Our Story

{Sarah writes}

I remember as a small child of 4 or 5, sitting around the huge oak dinner table at my Grandma and Grandpa’s house in rural western Washington; a sweeping view of majestic Mt. Rainier in the distance. It was Thanksgiving, and the chatter of many relatives filled the air. As I sat in my seat, facing the ornate place card that my oldest brother, Richard, had written in the time consuming beauty of calligraphy, gazing down at the beautiful glass plate set before me, there lay a small log shaped item wrapped in gold foil that brought joy to my heart every year: Almond Roca! My most beloved candy ever, that is, until I tasted what is now known as Tweet Toffee.

{Sarah with her Mom (Lynn) and Grandpa Dick at Christmas time.}

It begins with a friendship; a very dear friendship. Those of you who have known me for a length of time will know that I had a very best friend growing up. My “Red Headed Angel”, Jessica. We met at the age of 7 and were inseparable from the day we met. I adored going to her house to play and enjoying long trail rides with Duffy and Sassy, our horses. We also did our school work together, as we were both home schooled, which allowed for much time together. I was often at her house for breakfast, lunch and dinner which I loved because her mom, Sharon, was a very gifted cook; even if at times it was Jeno’s Pizza and grape juice! She had a special touch…oh, the Sloppy Joe’s, the cashew chicken, home-made salsa, Oh! and yes!! THE ENGLISH TOFFEE.

{Jessica and Sarah sharing some Daisy Chain love}

This wonderful English Toffee soon became my FAVORITE candy far surpassing the other candy I mentioned. What was it called again? Never mind…I remember going to Jessica’s house and peeking into the freezer to see if any toffee had recently been made by her wonderful mother. And if there was, you’d better get it quick because that stuff had a way of disappearing very fast; there was never enough!

One year my mom thought she would be so clever as to get the recipe from Sharon and make it ourselves; maybe to give out at Christmas time or something. I remember stirring and stirring and stirring and stirring and looking at my mom ” Is it done YET!” We poured it out on the pan, froze it and all. But much to our disappointment we didn’t get it quite right. What you must understand is not everyone has the knack: lots of patience is involved and an enduring arm. Traits that are hard to come by these days!! So we gave it up and just hoped that a tin of this heavenly stuff would randomly show up on our doorstep.

Childhood passed ever so quickly and Jessica and I moved far apart. 60 miles or so at first, which seemed far to us then eventually farther and yet we stayed very close. We were kindred spirits and still are. We both got married and had babies and all the while we would visit one another whenever time would allow. Without fail when we were together she would make (sometimes after much begging)THE ENGLISH TOFFEE and every time, I would melt to the floor with delight. Occasionally I would be at some sweet shop that had beautiful chocolates and toffees and would make a purchase thinking maybe, maybe, this one would match up! But sadly, none did and I usually spent the next half hour picking it out of my teeth! The depth of flavor just was not there. That rich, toasted, crunchy- yet- melt- in your -mouth not- stuck- in- your- teeth deliciousness was not there. Something needed to be done.

About 3 years ago I took a much needed vacation out to see my wonderful family out in western Washington from our home in Nashville, Tennessee. While in Washington, I knew I needed some R&R with Jessica. So, over the mountains I drove toward the apple and cherry orchards of Wenatchee. I drove way up into the hills to my friends home nestled in the hillside, drove down the country drive feeling myself relax more and more as I approached her door. We spent the next few hours catching up and unwinding over a glass of wine when the thought came to me. Instead of YOU making the toffee this time, TEACH ME how to make the toffee!!!! The light bulb had gone on!! I’m a bit slow sometimes, I know. So Jess and her beautiful sister, Abby proceeded to do just that. They said YOU need to do it so YOU can see the color and smell the smell of perfection! So, I did and after close supervision and lots of stirring, I got it! The special knack! HA HA HA! I had done it!!!

So, I went home to Music City to perfect my abilities and share this delight with a few friends. They could not get enough! I would constantly hear “this stuff is amazing!” ”Oh, My! I have never tasted Toffee this good…” “I have to have this recipe!” and on and on and on. At one point in Nashville we sat down with our little Tweets, Isabelle and Juliana, (Reuben had not yet made his entrance into this world) and brainstormed about marketing and selling Toffee, but the time just was not right.

{Isabelle and Juliana}

Fast forwarding 2 or so years to July 2009, we lived in Indian Wells, California and the time was coming for Toffee.

Due to a certain set of circumstances involving a job loss and a difficult business environment in southern California, the perfect storm was brewing for this dream to be launched. Once again our family sat down together, this time not knowing that the topic would become Toffee. In fact, I had not made a batch of Toffee for several months. It was not even on my mind. But as we sat and prayed together about what we should do now (aka “Dreaming with God”) and we wrote down words that came to our minds. One of mine seemed to be highlighted: Toffee. We shared with each other what we had written and when I came to the word Toffee I knew I was supposed to make a batch right away but I didn’t know why. The next morning I picked up all the ingredients and began the beautiful process. Melting, stirring, stirring, stirring, watching, smelling, stirring, pouring, spreading, sprinkling. I’m an avid Facebooker, so of course I had to update my status which said something like, “I am making my famous English Toffee, what a delightful treat, this stuff is so delish…..hmmmm. I wonder if I should sell it? “. I began to get flooded with responses: “I Love English Toffee! I’ll buy some!” “Send me a pound!” …. they just kept coming!!! This is when I knew the time was right and began to understand the reason the Lord had impressed TOFFEE on my heart!! Ben and I looked at each other, I said “You wanna do this?” and he said “Let’s do it!” and that is when Tweet Toffee was born.

We have been enjoying every moment sharing this wonderful gift of sweetness, experimenting with recipes, spreading the word and most of all, involving all our other friends around the world, but yes, lots and lots of stirring.

Tweet Toffee is made with pure joy!! Do you know anyone who might need a little bit of that?

{Ben & Sarah}