Still have jelly beans leftover from your Easter basket? Then share them with your friends in celebration of National Jelly Bean Day on April 22. Primarily made of sugar, jelly beans are the descendant of the Middle Eastern confection, Turkish Delight. William Schrafft, a Boston confectioner began selling jelly beans in 1861 but they really took off in 1905 when an advertisement appeared in the Chicago Daily News selling jelly beans in bulk packages. Jelly beans became an Easter staple in American Easter baskets in the 1930s.
[Photo by New Media, January 1, 1980. eLibrary]

The staff at Canton Public Library is a diverse group and our reading picks reflect this…

Candyfreak: a journey through the chocolate underbelly of America by Steve Almond

Unaccustomed earth by Jhumpa Lahiri

This just out from Janet' Randolph's Dying for Chocolate blog:

August 4 is National Chocolate Chip Day. Obviously I've blogged many different Chocolate Chip Recipes from cookies to ice cream to truffles to pound cake to cheesecake to pancakes… and a lot more. I usually throw some chocolate chips in most of my recipes. It's almost always appropriate because you can never have enough chocolate!

Staying home on Halloween night? Why not make it a fun family night full of crafts to make and sweet treats to eat. Checkout Halloween treats: recipes and crafts for the whole family it has lots of creative treats and crafts, to keep everyone busy. Halloween tricks & treats spooky snacks, creepy crafts and more for the whole family has wonderful ideas too!