Today was rainy and mushy and all around yucky.  I had to go out in it because it was my last chance to do Christmas shopping.  Jillian’s home tomorrow and the kids have a half day on Friday, so today was it!  All that I wanted to do was curl up at home with a cup of cocoa and a good book.  After all my shopping I had a bit of time, so I decided to make a batch of toffee.  I only make this recipe at Christmas-time.  I grew up with my mom making it at Christmas, so it makes me feel all nostalgic.  🙂

Before I get to the recipe, I’ll share some pictures of the kitchen.  Like I said before, we knocked down walls and Danny took the support beam that hung across the kitchen and tucked it up in the attic.  It made the kitchen seem so much bigger!  We also kept the existing cabinets, but painted them white.  We went back and forth on the countertops and ended up splurging on a pale gray granite.  It looks really nice with all the white.  Oh and to balance things out, I got all my stainless steel appliances through craigslist.  That saved a lot…and I got to meet lots of “interesting” people.  Each appliance has a story!

One more note about the kitchen…I put all my baskets on top of the cabinets, but I’m not quite so sure about it.  I don’t have a lot of space, so it does solve that problem, but I don’t want it to look too “country” or too cluttery.  Any opinions on the baskets?  Should I leave them or store them away somewhere??

Alright, on to the toffee….  Like I said, I make this every year.  It’s so good and remarkably easy to make.  Take one cup of pecans and crush them with a big knife.

Then melt 1/2 cup butter with 3/4 cup packed brown sugar in a small saucepan.  Bring it to a boil and then stir constantly for about 5 minutes.  This is the only tricky part…don’t let it burn.  If you start to small a hint of burning, pull it off the heat…even it it hasn’t been 5 minutes.  And make sure you stir it the whole time…again, the whole burning thing is no good!  Spread the mixture over the nuts on a cookie sheet.

Finally, take a big handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips and spread them over the toffee.  I usually make a little tinfoil tent over the cookie sheet to make them melt faster.

Once they are melty, spread it around with the back of a spoon and let it cool.  Once it’s completely cool, take a big knife and chop it into small pieces…enjoy!

-Kristin