Old English Toffee

I spent the morning making this. My mother, sisters and I make it every year to give as gifts. I love to serve it with vanilla ice cream for a delicious dessert. It takes some getting the hang of, but once you get over your fear of candymaking, it's a snap.

3 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup cold water
1 1/2 lbs (6 sticks) butter
3 Tbs. white karo syrup
1 1/2 cups slivered almonds
1 large package of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Grease two large cookie sheets. Toast the almonds in the oven. Chop 1/2 cup of toasted almonds for the topping.

Place sugar, water, butter and karo syrup in a large heavy pan. Cook, stirring constantly, until candy reaches a deep golden brown color and the hard crack phase-- 290 degrees (either use a candy thermometer or test the liquid by dropping a bit into a dish of cool water and seeing if becomes brittle.) Quickly add the toasted almonds and stir. Pour evenly into two greased cookie sheets. While mixture is still hot, sprinkle chocolate chips over entire surface. Wait a minute or two and then frost melted chips as you would frost a cake. Sprinkle chopped almonds on top, and allow to cool gradually. When totally cool, break into pieces.