Say it with Sprinkles: A baking blog filled with recipes & photos of sweet treats & savory eats.

If you’re a vegetarian or vegan, this post might reaffirm your choice to avoid meat. Either that or you’ll renounce your non-meat-eating ways for the delicious, barbecue sauce coated deliciousness you see here! I’m just kidding…sort of =)

Saturday turned out to be the perfect California day for a Texas-style pit BBQ!…Nevermind the fact that I don’t know what type of day is generally perfect for a Texas BBQ, or a Texas anything for that matter. Just because I’ve never been to Texas doesn’t mean I can’t imagine what it might be like, though- sitting beneath what I’ve been told is a giant sky (everything really is bigger in Texas, right?), sweet tea in hand, enjoying the summer day while wafts of mesquite scent the air.

Wafts of mesquite can only mean one thing in Texas. Maybe not. Mesquite can probably mean more than one thing. But I hope it usually means delicious, barbecued chicken, brisket, and ribs. I can imagine bbq sauce to be the only acceptable condiment in Texas, too, though I could be wrong? Don’t shatter my dreams, it’s definitely my favorite anyway!

What all of this comes down to is that my family doesn’t know an authentic Texas pit bbq any better than we know a traditional Louisiana crawfish boil or Greek celebration, but that didn’t stop us from using our imaginations and the slew of movie-driven stereotypes we’ve accumulated in our minds to recreate those events in the comfort of our own parents’ home. It’s just what we do. And since my oldest bro was planning to be in town for the SF Marathon next weekend, this weekend was the perfect time to round him up with the rest of the family & a couple good family friends (Hi Becky, Daniel, Lane & Marina!) for swimming, squirt guns, volleyball, food, and various other forms of debauchery. Always a good time!

I hit up the fruit stand last week for all the necessary produce. And then, this is just one of the THREE well-stocked refrigerators my parents have. How will we ever get by?!

Barbecue barrel! I know what you’re thinking. Seems a little crazy, right? But I promise you everything wasn’t just chucked in the barrel haphazard. As far as I know. I can’t, however, promise you my brother had any idea at all what he was doing. That being said, we must have had a good amount of luck on our side, because everything came out a-maz-ing!

Slow & low in the BBQ smoker, slow & low…and TA-DA!

Along with the barbecued chicken, brisket, ribs, and hot links, we enjoyed potato salad, fruit salad, corn on the cob, rolls, & bacon baked beans.

Once everyone passed out on the ground digested a bit, we continued the rousing game of volleyball that was started before dinner. The way we play, I’m not sure anyone really comes out a winner, but everyone had fun. I’ve been told that’s all that really matters. Played until the ice cream maker sounded like it’d give out if we waited any longer, and served it up with my raspberry peach cobbler!

I’ll post the recipe once I’ve finished digesting and recovering from this weekend’s craziness! It’s only 8:30pm and I can hardly keep my eyes open…
Nighty night 😉

I realize I haven’t talked much about summer school lately, but that’s more about trying to pretend it doesn’t exist than about it not actually happening.

It’s happening, though, and I know because otherwise I spend more hours than usual in a prolonged state of confusion, brows furrowed, mouth slightly agape, cursing the day I got myself into this mess, all for nothing. Possible, but not probable.

And that’s just the time spent in class. As if that wasn’t enough time spent interpreting a professor’s warp-speed lectures as long-winded reminders of my scientific inadequacies, I get to hear them resonate in my head later as I read about the stuff that I was previously blissfully unaware that I didn’t understand before.

It’s like a daily, “Hey you, here’s another thing you didn’t know, won’t know, but should know. By Monday. Kthanks.” Insert me crying + Major *SAD FACE*

Sometimes information overload lends itself to a hefty dose of self-preservational tactics which include, but aren’t limited to: profuse, unnecessary use of highlighters (through personal experience, I’ve noticed that if you highlight the whole page, it’s not as useful. Weird…), excessive fidgeting, daydreaming about things that are only exciting relative to the current situation (ex: making oatmeal), and writing out to-do lists primarily composed of things I’ve already accomplished, just so I get to cross them off.

I really wish doodling was still in. Whatever happened to that? Doodling was nice.

It’s really not always as bad as I make it out to be, but obviously I’d still rather be in Europe or on a beach somewhere, but I think that goes without saying.

That being said, I’ve also been busy getting ready/shopping for my family’s summer party this weekend! It’s become a thing…usually a thing with a theme. From the Bayou to the Mediterranean, we’ve got a few under our belts, and while I wouldn’t say they’re anything fancy, they are fun and obviously involve lots of awesome food!

This time, Texas style pit BBQ!

In order to make that happen, cue Fruit Stand. Be still my heart, little fruit stand.

It’s like a cross between a grocery store and a farmer’s market- local, fresh, seasonal produce but unlike a once or twice a week farmer’s market, it’s there EVERY. SINGLE. DAY!  Amazing.

The prices are MUCH more reasonable than a farmer’s market, too!  After perusing the aisles as usual, I scored a bunch of yummy stuff for Saturday:

* Seedless watermelon
* Canteloupe
* Honeydew melon
* Yellow Peaches
* Nectarines
* Corn on the cob
* Lettuce
* Celery
* Cilantro
* Avocados
* Yellow Cauliflower
* Cucumbers

There’s really just one problem with this place- they need bigger carts!

I’ve never actually been to a Texas pit BBQ, but I think that just means it involves lots of meat, BBQ sauce, and anything else you can cook over an open flame.

Corn on the cob. Zucchini. And lots of peach cobbler, too! Stay tuned!