Sweet Tradition

Holiday candy making teaches the joys of giving

By Suzy Frisch

Photo by Maki Strunc Photography

If it smells like caramel in the Anselmos’ Edina home, Christmas must be approaching. Each holiday season, the rich, inviting aroma of melting sugar permeates the house as Jeanne Anselmo creates box upon box of caramels and candies (see recipes). She gives away the sweets to friends, family, neighbors—just about anyone who happens into the family’s life.

Jeanne’s mother started the caramel-making holiday tradition years ago, but Jeanne has taken it to a whole new level. Though she’s busy decorating other people’s trees and mantels through her design business, J.J. Design, Jeanne will have whipped up more than 2,500 caramels (see recipes). She also makes more than 100 boxes of other types of candy—nut goodies, bonbons, peanut butter cups, and peppermint bark (see recipes)—to give away as gifts. But caramels are her trademark treat. “Although I make a lot of candy, my caramels are what I’m known for,” she says. “People joke about inviting me to holiday parties because they know I’ll bring my caramels or my candy.”

photo by maki strunc photography

Jeanne’s personal penchant for candy making has evolved into a family affair for her husband, Dario, and the couple’s three children, Andrew, 7, Aidan, 5, and Ally, 3. At first, she resisted the children’s offers of help, fearing that little ones underfoot would just complicate an already sticky situation. But to her surprise, she found that the kids took their roles in the caramel-making process quite seriously.

“I realized that they were giving it the same amount of attention to detail that I would,” she says. “They wash their hands, go sit at the counter, and work on the caramels, and I trust that there will be 12 caramels in each bag and they will be wrapped well. They do a great job. They take pride in it, and they get so excited to hand out the caramels.”

Andrew and Aidan wrap each caramel in festive red paper, while Ally serves as the team’s quality control department. She carefully inspects each piece to make sure there is no caramel peeking out of the wrapper before dropping the confection into a waiting gift bag. Dario, owner of the Fine Line Music Café, serves as the caramel clean-up crew.

photo by maki strunc photography

Making caramel is now a cherished part of the Anselmos’ holiday, and it also provides a fun way to teach the children the art of giving. Jeanne loves watching the youngsters work as a team, learn patience, and share their time to create something that makes others happy.

“It’s what the season is about. I’m teaching my kids that it’s not about getting, it’s about giving,” Jeanne says. “We’re going to make this for someone, and we’ll put in a lot of time and a lot of love. It’s the Christmas message.”

While it’s nice to buy gifts, Jeanne believes in showing you care by giving away something homemade. “It’s always been important to me, this labor of love and special thing you can do for people.”

And now it’s a sweet family tradition.

Suzy Frisch is an Apple Valley writer.

See Jeanne’s candy recipes. For more information on featured products and suppliers, please reference our Buyer's Guide.

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