I can’t believe Halloween is tomorrow. I feel like October was such a blur for me. At first, the beginning of the month dragged on, but then the next thing I knew, the month was practically over and I was so behind on a ton of my work! Fortunately, I am amost all caught up, and even have a couple of post almost finished for the November challenge in which I will be writing a post every day of the week. Email subscribers do not need to worry as you won’t be getting extra emails. Instead, the emails will be reduced to just twice a week. During November I will be sharing recipes as usual, but I will also talk about baking tips and some blogging stuff, plus a few fun round ups along the way. I hope you are as excited as I am! I am going to prepare myself by having some more pumpkin spice toffee.
I also realized that I never really updated you on my dating journey. The last time we talked, I just signed up for an online profile on a site and was learning the ropes. Well, I did start talking to some people and was able to meet up with one guy. I thought about coming up with a clever nickname for him, but I haven’t been able to come up with one, so I’ll just tell you what happened.
We met up for coffee in the morning and things seemed normal. We had a nice conversation, but nothing that left too much of an impression. He did an awful lot of staring which made me feel a little self-conscious. The date ended and I hadn’t decided if I wanted to see him again yet, but for all intents and purposes, it was fairly normal – or so I thought. Before i could get home, he texted me to say he really enjoyed meeting me. That was sweet and I really appreciated it, but I didn’t get a chance to respond back immediately and it took me a few hours. The next morning he texts me again saying again he enoyed meeting me and asked a question. I wasn’t able to respond because by that time I was already out the door and in the car driving up to North Jersey. I always leave my phone in my purse in the back seat so I am not tempted to look at it while I am driving. Then texted back 10 minutes later…. and again in another 20 minutes. It took about an hour and a half to reach my destination and by that time I had received 15 texts from him. When I went to check me email, I dicovered he left me several emails too. They were all carrying on a one-sided conversation asking questions and talking about himself and the very last two were questioning why I wasn’t answering him back and what I was doing that was so important.
I know it’s been a while since I’ve dated, but this didn’t feel normal to me, so I decided to not answer any of them and block him. I felt really bad about it, but it was just so excessive that it really freaked me out. What do you guys think? Did I over react?
While you respond, let’s have some pumpkin spice toffee. And no, there isn’t any pumpkin in it because pumpkin just doesn’t belong in some places. (like toffee…. and coffee!) It just has the delicious pumpkin spice with toasted pecans and a thin layer of dark chocolate. I wish I could tell you that I didn’t eat half this toffee, but I’d be lying. I so did. When you make it, you will see why too!
Pumpkin Spice Toffee
Prep
Cook
Total
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice
- 4 oz dark chocolate
- 3/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted
Special Equipment
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and mix together the sugar, water, salt, and spice into the pan. Mix together until well and turn on the heat to medium and attach a candy thermometer.
- Mix the mixture slowly until it start to bubble. Stop and clear away any crystals on the sides of the pot with a moist pastry brush. Occasionally mix the toffee mixture, scraping the bottom and sides of the pot to prevent burning. Note: Be sure to clean the sides of the pan before you stir each time to prevent sugar crystals getting into the mixture which will in turn make the toffee grainy.
- Continue to cook until the thermometer reads 280 degrees F. Remove the thermometer and swiftly pour the mixture onto the baking sheet, gently spreading out the mixture. Don't spread it too thin - the mixture shoud not reach the edges of the sheet.
- Allow to cool for about 5 - 10 minutes, then top with the chocolate. Let the chocolate melt on the toffee, then use an offset spatula or bench scraper to evenly distribute the chocolate over the toffee. Sprinkle the top with the chopped, toasted pecans. Allow to cool completely - about another 30 minutes. Break apart by using a knife to chop it in chunks, or use your hands
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Strap on your running shoes girl and sprint away as fast as you can. You most certainly did not over react. His behavior sounds really creepy. Plus, if he is this clingy with someone he just met. . .can you imagine how bad it would be with someone he is officially dating? Makes me shiver just thinking about it.
That being said, I think it is an excellent idea that you are distracting yourself with this incredible fall influenced toffee. It looks simply stunning on it’s own. . .but I am already dreaming about how fabulous it would be on a cake. . .or sprinkled on ice cream.
I am so glad you think I did the right thing. I am hoping that after getting this one not so great experience out of the way, I’ve paved the way for better experiences! And putting this on cake or some creamy gelato sounds amazing…. I just have to stop myself from eating the batch out of the pan next time!
Amanda, this looks TOTALLY delicious! I’m such a fan of toffee and it has a fall/holidays vibe to it that you totally brought out with the pumpkin spice 🙂 Pinning!
He sounds like a creeper. Trust your funny feeling and stay away from that one! Can’t wait to try the toffee recipe! Thanks for posting.
Thanks for the advice! I am glad I decided to block him. You are going to love this toffee, I promise!
Oh man, sounds like that dude is majorly insecure! I would have blocked him too; what a nut! Have you read Aziz Ansari’s Modern Romance? Sounds like it might be applicable!
This recipe looks amazing, by the way! Love the shot with the pieces in the loaf pan.
I must look that up. A lot of people talk about it but I’ve never had a chance to read it. I think I’ll try to this week! And thanks – I wasn’t too happy with the photos, but I already ate all the toffee so I couldn’t retake them (and honestly, I don’t think I’d be able to wear jeans anymore if made more!)
That boy obviously needed some pumpkin spice toffee to munch on and calm down! I think you were totally right to block him. It seems mean to ignore someone like that, but the reality is that there are very strange (and scary) people in the world who have mental imbalances, and 15 texts like that is just beyond normal. You were smart to just block him. Sorry that date didn’t work out the way you hoped for, but I’m glad you have great instincts and know how to stay safe <3 This toffee looks sooo good. I love toffee, and that fact that you made a pumpkin version is just amazing!!