My family has a great sense of pride for Terry Opalek. He is my mom's first cousin, which I guess makes him my first cousin once removed. Right? Yah. We'll say Yah.
My great-grandmother, Frances McCall, had an English Toffee recipe that has since been treasured by her descendants. I learned to make it when I was a teenager. It has become a standard act of the Christmas season for me to make it. I am not very experimental when it comes to food. I may try a little something new, but not much. I make the toffee per the instructions and have only added the step of scattering toasted almonds on top. It makes it look so pretty.
Terry, on the other hand, and his partner Michael have an impressive flare for experimentation. They, too, make the McCall toffee (she is Terry's grandmother), but have turned it into a booming business. The amazing thing to me is all the flavors they have infused in the toffee. It's pretty amazing.
Below is a piece done by Chicago Revealed all about his business. It's really a neat piece. Check it out.
What I really enjoyed was seeing him make the toffee the old fashioned way. It's exactly what it looks like in my kitchen. He of course has a more robust setup for the mass production (which I am a little jealous of). When Jim and I did our big cross country road trip a few years ago, we picked up my parents at the Chicago airport and then stopped by the toffee shop to get the tour. Unfortunately it wasn't a production day for the toffee, so we didn't get to see it done. But Terry talked us through it all and it was very inspiring.
Way to go Terry and Michael!!
Check out their website at www.terrystoffee.com!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
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