredients for a sunny warm day at the beach- sorry, you have to bring your own Sand Flies.

You probably want to look your best if you plan to visit any of the sandy beaches along the Canadian shoreline on the north side of Lake Erie.  You pick your poison: spray on tans, tinted topical lotions & potions or you can simply choose to lay around in the hot sunshine (yes – the sun does eventually get a little toasty in Western new York…) and get it the old fashioned way – burn a little, peel a little but tan a lot.  You make the call!

Anyway, enough of this rant.  Chocolate melts in the hot sun and our fragile chocolate retail business slows down a bit when the temps climb towards the 90s – but if you are in Western New York or near Hertel Avenue – stop in at 1096 Hertel Avenue and enjoy some Perry’s Ice Cream!  Tom (aka The Boss…) has a strong right arm and can pile the ice cream pretty high until you decide to say:  Whoa!  That’s Enough!

Need any table favors for your next Bridal Shower?  Perhaps a large Corporate or family picnic?  Perhaps the Corporate Challenge in Delaware Park?  Call us at 716.447.0922 for assistance or suggestions.

Now stop reading this screen – turn off your computer and Hit The Beach!

Well, I guess I have way too much free time on my hands…Last night I actually found a web site that specializes in sending candy to incarcerated “people” in the Granite State (that’s New Hampshire by the way…) So, if you know someone who is now in jail somewhere in New Hampshire, you might want to check out this link:  http://nhstateprisonorder.com/osc/index.php 

 On the other hand, since the Bella Mia Candy Store is located in the Empire State (that’s New York by the way…) – you might want to check out http://www.docs.state.ny.us/Directives/4911.pdf  Did you know that Inmates may “…receive two packages a month containing foodstuffs and the combined weight of which shall not exceed 35 pounds….Food packages received both from visitors and through the mail shall be included in the two package limit…” 

Bella Mia Candy Store has not yet received any customer requests to send candy to any correctional inmate receiving free room and board compliments of our State government – but what the heck, even Bad Boys deserve some chocolate and candy.  Think Positive! Eating candy might even help an inmate give up smoking…  And they would have plenty of time to work out in the exercise yard to help keep those extra pounds off!  Apparently, there are no restrictions on candy items but don’t try and send any raisins…Must have something to do with jailhouse fermentation techniques and related alcohol by-products I guess.  Obviously, you can’t send any knives, files or other sharp objects but for some reason 2 inch sewing needles (as referenced in the NYS Regulations are O.K. – Good Grief! What are these guys thinking?  Do you remember your grade school warning? “…don’t shot any paper clips with rubber bands or you might put somebody’s eye out!” Just what do you think they would do with a 2 inch needle in Attica?  Knit a quilt?  I doubt it! 

 Is anybody reading these regulations? We don’t know anybody who is incarcerated in any NYS Dept. of Corrections facility – but if YOU do and want them to have some quality candy – let us know and we will try to help you out.  Just don’t ask us to send any chocolate coated raisins and 2 inch needles…

NYS Corrections Dept. Directive 4911