Sweet Sunday Santa Maria Style BBQ

So we just finally got most of the furniture in our apartment...well enough to have a sweet bbq and have some friends over to break it all in.

So like most Santa Marian's, why not have a traditiona tri-tip bbq on a windy Sunday. On the menu was SM-style Tri Tip along with baked beans and garlic-french bread. To start out we had artichoke spinache dip with sourdough bread, coconut shrimp with a sweet and tangy apricot marmalade, and the basic chips and salsa. Now where can you go in one trip and get the best quality for it all?

Nothing like fighting the elderly with your cart and bumping children with your knees on a Saturday afternoon...totally kidding, or am I? lol
Any who, the seafood was extra fresh so I decided to grab some jumbo shrimp and scallops for the grill. To my suprise there were the finest cuts of tri-tip in the meat section waiting for me as if they knew my plans... but leave it to the boys to bbq (i'm more of the in kitchen-kinda lady) After getting the essentials I turn the corner only to see a palet of strawberries calling my name. They weren't Santa Maria's finest but they'd do, and there is definitly a difference. Not suprised at all, I found some from Santa Maria at the local Santa Monica Farmer's Market.

So I decided to try out Sprinkle's Strawberry Cupcake Recipe.

So I started out by making my puree' and
blending these badboys into liquid candy.









From here I tried to strain out most of the seeds then mixed it in with the room-temp milk so that it was ready for my batter. :The recipe is fairly easy, and it makes exactly a dozen cupcakes:

I figured the cakes would turn out a nice pink color, but they turned out a lot lighter than I expected....It's something I can work on in the future.

[Even though they didn't come out the color I wanted them to be, they sure smelled like strawberries!]


NOW FOR THE GOOD PART



[Strawberry Cream Frosting]
Made with fresh strawberry purree' (which is left over from the cake recipe)
It turned out perfect---creamy and just plain delicious!


So now....easy cake toppers



So here are some white and pink candy chips, melted, and swirled!

So then we frost and decorate...All cupcakes were hand frosted, one by one.....

A little topping didn't hurt no one...

...or keepin it freesshhh*


OR a little bit of both...

but then some like it simple...

THEN THERE WAS ONE....

: WHITE CHOCOLATE CHIP COCONUT COOKIES:
so good, yet soo easy

- Just start out with your favorite plain oatmeal recipe or even a pre-packaged oatmeal mix.

- Then add some sweetened coconut flakes and white chocolate chips....boo-bam you're ready to roll....

Make them whatever size you'd like them....just watch them edges!

They turn out soft, chewy , and absolutely scrumptious.

So in conclusion, the bbq was a success...The cookies were all gone, and by the end of the night most of the cupcakes were dusted along with some missing strawberries....hmmm