Each Monday, I strip all the beds in my house, wash sheets, and then remake the beds. Sounds fun, huh?  Actually I really enjoy my “Clean Sheet Monday”! And just to make it a bit more fun today, I made the kids go outside with homemade sidewalk paint while I made toffee.  If you’ve never made sidewalk paint or toffee….today is the day!  My kids love painting and outside is perfect to keep the mess out of your house.  And the toffee….well let’s just say it’s hard not to eat it all right now;)

I’ve posted the directions for sidewalk paint on my blog before, so you can see that post here by clicking on the picture!

To make the toffee, you will need:

• 1 cup of sugar
• 2 sticks of butter (1 cup)
• 3 T water
• 1/8 teaspoon of salt (omit if you use salted butter)
• 1 1/2 T of light corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• chocolate chips
• your choice of nuts (optional)

Directions:

Melt butter in a heavy-bottom sauce pan over medium-low heat. Add the sugar, water, and salt; stir to combine.  Bring to a boil and add in the corn syrup.  Continue boiling and stirring constantly until the mixture reaches 285 degrees (high altitude like me) or 295 (for my southern friends).  Remove from heat and add the vanilla.  Stir to combine and pour onto a sheet of parchment paper.  Don’t worry about it running everywhere….this mixture solidifies fast and won’t spread too much. Drop chocolate chips onto the top and let them melt from the heat of the mixture. Use a rubber spatula to smooth the chocolate out.  Sprinkle with nuts if so desired (I never use nuts as I don’t like them).  Allow to set and then break into pieces.  For a quicker set, place in fridge!

Here’s my toffee in the making and then all done!