Monday, December 22, 2008

Toasted Almond Toffee

I've never made candy before. Last night I used a very simple recipe with three ingredients.
No refined sugar!
I had no idea that I would be standing over the stove for so long stirring the butter and honey. Luckily my husband came wandering into the kitchen right when I needed him to hold the thermometer while I stirred the mixture vigorously. And stirred. And stirred...

Okay, if you've made candy before, you're thinking, "So, yeah, it takes forever, but what's your point?" If you haven't made candy, just make sure you have 20 minutes to stand over the stove, because this toffee is well worth it.

Toasted Almond Toffee

1 and a half C. butter
1 C. honey
2 C. toasted chopped almonds

Melt and cook butter and honey on medium heat stirring constantly to soft cracking stage (found on your candy thermometer, I'm not sure you can wing this one without the thermometer...). Add toasted almonds and cook 1 minute more. Spread onto buttered cookie sheet. Store in refrigerator. **When I try making this again, I am going to add either a few drops of vanilla or caramel extract.

There is about a foot of snow outside...and still snowing. It feels so wonderful to be warm inside, reading and cooking, cooking and reading. This is my favorite season. (Whatever season I'm experiencing is my favorite.) Everyday I've been outside either playing in the snow or tromping through the snow with my dog.



This is the biggest snowman I have ever built. It took serious superhuman strength to lift Frosty's middle onto his lower portion. Jeff and I thought it would be funny to build this snowman on our neighbor's back porch, facing inside her house. She was working all day and had no idea that Frosty the Peeping Tom would be there to greet her when she came home. Here is a picture of Frosty before his head rolled off.

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