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Man in the Moon Candies, located at 203 W. 1st St. in the Canal Commons, is the place to go in Oswego if you’re looking for delicious treats with a personal touch. Inside, the shop is as adorably quaint as its name suggests. From horse-head lollipops to a milk chocolate miniature of Fort Ontario, to gummy animals skewered on kebobs, every piece of candy in the shop looks as delicious as it does cute.
Judging by its success since it opened in 2007, the confections sold at Man in the Moon don’t just look delicious. Amy Lear, owner of Man in the Moon Candies, comes from a long line of candy-makers and chocolatiers. According to the store’s website, Lear’s grandparents sold candy on West Seneca Street back in 1935, and many of the recipes she uses to make candy today are the same ones her family has been using for almost 80 years.
As it is a store inspired by family, it’s fitting that the candy-making at Man in the Moon is a collaborative effort. Alyssa Estus, an employee of Man in the Moon Candies and an Oswego State student, said that Lear, the head candy-maker Gretchen Hanley and the employees often team up to make the candy together.
“I’m really good at kebobs, the little gummy kebobs,” Estus said. “Recently I helped make our handmade caramel with cinnamon, covered in chocolate.”
Chocolate-covered cinnamon caramels are just one of the many seasonal items that Man in the Moon Candies is putting out this fall. They also have solid milk and dark chocolate leaves decorated in fall colors with truffles in the center and various pumpkin-themed items, like pumpkin-flavored truffles and pumpkin-flavored sponge candy.
Sponge candy, which originated in Buffalo, is one of the most popular items sold at Man in the Moon Candies. Though it was unfamiliar at first, many Oswego residents are now hooked on this regional treat. Estus described it as “like a crunchy malted milk ball, but with a lot more flavor.”
“It’s so popular in the holiday season that we can’t take reserve orders on it,” Estus said. “It flies off the shelves.”
Other popular products at Man in the Moon are the homemade fudge, particularly the sea salt caramel flavor, the caramel, which is one of Lear’s specialties, and the truffles, which come in flavors as varied as cappuccino, key lime, and mint.
Man in the Moon Candies is an astonishing little place, but the most surprising thing about it is that it hasn’t yet been discovered by the majority of Oswego State students.
“Whenever students walk in the door, they’re like ‘I had no idea this place was here,’” Estus said. “We just had two freshmen students come in and they were floored that this place existed.”
Man in the Moon Candies has something for every type of candy-lover out there. Whether you prefer something gummy or something crunchy, something simple or something decadent, something classic or even something you’ve never seen before, you’ll find it at Man in the Moon Candies.
“Pretty much anything you could want, there’s a really good chance we have it,” Estus said. “And if we don’t have it, come back in a week and we might have it.”
Man in the Moon Candies is open on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and, until the end of October, the store will stay open until 9 p.m. on Thursdays because of the Oswego Farmers’ Market on West First Street. The store’s weekend hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays and 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays.
Estus urges students to find time in between their classes or on the weekend to come into town and visit the store, and the other shops in the Canal Commons, while the weather is still nice.
“When it’s so beautiful out, it’s nice to come with a bunch of friends, get a cup of coffee at Taste the World, and walk around here in the Commons.”
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I have written a funny spoof set in the future called Chocolate Chocolate Moons, It has gotten many excellent reviews (see Amazon http://is.gd/6cnE4S )
May I send you a complimentary book? Thank you Jackie Kinon
Some reviews posted below.
THE LAST DIET YOU WILL EVER BE ON
Barbara Bruce White Mountain Talk Show HOST NewsTalk 970 & 1270 streaming at 970kvwm.com.
All of us have wished we could find that magic bullet for weight loss but it is always elusive. In Chocolate Chocolate Moons, Jackie Kingon takes you on a journey that is truly “out of this world” with humor and, believe it or not, information that could work for you, not just at Armstrong University, but right here on Planet Earth. You laugh, you empathize and then you re-think how you look at the way you view the food you eat. Love the book! As a Radio Talk Show Host,I also loved Jackie; listeners connected with her right away because we know that she sees inside all of us who would really long to GIVE UP the DIETING GAME once and for all.
