BBQ Results

Today was the BBQ and I have to say, I'm pretty proud of it if I do say so myself. My boyfriend cooked some delicious carne asada, guacamole, and salsa. My friend Sebastian made some hamburgers, and my new friend Dan made some outback steak. (He's half Australian...) What a delicious day. I myself, well, what else would I do but bake? I made some Cheesecake the night before.


Left over chocolate glaze drizzled on the plate to decorate on half and the other half were topped with blueberries

Today, I made some chocolate cake (I made half into cupcakes and the other half got poured into my cool new donut molds!), Cheese Straws, Apple Turnovers, and Chocolate Covered Strawberries. Yummy! I must recommend that if you're planning on spoiling your guests with baked goods, buy some puff pastry sheets and have fun with different fillings, shapes and sizes, your guests will ask you how long you spent slaving over their feast and you'll know it was only a matter of about 2 hours!


Apple Turnovers!


Me enjoying on and my grandpa in the background enjoying chess

If my friends weren't lying, then they all loved my baked goods and I'm definitely not lying when I say that I loved all the grilled goods. We spent the night playing some Wii and Cranium. Unfortuantely, we didn't have much time to fit Risk or the end of Cranium in, but I still had a lot of fun.

I was a bit too lazy to whip out the pastry bag and tips for the cake, so I made a simple, but delicious, chocolate glaze to dip my cupcakes and cake donuts into and we topped it off with some colorful sprinkles.

I didn't have time (or money!) to buy one of those cool cupcake towers so I ended up making my own super cheap two tier cupcake and donut display using a loaf pan and some tissue paper. Sure, a bit on the cheap low budget side, but I was short on time too!

Here's my boyfriend enjoying a mini donut! (by the way, he cut his hair...he has beanie hair in this pic, I like it when he styles it a little.)

I planned on making some Strawberry Napoleons, but I got a little lazy and with the left over chocolate, we decided not to waste, and make some chocolate covered strawberries. Chocolate covered strawberries are impressive on their own, but with some skewers, the little plastic box the strawberries came in, some styrofoam, tissue paper, and decorative ribbon, my boyfriend and I created a nice and simple center piece that was devoured into about 10 minutes once people got over their fear of taking it apart.

Quick Instructions for a Quick Center Piece:
What you'll need:
Strawberries or the fruits of your choice to be dipped in the chocolate
Skewers
Chocolate for Dipping
A Box, Shallow Vase, or bowl
Styrofoam (or some kind of material that can secure the skewers you'll poke into it) to fit your box
Decorative Ribbon
Tissue Paper (optional)

What you'll need to do:
Find a box or some kind of container (preferrably on the heavy side, we found that the strawberries were having a difficult time balancing in such a light base).

Cut the Styrofoam into a shape that will fit snug in your box/container

Cover the styrofoam with the tissue paper if you're unhappy about how it looks uncovered.

If you like, tie your decorative ribbon around the container so it looks a little more polished.

Stick the pointy end of the skewer into the top of the strawberry (where the leaves are) and dip it in your chocolate glaze about 1/2 to 3/4 deep.

Stick the dull side of the skewer into your styrofoam so that the strawberries are pointing out. Repeat working your way from the middle of the styrofoam to the outer sides of the box.

Voila! A perfect centerpiece. Your guests will never know that it only took you about 15 minutes and the best part about it is that it's not only decorative but also functional! You can experiment with some different combinatons like fruit kabobs and the like. I know I will next time!