Holiday Pinterest Potluck!

Well holiday madness has officially begun!  This past weekend Chris and I had our company holiday parties (on the same night) and we decided to host a holiday themed Pinterest potluck.  Both holiday parties were very fun, it's always good to let loose with co-workers from time to time.  And who doesn't love dressing up for the occasion?!

Chris and I at our holiday parties, we clean up pretty good!

Saturday we had decided to host a Holiday Pinterest Potluck with a small group of local friends.  With all the holiday inspired recipes floating around on Pinterest we wanted to give some a try!  We had all kinds of goodies including: avocado goat cheese dip, christmas tree veggie pizza, crockpot buffalo chicken dip, BBQ and Ceasar chicken sliders and peanut butter reindeer cookies!  For cocktails we featured Pomegranate Martinis and Candy Cane Shots which is what I'll be sharing in the blog today!

Christmas Tree Veggie Pizza!
Courtesy of The Campbells

Peanut Butter Reindeer Cookies!
Courtesy of The Heffelmans

Part of our delicious spread!

Pinterest potlucks are easy and so fun!  It takes some pressure off the host/hostess by having guests bring a dish to share and it creates great conversation starters if everyone you invited doesn't already know each other.  Some of my girlfriends and I do this every so often to spice up our group get togethers!  It also serves as a great trial run for recipes you want to take to other holiday events but haven't made yet.  The week previous to the potluck I collected everyones recipes, put them in a Word document and printed them for everyone to take home afterwards.  This made it easier than having guests try and find each other on Pinterest the following day for their recipes.

And now for our cocktail recipes!  The Pomegranate Martini is always fun and it goes along well with Christmas decor.  This recipe came to me from Chris' mom who put together a few of her favorites in a recipe book for me on my 21st birthday.

Pomegranate Martini
(sorry no picture, forgot to take one!  I'll have to load one after I make them again)

Ingredients:
- 2 oz. Citrus vodka
- 1 oz. POM pomegranate juice
- splash 7up or Sprite
- splash triple sec
- pomegranate arils (the actual fruit part of the pomegranate!) for garnish, if desired

Instructions:
- Put all ingredients (except pomegranate arils) in a shaker or pitcher with ice, shake or stir.  When making small batches I tend to shake, when making martinis for a group I use a pitcher and stir.
- Pour into chilled martini glass with pomegranate arils at the bottom.
- Enjoy!  (Cautiously, these pack a punch for those who aren't seasoned martini drinkers!)

I found this candy cane shot recipe on Pinterest and couldn't wait to try!  It's easy and very delicious!

Candy Cane Shot

Ingredients:
- peppermint schnapps
- Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur
- crushed candy canes

Instructions:
- Crush candy canes in a plastic bag till there are no large chunks remaining.
- Wet shot glass rim with water and dip into crush candy canes.
- Mix equal parts peppermint schnapps and white chocolate liqueur in a shaker over ice.
- Shake, strain into shot glasses rimmed with candy canes.
- Enjoy!

Served on a festive plate these shots
really enhance the holiday spirit!

Note: I didn't rim my glasses with the candy canes as they were disposable shot glasses and the candy canes wouldn't stick to the rim so I just sprinkled some candy cane at the bottom of each glass.

Only a few more posts to come before Christmas!  Can you believe it's almost here?!  Next up I'll be showing off our Christmas trees this year!  And stay tuned next week for a new edible shot recipe!

Cheers!
-Steph