Off To The Beach

First I have to say that I have always HATED the beach!  I hate getting covered in sand.  I hate how HOT it is.  I live in New England so the water never gets warm.  I am a fair skinned red head.  I have never had a tan in my life.  I just had my first and hopefully last run in with melanoma.  The thought of the beach makes me miserable!  So of course it is only natural that my kids would LOVE the beach! LOL  My BFF talked me into going with her last week.  I am glad I went.  Ok, I said it.   It wasn't as bad as I had anticipated.  Yes it was hot and yes I was covered in sand, but I really had a good time!  I borrowed a nice beach umbrella and a nice beach chair so I was comfortable and well shaded.  The kids had a great time, I had a great time, maybe I'll try it again next year! 

So for our beach day I packed D some sea life ham sandwiches, grapes and chocolate/caramel covered pretzels.

For the pretzels I lined a baking sheet with non stick foil then put an even layer of pretzels down.  I used the square ones but any pretzels will do.  Next I took some caramel bits and melted them according to the package instructions.  I poured that over the pretzels.  I then melted 6oz semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1 oz unsweetend bakers chocolate together and spread that in a thin layer over the caramel.  I put it all in the fridge over night then cut it into small squares.  It was delicious!  It was a bit sticky and hard to remove from the pan so I think next time I make it I will put a thin layer of chocolate on the bottom of the pan then the pretzels and so on.  Maybe if the caramel is contained a bit it won't be so hard to remove from the foil.

Here is D chilling on the beach.  She had a great time collecting fish, hermit crabs, seaweed and shrimp!  She had quite the menagerie in her bucket!

Here is our ELB on Onset Beach!  It was a bit hazy that day but it is a beautiful beach!