In the News
My Collingwood - Go back to ‘the old day’ with this beautiful giftware with that old-fashioned look. There is nothing more heart-warming than using a mug or a coffeepot that makes you think of way back…a simpler time. A simpler time made sweeter with treats from Aarden’s Chocolates. Spoil yourself or a loved one this Christmas with this unique gift line.
Some shoes are made for walking but these shoes are perfect to hang on your Christmas Tree! An excellent gift for the shoe lovers out there or for that special girl. Each shoe sits on a box of Chocolates filled with 4 Belgian bonbons! Merry Christmas.
Aarden’s has a new and exciting story to tell you about. The story starts with a dark chocolate cup filled with a delicious cream consisting of fresh cherries, lemons or raspberries. On top of this totally delicious petit four, they add a chocolate creation which makes the whole product extremely unique and colourful. As with all of Aarden’s chocolates these new creations give a flavour and texture not possible with modern mass produced chocolates.
Aarden's offers a wonderful section of truffles and bonbons, waves and pretzels in white, light and dark chocolate, hazelnut pralines, chewy chocolate covered caramels in light and dark chocolate…the list goes on and on. They have also taken care to cater to those with special needs and offer diabetics a great selection of sugar free delights. All Aarden's products are peanut free.
Aarden’s is located at 270 Main Street East, Stayner, 705.428.3385. You can visit in person, or order from their website.
Edible Tulip - I took a well deserved road trip today through the country to get my snow tires put on before we get swept up in wintry weather (where is that first blast of flurries by the excited way? I can't wait to skate round and round and catch snowflakes on my tongue). It was marvelous to drive up and down the hills with nobody else on the road and I decided to make a stop at Aarden's chocolates in Stayner, Ontario (off Airport Road, south of Wasage Beach, North-West of Barrie).
Aarden's is owned and operated by Mark and Monica Aarden of Holland. They settled in Stayner 7 years ago and opened their chocolate shop. Mark is 38 years old and he's been working with chocolate for 21 years if that makes any sense. It must be the European mentality of specializing early on in life! It's a lovely store with a festive and charming window display -- Christmas trees, enormous chocolate sleds, chocolate wreaths, 3 foot chocolate santas, trees on lollipop sticks -- and then an absolutely jam packed interior full of cake trays of truffles, bonbons and adorable chocolates with gold glittering mini sparkly trees. Don't take children into this place. They'll have a visual sweetness overload and collapse out of eternal indecision! Well, the same applies for adults I suppose.
They import the best grade chocolate from Belgium and they hand make everything on site with individual tempering machines for their dark chocolate, milk chocolate and white chocolate. They also import their marzipan from Germany and their walnuts from France. I got to take home a truffle log handmade with a piping tube and filled with a champagne ganache interior and then decorated with dark chocolate shavings. I'm still in heaven!
My Collingwood - 
Anyone who loves chocolate will agree…but great chocolate is even better. We’re not talking about the box of holiday Turtles or Christmas M&Ms shaped into ornaments for the tree or even those fancy boxes of chocolates with cream fillings that leave you feeling very suspicious and you find yourself double checking the chocolate map…sometimes twice.
Chocolate is the voice of passion and love, whether it is the love of chocolate itself or as an expression of love for another person.
Christmas or Monday, chocolate is the perfect gift for those we care about or just want to impress. But let’s be honest here.. if it isn’t the real thing.. why bother?
Did you know that the first bonbon was created in the 17th Century by the Duke of Plessis-Praslin? He needed a delicacy to keep rioters out his way. The Duke saw a kitchen boy scrape leftover melted sugar out of a pan. A light bulb went off and voila! He became the inventor of the bonbon, better known as the praline. As time went by, many more flavours were invented and it is an extremely popular product.
My Collingwood - 
So many things are synonymous with Fall. Aside from the changing of the leaves and the cooler temperatures, pumpkins and pumpkin pie, it is also time to start thinking about Putting Your Garden to bed for the Winter.
There is a great line-up of events, like the Great Northern Exhibition, the Apple Harvest Craft Show and Sale, The Fall Colours Art Studio Tour and the Turkey Tent Sale, just to name a few. Check out our events calendar for all of the details.
Smell the aroma... a new coffee company is roasting coffee beans right here in town, grower direct from farm to cup, you simply can't get a fresher cup of coffee. Ashanti Coffee Enterprises has opened their doors on Ronell Crescent. Pop in for a visit to try out their coffee and meet the owners. David and Amy Wilding-Davies and Lorella (Zanchetta) and David Brennen will be pleased to take you through the roasting process, while you enjoy a smooth cup of this wonderful coffee... latte or espresso if you prefer.
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My Collingwood - 
Delicious dedication, creativity and talent take you a step back in time when you walk through the door of Aarden’s Chocolates in Stayner. You are instantly reminded of a simpler time when an Easter treat looked like an egg or a bunny instead of Sponge Bob and Dora the Explorer.
We asked Mark and Monica to take us on a step-by-step journey as they create their Easter Egg Bird Houses, one of dozens of unique and hand crafted treats that are very popular and so very nicely priced.
First the pieces of the birdhouse are made from premium Belgian chocolate, the eggs are then stuffed with little surprise and delight chocolate eggs. The next step is to glue the pieces together, with more chocolate and then decorate the exterior of the birdhouse with more chocolate and candies.
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