Fleur de Sel Caramels. I now have fleur de sel caramels. I don’t make these caramels myself, but I know someone who does, a woman from Holland who makes them really well. We trade chocolate for caramels. Fleur de sel is a type of sea salt. It looks like snow flakes. Fleur de sel is the top layer of newly crystallized sea salt. Most of it comes from Brittany in France, where it is hand harvested. The stuff is expensive, but a little bit goes a long way. I also have unsalted caramels.

Barack Obama. Shortly after he was elected president, Barack Obama told a reporter that his favorite candy was fleur de sel caramels, and immediately, demand for this candy skyrocketed. Before Obama was elected president, nobody ever asked me for fleur de sel caramels. Now everybody wants them. Ronald Reagan did the same thing for Jelly Bellies. Jelly Bellies used to be made in a small factory near the Oakland airport. After Reagan was elected president and it became known that Jelly Bellies were his favorite candy, sales took off. Over 3 tons of Jelly Bellies were sent to the White House for Ronald Reagan’s inauguration in 1981. The Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield has the best factory tour in the bay area, and it’s free. It’s a great place to take families with kids.