Golf and Some Caramel Apples

On Friday I mentioned I wanted to make something fall-ish again this weekend. Stephen and I decided on caramel apples. We didn't want to get too fancy with these so we did plain old apple slices and caramel dip. I always see these elaborate caramel apples at Disney with cookie crumbles and all sorts of goodies on them but they look gross (guess I can't knock it till I try it though) so Stephen and I didn't add any toppings to the apples. 

We used 3 gala apples

I got pre-melted caramel and tried to go healthier with fat free lol

Since apples brown so quickly when exposed to air, we coated them in lemon juice before dipping them in caramel. So far, it seems to work and keep them fresh while also keeping the caramel on the slices.

In other news, Saturday was our end of the year tournament for the golf league at work. My sister is amazeballs at golf so I played my senior year of high school when she was a freshman. I decided to give the league at work a try and surprisingly, I hadn't lost all my skill. It's a lot of fun going out and enjoying a round of golf with coworkers and we had a great time Saturday!

Coolest golf carts - they had touch screens! Only thing they lacked were fans ;)

We saw all sorts of wildlife - a 6 ft alligator, a huge cottonmouth snake and this big guy in the middle of the fairway about 3 feet from where my ball landed.

My shoes fell apart for the 2nd and final time... these old shoes ended up in the trash

I won the longest drive for the women! So exciting!

Won $25 for the longest drive... hello shopping

We were pretty much the only girls there

 We had a great weekend playing golf, relaxing and making some caramel apples! Stay tuned for literally the best Mexican dish we've ever eaten - I'll be blogging about that Wednesday.

Five on Friday

One
Fall officially began this week and I can't wait for fall clothes and weather. Unfortunately in Florida, that won't arrive until November/December time so I'm really looking forward to an upcoming weekend trip to Charleston to visit one of Stephen's best friends! One trend I've noticed is big this fall is plaid scarves! I really want to find a great plaid scarf, but I'm having trouble finding one I like. Let me know if you see any great scarves like these for under $20.

Source                                                          Source

Source

Two
Since we'll be home this weekend I want to bake something pumpkin-y again. My Pumpkin Bread turned out great a few weekends ago, Here are some items I've been wanting to try this fall - I guess we'll see what Stephen and I are in the mood for.

Mini Caramel Apple Bites

Pumpkin Coffee Cake - I made this a few years back and it was delicious! Stephen never got to have any so it's a must this fall

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Three

This weekend I'm playing in my company's end of the year golf tournament. It'll be fun playing with co-workers and hopefully the weather will be semi-enjoyable! (I also hope I'm not too rusty)

Four

I just discovered Mix and Match Mama's foodie blog and I'm obsessed. I've been following Shay's family blog for a little bit now but just ventured over to her foodie blog and my mouth immediately started watering. I want to try all of her recipes! She has TONS of recipes. Stay tuned and I'll be trying out some of her goodies :) 

Five

If you know me, you know I'm OBSESSED with mini dachshunds - I want one sooo bad. My sister sent me this video and it was just too cute not to share.

Tuna Sandwich

After a full weekend away form home and getting home late on Sunday, I needed something that was quick and easy for dinner. Tuna sandwiches are super easy and delicious. 

Ingredients:

- 1 5oz. can of tuna

- 1/2 to 1 tbs of mayo

- 1/2 to 1 tbs of yellow mustard

- 1/2 to 1 tbs of relish

- 1/4 cup of shredded carrots

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Spoon into sandwich and top with cheese and a tomato. If you want to make it into a melt, place in a skillet on low-medium heat and warm.

Didn't I say it was easy? ;)

FL Keys

Last weekend we celebrated (early) my in-laws' birthdays in Marathon, FL. After work on Thursday, we drove down to South Florida and stayed the night with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law.

Ready for our road trip

Stephen did good getting some road trip snacks!

It was great to spend time with my sibling-in-laws (is that even a real thing?) and we even got to spend some time with our fur-nephew Sunny!

Friday morning we woke up and headed down south to Marathon. We got there just in time for lunch at Sunset Grille. I thought it was so cool that the whole restaurant was open, although I'm not sure how they handle hurricanes. It was pricey for the amount of food you got but it was tasty and there was even a pool out back! 

Our lunch view - you can kind of see the pool

After we ate lunch we checked into our hotel, Banana Bay. I'm not going to sugar coat this hotel - it was rough... but we were going cheap and you get what you pay for and it got the job done. It did have tennis courts, a pool, a marina and an area to fish at. The company we were with made it worth while ;)

We changed and headed out to Bahia Honda for some beach fun. It was right over the 7 mile bridge, it was a great beach and wasn't crowded.

The fishing area/marina at the hotel

Saw this interesting passenger on the scooter

7 mile bridge

Bahia Honda Beach

After the beach we headed back to the hotel to clean up and go to dinner at Alma at the Hawks Cay Resort. Oh my was this place nice! It had an amazeballs pool, a lagoon and a dolphin area (real dolphins people!) I'm sure there were a lot of other cool things as well, but this was all we saw. 

Pool area

Cheesin' in front of the lagoon 

The dolphin area

The original Hirsts (minus one brother)

Dinner was DELICIOUS! Stephen got scallops and I split the rib-eye with my sister-in-law. The rib-eye was soooo tender and yummy! I'm very thankful that my sister-in-law and I wanted the same thing and wanted to split it. The portions were so large!

Scallop dinner and prime-rib

The Hirsts

Birthday dessert - delicious Key Lime Pie

The siblings (minus one brother)

Saturday morning was the big birthday fun day - renting a boat and snorkeling! My father-in-law picked out a fun boat and we were off! I had fun until we got out into the ocean and the sea became (slightly) angry... the boat was rocking and there were jellyfish all around where we stopped to snorkel. So naturally I panicked because I didn't want to get sea sick but I couldn't get into the water (and avoid sea sickness) because of the jelly fish. Everyone got in and ended up getting stung - not bad though - and I ended up feeling real sick. So unfortunately we went back in and they dropped Stephen and I off and they headed back out. I have to brag on my hubby for sticking with me and helping me out and he didn't complain once!  We enjoyed the pool (and hearing a drunk guy at 11am singing "It's 5 o'clock somewhere") and took a nap.

Nice and calm in the harbor

All smiles - this was before we were out at sea

My brother-in-law caught some lobsters! They'll be enjoying some yummy lobster tail this week ;)

For dinner we went to Barracuda Grill which was right next to our hotel - so convenient! This restaurant was delicious but not as good as Alma.

Creme Burle with a Barracuda drawing - delicious and clever

We finished up the night with some intense Catch Phrase (if you know us you'd know we're serious Catch Phrase players and we don't play around). Sunday morning we woke up and played some tennis then went to Island Fish Co. for lunch. This was another neat open air restaurant on the water but it wasn't pricey for what you got. 

Servin' it up!

View from the back of the hotel area

The restaurant was right on the water

We had fun spending time with family and celebrating another year the Lord has blessed them with!