it takes two

surprise surprise.......I'm blogging another treat. what has december done to me?

toffee.

we made this. 

Robby and I. 

together.

Because he is home now,

on school break.

 and I love it.

(well....home-ish. he's still working of course but no school is the BEST)

we are jumping at every chance we get to play and laugh together. 

because isn't that what marriage is all about? playing and laughing together. 

yes. it is.

we've been doing it for 9 1/2 years.

I highly recommend it.

With his return to school last year, our time together is limited, so we have gotten really good at making the most of our few and precious minutes together. 

We have late (too late sometimes....) movie dates on the couch.

He went to yoga with me last week. 

I sit next to him and pretend I have any interest at all in football.

(hey-I didn't say we were perfect)

Our dates are few and far in between, but Friday night we were able to go to sushi and the new Sherlock Holmes movie.

(which I LOVED)

We help each other out.

I cook, and he whistles like a Disney bird while he helps with the dishes. 

He builds the fire, while I make us our cold care herbal tea, because we are 80, and drink herbal tea together every night.

He likes lots of honey, and I like it plain.

We giggle (his giggle is manly of course), as we wrap up the 

Little's presents and put them under the tree. 

We dream up road trips, and plan out what mountain we'll be climbing next.

(ps we are heading to the Big Basin area soon--anyone been? what should be do?)

He stands behind me with hot water, so when I start to panic and scream "IT'S SEPARATING!!!" He can quickly dump it in the toffee so we can continue on our candy making adventure.

Toffee isn't hard to make.....the whole process just moves along very quickly and it can get a little  bit intense on your first few tries. 

The most important thing is that you KEEP STIRRING. I recommend having a helping hand in the kitchen with you so when you start to freak out (hey--you might), someone is there to help out.

English Toffee

1 cup salted butter

1 cup sugar

1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 cup chocolate chips (I like to use dark chocolate)

3/4 cup almonds, toasted and finally chopped.

Toast almonds on medium heat, for a few minutes. 

Pulse in a blender or food processor. 

have almonds and chocolate set aside so they are ready as soon as the toffee is done.

Line a baking sheet with parchment.

Melt butter, sugar, 2 tsp cold water, and salt together on LOW heat in a saucepan. 

Once it's melted, turn heat a little above medium and stir CONSTANTLY. don't stop stirring.

The mixture will start to thicken and get sticky. 

Keep stirring.

IF the mixture starts to separate into globs of stickiness (legit culinary term), add 1TBS of hot water and continue to stir until mixture comes back together. (You can do this a few times if you need to, just don't add more than 1/4 cup of water)

Continue to stir until mixture starts to deepen in color, and the temperature on a candy thermometer reads between 300°-310°. 

Once temperature is reached, remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Quickly pour onto parchment lined pan (mixture cools quickly), and spread it out with a rubber spatula.

Sprinkle chocolate chips on top, and let them sit for 1-2 minutes until they begin to melt. 

Spread melted chocolate out evenly on top of toffee.

Sprinkle chopped almonds on top and let toffee cool. 

Break into pieces.

there you have it.

enjoy your toffee.....I have a late night couch date.

What do you like to do with your special someone?