Fourth of July cupcakes!

Happy Fourth of July everyone!!! :) hope you are enjoying this amazing these are cupcakes I made for a family picnic. They are my regular vanilla cupcakes and vanilla butter cream. I just added food coloring to get the red white and blue layered look as well as put streaks along the side of the icing bag. 

Wishing everyone a happy and safe weekend! 

Tinkerbell TOMS shoes

Some more TOMS shoes I made for my friends' daughter's birthday :) 

Tinkerbell themed! :) 

Desiree's bridal shower cupcakes

My best friends' bridal shower was this past weekend and of course, I made the cupcakes.

I tried something new with them, fondant roses which actually were not as bad as I thought to make, and new vanilla and chocolate cupcake recipes. 

I found that the recipes I had made the cupcakes a little too crumbly and dry. These came out perfectly fluffy and delicious!!! 

Recipes to be posted soon! :)

Stella and Dot

So I became a stylist with Stella and Dot and I am hosting my first trunk show! 

There are a ton of hostess benefits for June!

June 21st at 2:00! Contact me in your interested and browse my website for products! 

Stelladot.com/mindiesobrinski

Bring friends and family! 

Let me know if you want to host as well!!! :) 

Contact me! 

Monsters inc TOMS shoes

These are some TOMS shoes I painted for my friend's son's birthday. :) 

Hummus salad

This past weekend we went to Panera for  a quick lunch. I usually get the you pick two with a Greek salad and broccoli cheddar soup. But I was feeling adventurous and got the chicken jalapeño hummus salad. Boy, was I glad I did. It was delicious!!! :) I've been thinking about it ever since. 

So today after a nice run at the gym, I wanted something healthy for dinner. I was too lazy to drive to Panera, so I hoped I had enough ingredients to make hummus. 

Luckily I keep canned beans handy. I quickly whipped up some hummus and voila, I had hummus salad.

The hummus ingredients:

1) 1 can of chickpeas 

2) 1 garlic clove, peeled

3) juice of 1 lemon (I actually used two, start with one, taste and if you want more lemon flavor, add more)

4) 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes (Panera has jalapeños in theirs, I just didn't have it on hand)

5) 1/4 cup olive oil (depending on the consistency you want, you may want to add more)

6) 1 tbsp parsley

7) salt and pepper to taste 

Put all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth or desired consistency. Adjust lemon juice, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and olive oil. 

As you can see, this recipe is very flexible. I made it in about 5 minutes. And it was delicious! 

As for the salad, it is whatever you like in a typical salad. I didn't have any chicken, but I would have added that too. The hummus acts as the dressig whih makes it a super healthy and fulfilling salad! :)

Enjoy!!!! :)

Snowflake chocolate sugar cookies

Today was a great day for baking!!! We had a snow day here! It was projected to be pretty bad, but we didn't get much. I was supposed to try and make these on Sunday, but you know how weekend days just fly by and I never got a chance to make these.

I saw the recipe in the foodnetwork magazine, which you can find on the foodnetwork website as well. This was my first time trying this recipe so I didn't make any changes. :) And I don't feel that any changes were necessary, for once. :)

Chocolate Sugar Cookies from Foodnetwork.com

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cooking spray
2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons meringue powder
Coarse sugar, for decorating (optional)

Directions

Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Beat the butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla; beat until creamy, about 2 more minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to low; gradually add the flour mixture and beat until just incorporated, about 2 more minutes.

Divide the dough between 2 sheets of plastic wrap; form into disks. Wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.

Roll out the dough between floured sheets of parchment paper until about 1/4 inch thick. Chill 2 more hours.

Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 350 degrees F. Mist 2 baking sheets with cooking spray. Cut the dough into shapes; gather the scraps and reroll once to cut out more cookies. Arrange 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake, switching the pans halfway through, until set, about 12 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to racks to cool completely.

Make the icing: Beat the confectioners' sugar, meringue powder and 3 to 4 tablespoons water in a bowl with a mixer on high speed until smooth and thick. Transfer to a resealable bag and snip a small corner. Pipe onto the cookies; sprinkle with coarse sugar. Let set 30 minutes.