By Joseph L. Campos Jr.
The Sugar Plum Festival has ushered in thousands again last weekend with many people from all around California gathering within the Buena Park Mall to usher in Easter and springtime. Easter bunnies, Easter eggs and many bright colors livened up the venue, and shoppers enthusiastically scaled the aisles of the event. Many of these Festival goers were excited to see all of the new sights and shops that this year’s Easter event brought.
Lots of people were at the Sugar Plum Festival buying candy, clothing, jewelry, decorations and other goodies to prepare for the Easter holiday. Therefore, there were many folks with a sweet tooth that were in need of trying something new and refreshing to eat. Lesa and Jeff Wallace were on hand to answer that demand with The Poisoned Apples Sweet Shoppe, where they specialize in creating homemade delicious treats like caramel apple pies, candy apples and shortbreads.
“My wife and I run our business as a team effort,” says Jeff. “She uses her great recipes and I do the selling and advertising.” The Wallaces have been doing this type of culinary work for six years and actually got started on their wedding to each other. The couldn’t find the right party favors , so Lesa came up with a monumental idea to aid in their wedding reception. She decided to make her own party favors.
“She decided to start making caramel candy apples for our wedding,” explains Jeff. “Lesa decorated the apples herself, and even made them look like the caramel apple skull that was seen in the film ‘Snow White.’”
The Wallaces love to share their gourmet snacks with everyone they meet and make friends with. Two of their signature recipes are shortbread with salted caramel and caramel apple pie. Their top-selling shortbread is made of crisp homemade shortbread topped with buttery rich caramel. It is then dipped in milk chocolate, and finally sprinkled with sea salt. Their caramel apple pie consists of pieces of caramel layered in apple filling all placed on a buttery shortbread crust. It is then microwaved for 30 seconds and topped with ice cream. It can then be eaten right out of the jar.
“Lesa has to make a whole batch of caramel,” explains Jeff. “It takes her about two hours to stir it and to keep it fresh.”
Lesa is a self-taught pastry chef and has been perfecting her caramel recipe for years. She tests it until it is just right. Both Jeff and Lesa possess a “Cottage Food License” and are certified to create their treats from their home in Fullerton.
“We love the Sugar Plum Festival,” says Jeff. “We have been there for about three or four shows already. We love it. The people have been great, and the customers are so nice. We are definitely going to stay here in the future. Halloween and Easter are our favorite holidays, and we enjoy being able to make goodies that children can put in their Halloween bags and Easter baskets. We like to use a lot of vibrant colors.”
The Wallaces encourage all California residents to give the Sugar Plum Festival a shot, and to come out to have some fun if they have never attended.
“The Sugar Plum Festival is great, because it has a collection of handmade and hand-curated items,” states Jeff. “Here you will find all kinds of unique things under this roof. Everything here is made with love. It is a really cool place, with a really cool vibe. The event has its diehard fans and attendees and it is really cool to discover and explore. Also, the people that run this festival and put it together are a really great group of people. We are all like family.”
A company called Elusive Enterprize was also on hand to sell their series of high-quality cheese and chili graters. The company is based in Palm Springs, but decided to bring its awesome items all the way down to Buena Park to share with locals. The company has been around for a total of six years, but they made their debut at the Sugar Plum Festival this year for the first time.
“We wanted to do something fun for Easter. It is good to see the families out and about at Sugar Plum,” states Nate Stock, who works for Elusive Enterprize. “Our graters are strictly to buy online, but we wanted to give the public a live demonstration. Their function and volume are the same; we have many different colors to choose from and they go well with many different kinds of food.”
The graters also work well with grinding up ginger, onions and garlic. Stock likes the Sugar Plum Festival because it is an all-day event that brings people together, and you get to meet new people as you set up your booth.
Nate Stock of Elusive Enterprize Graters
“The customers have been nice,” states Stock. “It is nice to share in Easter with the shoppers and their families.” People interested in the graters can purchase them at www.elusiveenterprize.com.
Leonardo e Roberto’s Gourmet Blends of Italian Olive Oil and Balsamic Oils were also at the venue to advertise and see their latest products for fine cuisines. The company works out of Torrance but ships all of their products from Italy to Napa Valley.
“We have all kinds of types and flavors to use with your pastas, breads, chicken, beef or salads,” states Michael R. who has worked for the company for over six years. He brought with him a plethora of different kinds of olive oils and balsamic. Michael had light, dark, and many flavors that have been cultivated with various types of fruits, to add more specific flavors to the oils and allow one’s cooking ventures to be more versatile.
“We utilize real juices, mostly from citrus fruits to our oils,” explains Michael. “Our products last a long time also, and can be used with a lot of different dishes as well. I do a bit of cooking myself, and I love the variety of flavors that we have with the different kinds of olive oils.”
The balsamic oils last forever because of the aging process that the company uses in cultivating the culinary item. It keeps aging right in the bottle like fine wine. The olive oil lasts for two years on the other hand, which is still very good for the nature of the fine product. From raspberry to strawberry to orange, to even basil, one can view more of the different kinds of balsamic oils and olive oils that are offered from the company right from their webpage on www.gourmetblends.us or call them at 1-310-320-7777.
