The chocolate candy-making is in full operation at Momma Bear's Homemade Candy, the new home business of Altonah resident Stephanie Chamberlain.

The sounds of a whirring fan used for cooling the concoctions and a stirring tempering machine filled with melted milk chocolate fill the air as Chamberlain dips rows and rows of caramel-covered pretzels into the liquid.

Chocolate- and nut-covered creations sit atop parchment-lined baking trays and are spread across the Chamberlain family dinner table. Displayed on the kitchen counter are cellophane bags wrapped around chocolate-covered pretzels and toffee.

Chamberlain reaches for a tiny balloon and airs it up with a small pump. She pulls a white chocolate-filled ziploc bag with the tiniest hole in its corner from her microwave and starts drizzling it all over the balloon.

“You can do a lot with balloons and chocolate,” Chamberlain said. “I take a balloon and blow it up because you can make fun little chocolate bowls. Kids love doing this because it's so easy.” Chamberlain blows up a balloon, drizzles it with chocolate. It air dries within seconds. She then dips it into the melted chocolate, and lets it dry in fridge. Once it's dry she pops the balloon and pulls it out of the bowl. Chamberlain uses the bowls for ice cream, chocolate mousse or to display other candies she's created.

She explores new ways to use chocolate and it's all thanks to an accidental opening of a canned good and her husband's college education.

“When my husband was in school I was determined we didn't take out school loans,” Chamberlain said. “One day I opened up a can of sweet and condensed milk instead of evaporated and I was like, 'What do I do with this?' So, I asked my mom and she was like, 'Make some caramels or something.' So I did and it just took off from there.”

Chamberlain's mother, Myrlene Stansfield, owns a gift shop in Springdale that also sells sandwiches and baked goods. When Chamberlain set her goal, she decided to work for her mother, making candy. After college her husband got a job at Natural Resources Conservation Service in Roosevelt and they moved their family to Altonah. One of her husband's co-workers suggested that Chamberlain sell her items at his other business and that's when things started to pick up.

“Momma Bear's actually came from the guy who owns the corn maze, Mark Monsen,” Chamberlain said. “He wanted me to sell candy one year for him and he was like, 'Well you need a name for your candy.' and I was like, 'I never had a name for my candy.' And he said, 'Well, your husband goes by bear, so why not be Momma Bear.' ”

Like melted chocolate to a pecan, the name stuck and now Chamberlain has been making candy for over nine years. Chamberlain specializes in making chocolate- and caramel-covered pretzels, almond, caramel cashew and butter pecan toffee, peanut brittle, candied almonds and pecans, turtles, creme-center chocolates, truffles, caramels and licorice caramels. She also enjoys teaching Dove Chocolate Discoveries home parties.

“Dove chocolate came out with home parties, kind of like Pampered Chef,” Chamberlain said. “They opened in Utah in 2008 and I was the first Utah person to sign up because I was so excited. I can show you how to make different kind of candies with their molds. I sell the tempering machines too if anybody is into chocolate, or else we focus more on desserts like their brownies and cookies. I can also show you how to make a mousse and just different kinds of things to do with chocolate.”

Chamberlain loves to get creative with chocolate and sometimes she involves her four children. Last year for her daughter's birthday she held a “Dip and Dare You” party. She had “good” things to dip into chocolate like marshmallows, gummy and cinnamon bears and lined them up alongside “bad” things to dip into chocolate like boiled eggs, pickles and Cheetos. Chamberlain determined that children are more experimental with chocolate than she is.

“I got a whole bunch of different things to see if the kids would really dare dip 'em in there or not,” Chamberlain said. “That was fun. The kids had a really big blast at that so that was really nice. I wasn't brave enough to try the eggs, but the Cheeto's were really good. It kind of reminds you of a Kit Kat.”

Chamberlain gets most of her business through word of mouth. She also participates in the Holly Fair, takes orders over the phone and via e-mail.

“This year is actually my busiest because more people are getting to know me and hear of me,” Chamberlain said. “There's a lady who orders through my e-mail. She orders a lot of turtles and some toffee.”

Admittedly Chamberlain says she is pretty “picky” about her chocolate and won't sell it if it doesn't look right. Fortunately she has four children to eat her “mistakes.” She says that her oldest daughter can't wait until she is old enough to help make the candy and then someday take over what she does.

“If it weren't for the great love and support of my husband and children I wouldn't be able to continue with my love of candy-making,” Chamberlain said. “My husband is a wonderful guy who will take care of the children and the house when I am trying to fulfill my candy orders. He is always helping with the laundry, dinner, taking the children where they need to be, and doing anything he can to help me.

“My children know that when I make candy they need to stay out of the kitchen and the areas that I am working in,” Chamberlain continued. “They are great to help each other out if there is something they need help on. They are very patient and know they will have to wait for my help until I am at a point that I can take a break. Chocolate is very temperamental and sometimes the breaks my children are waiting for seem like an eternity.”

Candy-making doesn't take precedence over family time though, and Chamberlain tries not to make candy when her children are out of school or on the weekends.

“I just like doing it,” Chamberlain said. “Plus it's fun for people to say, 'I had your candy. It's some of the best candy I've ever had.' ”

For information about Chamberlain's creations, call her at (435) 454-3724. She's also available via e-mail at my4kids@gobigwest.com.