Futurama shoes!!

Here is a picture of my vans shoes that I painted with characters from my favorite show!!! Futurama!!!!

Mini Peach Cobbler Ice Cream Bites

Okay, as you can see, I am a LITTLE obsessed with peaches right now! =o)

As I mentioned yesterday, it all started with the food network magazine Peach recipes and also my newfound non-allergy to them! Yay!

I love small individual portions, so again, I decided to size this recipe down to bite sized portions.

Mini Peach Cobbler Ice Cream Bites
Adapted from: Food Network

Ingredients

1 cup granulated sugar
Juice of 1/2 lemon 

2 large peaches, peeled and cut into 1/8-inch slices. (I cut them into small quartered slivers)

1 tbsp corn starch mixed with water
1/2 sleeve graham crackers (5 whole crackers)
1/3 cup chopped pecans
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream
Cooking spray
1 10-to-12-ounce pound cakes

(Optional, you can just use canned whipped cream or Cool Whip if you'd like)
3/4 cups cold heavy cream
1 1/2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

Stir 3/4 cups granulated sugar, the lemon juice and peaches in a large pot; let sit 15 minutes. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to low and cook until the peaches are tender, about 15 minutes. Add in the cornstarch/water mixture and mix until slightly gelatinous. (I added a little bit at at time so I could monitor the viscosity. You want it not to be watery, but not too thick. Something that resembles jello that has just barely started to get firm.) Transfer to a bowl and freeze until very thick, about 1 hour, or refrigerate overnight. 

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with foil. Coarsely crush the graham crackers and toss with the remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar, the pecans and butter on the prepared baking sheet; spread into a thin layer. Bake 7 minutes, then stir and continue baking until golden brown, 6 to 10 more minutes. Let cool and harden, then crumble and set aside.

Assemble the cake: Let the ice cream soften at room temperature until spreadable, about 10 minutes. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.
Cut the pound cake into 1/2 inch slices, then use a medium sized biscuit cutter to cut circles. (Make sure the circles can fit at the bottom of each muffin well. Place cut pound cake in the muffin well. Spread a THIN layer of the softened ice cream in each well and then sprinkle with 1 tsp of the pecan mixture and press it into the ice cream. (Use more if you think you need it) Spread a layer of the softened ice cream, about 1/2 in thick then top with the peach puree. Freeze until the puree is firm, about 15 minutes.
Place the remaining ice cream back in the freezer and pull out after 10 minutes.
Let the remaining ice cream soften, 10 minutes, then spread over the peach puree.  Freeze until firm, at least 6 hours or overnight.

(Optional when serving) Beat the heavy cream, confectioners' sugar and vanilla in a bowl with a mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form. Uncover the cake, then place onto a plate. Place a dollop of the whipped cream mixture on top of cake. Top with the leftover peaches and sprinkle with remaining pecan mixture.

Mini Peach Cobblers

We all know that summer time means PEACHES!!!! I haven't gotten this excited for peaches in a while. I used to have a severe allergy to peaches from college till now, due to seasonal allergies, but miraculously after having my daughter Lexi, the allergy seems to have gone away! YAY!!!!
So my family has been taking advantage of this and went peach picking TWICE this summer!!!
Of course, we always pick too many but this time it was on purpose. Food Network Magsazine had their August/July 2013 edition feature peach recipes. Most of them were whole cakes, pies, etc, which look delicious, but with only one and a half (I typically don't eat too much of the sweets I bake), it is very wasteful to make a whole cake.
My husband recently tried to recreate his old boyscout dutch oven peach cobbler, with sort of success (The fire he had going was WAY too hot, and most of it got burnt. =o)). I said next time, I am making it MY way. =o) So my way was making mini peach cobblers so that we could share or freeze the portions much easier. (This way is also easier on our waistlines... lol)
Okay, so down to the actual recipe.
I used the recipe I found on pintrest, but of course made a few adjustments. Fresh peaches instead of Frozen and I added a crumb topping.

