I have the fondest memories of playing at Indian Wells beach in East Hampton, NY with my friends during sticky summer days and craving something cold. Sometimes I would opt for the ice cream truck, other times I would walk with my dad up the weathered boardwalk to the small beach stand for a frozen vanilla Charleston Chew. Somehow my dad hooked me at a young age on frozen candy bars. Why did they always taste better frozen? Unfortunately (or fortunately?), now I worry about artificial flavor, artificial color, and other preservatives found in most mass produced candy bars, so I've generally stopped eating these. Why can't candy bars be natural? Aren't they just made with nuts, caramel, chocolate, and cookie? A few years ago I stumbled upon BonBonBar a local candy company that produced seasonal, small-batch candy bars using ingredients sourced from Los Angeles farmers markets. I then learned that founder Nina Wanat had left LA but continued to make her wonderful all natural candy bar creations in San Francisco and was thrilled to check in with her to see what's new. Also, since the chocolate holiday of the year, Valentine's Day, is just around the corner, all the more fitting. The first time I tried Nina's candy bars, I fell in love. Really. My immediate favorite was the chewy caramel nougat bar with a hint of orange enveloped in a rich, high quality dark chocolate, unfortunately this bar is currently on hiatus. Some of the newer bars include the Bourbon Bar with George T. Stagg bourbon ganache and chewy caramel, covered in dark chocolate with Maldon salt, black pepper, and a corn wafer; the Coffee Bar made with Blue Bottle coffee bean ganache, caramel, and roasted walnuts; and also the Ginger Bar which Nina says was inspired by the discovery of Phan Farms’ organic ginger at the Berkeley Farmers Market. Nina also uses their organic eggs to make the lemon almond nougat, with her own candied ginger atop the dark chocolate-coated bar. BonBonBars are absolutely incredible, it's obvious how much care Nina takes in making these based on the length to which she goes to source her ingredients. Now, I will tell you, they're not cheap, about $5 per bar but these candy bars are beyond worth it. Nina ships all across the country just visit BonBonBar.com for more details.