KIRKUS REVIEW
Molly Marbles, an overweight 24th-century Earth girl, wrote “The Joy of Salami,” an essay that won her a spot at a university on the moon. Later, after marriage and twin girls, Molly lives on Mars. After starting a new job as a security guard at the Culinary Institute, she investigates a mystery: People are ending up poisoned after eating her favorite snack food, Chocolate Moons. Kingon invents a colorful, often outrageous cast: Molly’s first love, Drew, who has an affair with CC, otherwise known as Colorful Copies; Cortland Summers, Molly’s husband and an aspiring rock legend; and Rocket, a sleazy fellow looking to make lots of money by any means necessary; and other memorable characters. The author builds a weird, hilarious universe full of witty language and unique detail. In the future, for example, Hallmark-card artwork is expensive and coveted, Uranus is home to toy factories and Mars has cities named New Chicago and Pharaoh City.
Kingon’s prose is often as snappy as her settings; when Molly discovers Drew’s affair she proclaims, “Suddenly I feel like a pizza cut into more than eight slices. ” The story does wrap up with a satisfying conclusion. Delightful.
MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW
James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Every taste of sweetness might have a bit of poison behind it. “Chocolate Chocolate Moons” is a novel following larger Molly Marbles as she’s presented with an opportunity to break from her cycle of dieting with a trip to the moon where her weight is suddenly much less of concern, and when her favorite snack food turns out to have a hidden twist, Molly has more on her plate than even she can handle. “Chocolate Chocolate Moons” is a humorous romp, sure to please many a reader.
Micah Andrew, Reviewer
CLARION REVIEW
Molly Summers is a gal who loves her chocolate. While working as a security guard at a factory where a particular candy is poisoned, the lead investigator points out that Molly had easy access to commit the crime. “Easy access but no motive,” she tells him. “I consider Godiva and Hershey saints and chocolate to be the food of the gods.”
Welcome to the twenty-fourth century, when overweight earthlings can travel to the moon and live in an atmosphere where they weigh nearly five times less than their actual weight. At first, it is heaven for the Neil Armstrong University-bound Molly and her heavyset boyfriend, Drew, but they soon break up when another girl comes between them.
Life goes on for Molly, and when readers meet up with her again she is married, the mother of twin fifteen-year-old daughters, and working security for the Culinary Institute of Mars, where the big question of the novel arises: why would someone want to sabotage the popular candy Chocolate Moons? With the help of her Martian best friend, Jersey, and Jersey’s husband—the half-human, half-machine, Trenton—Molly tries to solve the mystery. Kingon is a teacher, artist, and writer who has had several short stories published, as well as articles in the New York Times. This rollicking, whimsical, tongue-in-cheek story is her debut novel. Food is ever present in this alternate universe. In fact, many of Molly’s thoughts and feelings are associated with food: “I feel as light as a whipped egg white in a floating island dessert.”
Those who like unusual stories served with a dose of humor will enjoy Molly’s out-of-this-world adventure. Robin Farrell Edmunds, Reviewer
DELIGHTFULLY GUILTY PLEASURE
This book is a delightful guilty pleasure. It’s a social satire set in the far future, but one that is light, entertaining and kind of non-judgmental, if there is such a thing. It’s full of cultural references with a twist and hilarious plays on words. It reminded me a bit of the movie Idiocracy. It’s wacky, sometimes biting, sometimes sweet, and often laugh-out-loud funny. Kingon sure has a funky, strange sense of humor, and that’s what makes her tongue-in-cheek debut novel quite original.
Ilona Jerabek, PhD
President & CEO
PsychTests AIM Inc. Montreal, Canada
A VERY ENJOYABLE READ
This is a fun,enjoyable,and innovative read.Lots of laughs, great out of the box thinking, excellent characters, and a story line that definitely hits a home run. Chocolate Chocolate Moons has something in it for everyone. A very rare treat indeed.
David M. Livingston “Dr. Space (The Space Show)” (Tiburon, CA United States)