Mini Peach Cobblers: Recipe adapted from: The Savvy Kitchen

Ingredients

1 cup sugar

1 cup flour (I used a mixture of Whole Wheat and White Whole Wheat flour)

2 tsp. baking powder

Dash of salt

3/4 cup reduced-fat milk

4 tbsp. butter, melted

2-3 fresh peaches (depending on how large they are), peeled and diced (You can use 8 oz of thawed frozen peaches)

1/4 cup Brown sugar

1 tbsp Cinnamon

1/4 cup Old fashioned Oats

Vanilla ice cream or Whipped Cream for serving (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
LINE muffin tins. (I did not do this and I found them to be VERY difficult to get out of the pans. So I highly recommend this step)
Put 1/2 teaspoon of melted butter into each regular size muffin tin. 
With a wooden spoon stir together the sugar, flour, baking powder, salt and milk. 
Put 1.5 tablespoons of batter into each muffin tin.
Add 1 tablespoon diced peaches on top of the batter. 
Mix together the left over butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and oats. Sprinkle 1-1.5 tsp of the mixture on top of each one. [If you don't like the crumb topping, you can skip this step if you'd like. I just REALLY love the crunchy topping.]
Bake for 24 minutes or until the tops are set and golden brown. (Turning once halfway through the cooking process.)
Let them cool almost completely (I put them in the fridge over night to let them set) before taking out of pan. Use a butter knife to loosen the edges then just lift them out. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Store in an airtight container.

These came out DELICIOUS. =o) 
Enjoy!

Beach braids!!!

Here is a hairstyle for the beach that just started out as me braiding my bangs that I'm trying to grow out. :) After I started braiding my bangs... I just kept going!!! So here it is, two Dutch braids starting from the center part, one on the right and one on the left. :) then braid together at the end. 

Summer Orders for Imagine Cupcakes by Mindie

Hi Everyone!

Here are some orders that Imagine Cupcakes by Mindie filled this summer. I included the links for the recipe's I followed.
I posted the pictures to my FB page, but I forgot to post them here.

Please follow me on https://www.facebook.com/ImagineCupcakesByMindie or Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/qtche2rie/imagine-cupcakes-by-mindie/

Lemon Cupcakes

 Lemon Cupcakes Recipe: Erica's Sweet Tooth. Instead of the sunflowers, I garnished the cupcakes with edible pearls, lemon wedge, and mint leaves.

Rainbow Cupcakes

 Rainbow Cupcakes: NanaBread Blog. It is basically a basic vanilla cake recipe that you divide into 5 or 6 portions, then put the food coloring in each one. I use Wilton's gel food coloring since it doesn't water down the batter.
**note** Some people use boxed white cake mix which is just fine. But you know my thoughts on boxed cake mix! =o)

Red Velvet Cupcakes

 Red Velvet Cupcakes: I use Paula Deen's Recipe.

Vanilla and Chocolate icing Vanilla Cupcakes

Vanilla Cupcakes: I use the same recipe as the tie dyed cupcakes.
Chocolate Frosting: All Recipes

**note** If I was to make chocolate cupcakes, I use the recipe for my Mint Chocolate Cupcakes.

And I think that is it! =o)

Enjoy!

Mickey Mouse cupcakes!

Here are some cupcakes I made for my friend's son's first birthday party! :) They are just a simple vanilla cupcakes recipe (you can used boxed stuff if you'd like.. But if you know me I don't use that stuff.), a vanilla buttercream frosting recipe, some crushed up Oreos (I did this in the food processor, and Oreos for the ears stuck on with toothpicks. You cover the frosting with the crushed Oreos and place the whole Oreos on them for the ears. And presto! Micky Mouse cupcakes! 

:)

Enjoy! 

Motorcycle baby boy diaper cake

Here is my latest crafting project. This is a diaper cake made to look like a motorcycle. :) 

Find the tutorial on YouTube. Follow "Thom's Crafts and Treats" :)