When we talked about the upcoming holiday season, there were plenty of activities to put on our calendar: Light parades, breakfast with Santa, baking cookies, ugly sweater parties, touring neighborhoods with decorated houses.
But my 9-year-old wanted to do something entirely different. He wanted to learn how candy canes are made.
It was a humble request, but it seemed about as possible as making reindeer fly. Where in the world would I find a place to make candy canes?
Turns out I didn’t even have to go to the North Pole. Logan’s Candies, a small, family-operated shop in Ontario, California, has been hand-making candy canes since 1933. Tickets to attend a candy-making demo are just $5 per person.
Nearly everything about the process has remained the same since 1933: Same recipe, same stove for boiling sugar, same marble block for pulling and stretching the candy.
Even sweeter than the candy were the kids, pressing their faces against windows to watch the seemingly magical process.
Owner Jerry Rowley stretched and pulled the warm sugar until it turned stark white.
Then he added stripes of color, used to achieve their signature candy cane look.
Afterward, everyone received a warm candy cane to shape however they wanted. We opted to make hearts, since ours were so full.
If you go
Logan’s Candies is located in downtown Ontario, 125 W B St, Ontario, CA. Street parking was free.
When: The shop does candy-making demos year-round. This time of year is more crowded and chaotic, but it would be a fun activity for someone who enjoys Christmas year-round or for celebrating Christmas in July.
Also good to know: The shop sells 31 flavors of homemade ribbon candy, and it’s also home to the world’s largest candy cane!