25 in 2025 -- Visit a New Chocolate/Candy Shop -- Ashley’s Confectionery

As soon as I posted my 25 in 2025 list, Andrea asked if I was to the chocolate shop in Kohler. I told her I think after the beer run many years ago. Turns out that beer run was 10 years ago and I'm still pretty sure we checked the chocolate shop. So I was still on the hunt for a new chocolate shop for this year.

It turned out it was easier than I thought. I thought I might had to wait until girls weekend. I just needed an adventure with Stacy. While we were exploring downtown Cedarburg, Stacy mentioned wanting to go to Amy's Candy Kitchen. I happened to notice Ashley's Confectionary across the street. I mentioned we can go to Amy's if we can also check out Ashley's. That was not a problem.

Ashley's Confectionary is located downtown Cedarburg on Washington St. It is open daily 11-5 (until 6 on Saturdays).

I was surprised by the size. It was much bigger than Amy's. There was plenty of room for customers even a small seating area. There was your typical kid candy such as Soda Can Fizzy Candy in the middle of the store. I tend to avoid this area. I want the good stuff

There was pre-packaged homemade candy such as cordials in a variety of flavors and espresso beans. Many looked tempting but I went straight to my favorites.

They had truffles. I love truffles. The had small and large truffles. I opted for the small truffles so I could get a few flavors. They were many flavors to choose from and I had a hard time deciding. I ended up with 2 milk chocolate caramel truffles and a milk chocolate truffle for the hubby. I opted for a caramel, a mint, and a champagne truffle all in dark chocolate for myself. 

Unlike most truffles that I have had, these had a extra thick outer coating. It was unexpected but good. It just took a bigger bite to get to the creamy middle. All the truffles were amazing. The caramel was probably my least favorite but it was on the sweeter side. 

We definitely will be back. I think the hubby was slightly disappointed that I went to Ashley's instead of Amy's (he likes Amy's coconut clusters) but did gave his seal approval for the truffle. I guess he wasn't that disappointed. 

Now I may have to go to Amy's for coconut clusters and Ashley's for truffles when in Cedarburg. I still do have to have to try a caramel apple from Amy's. Stay tuned for that adventure. 

Let's see if I find any other good truffles this year. 

Oh Look a Candy Store

 After Heather and I left Twigs, we headed back downtown to visit Shawano Library as part of the OWLS Library Road Trip. Heather sees a sign for a candy store and was like "Do you want to stop?". I never will pass up an opportunity to stop at a candy store. Besides I have this insane goal of visiting a candy store, among other things, in all 50 states and all 72 WI counties. This would knock Shawano County off the list. 

Old Glory Candy is a small candy shop in Shawano. It is open 7 days a week. 

It has several wooden racks of pre-package homemade candies including several sugar free varieties.

There were old school lollipops and other candy treats you would normally find in a candy store scattered around the edges of the stores on wooden racks or in wooden barrels. 

All the good stuff of course was behind the counter. One case had homemade truffles. The varieties made it difficult for me to choose for myself but even harder to find one that hubby would like. I ended up with good choices -- Jack Daniels for me and Cookies and Cream for the hubby.

There was also a case of homemade fudge.. small batch homemade fudge. Heather picked up some fudge for her family. She had some hard choices to decide which four flavors. When you buy a pound, you get a 1/4 lb free. So she got Whiskey Old Fashion and gave me a portion. It was also delicious. 

If you are going to Shawano, stop by this small business and salsify your sweet tooth. There is something for everyone. The prices are very reasonable. Grab your soda at Twigs and candy at Old Glory Candy before headed out to the lake. It is definitely worth the stop.

Getting My Taffy Fix

I've been craving taffy for awhile now. I probably could go to the grocery store or Walmart and buy some but I wanted good salt water taffy. A few months ago I was searching for candy stores near Ladysmith and Rice Lake. I didn't find any but there was a couple in Hayward.  Playing around on Googlemaps before we headed to Hayward, I found a candy store called Tremblay's Sweet Shop. A brief glance at their website told me they had taffy and other chocolate treats. 

I informed the hubby that if we had time I'd like to stop at Tremblay's Sweet Shop because I wanted taffy. We had plenty of time. There are actually two locations downtown Hayward... a smaller shop and then the main shop across the street. Of course we went to the main shop. 

Tremblay's Sweet Shop is a sweet tooth heaven. There are baskets full of taffy and other old school candy. There is homemade fudge and other homemade chocolates behind the counter. Of course, there are jelly belly jelly beans and other gummy candies. There is something for everyone.

You get a basket and fill it with whatever wrapped candy you want. The taffy and old fashioned wrapped candy is $5.99/lb. That is dirt cheap for taffy. 

I really liked that I could pick my flavors of taffy. I am partial to watermelon, licorice, and cinnamon. The hubby surprised me and wanted some flavors too. Tremblay's had some pretty unique flavors of taffy including chili mango, chicken and waffles, red velvet, and guava. I did add a couple of the more unique flavors to the basket as well as maple for the hubby. 

The hubby said we should have had separate baskets since I had the weird flavors. Let me tell you it was an adventure once we got home and I had to figure out what flavor each piece was and if it was mine or the hubby's. Next time separate bags and more pictures of to match the flavors with the taffy. 

We also each got a couple of pieces of homemade candies from the case. The hubby went with coconut clusters and I got a mint truffle and chocolate covered pretzel. The mint truffle was huge and very minty.

You can watch them make the candy, taffy, and brittle through the glass windows.

The only downside of Tremblay's Sweet Shop is they only accept cash or check which I didn't realize until we were in line to pay. Luckily we had enough case between the two of us to get all of our treats. I opted for a pretzel instead of an oreo ball. Lesson learned, bring cash to Tremblay's Sweet Shop.

Unfortunately I won't get my taffy fix all the time. Hayward is 4 hours from Appleton. A bit of a drive for some taffy. There is another location in Eagle River but that's still almost 3 hours from Appleton. I guess the wait will make it sweet.