Pin It to Win It - Book Club with Pinterest Food Ideas

I'm crazy about Pinterest & one of my goals is to actually TRY some of the great ideas featured there {instead of just "pinning" them!}. So when book club rolled around this week, I cranked up the PIN-SPIRATION for the appetizers & dessert. 

These pasta salad skewers are from "Learn Something with Me" {but I couldn't find the web site to link you to it, sorry!}. I substituted marinated mozzarella cheese balls for the string cheese the pinner talked about - & genoa salami for the pepperoni. The other ingredients are: cheese tortellini {pre-cooked & tossed with olive oil}, cherry tomatoes & green olives. Tips: 1) be sure to soak the wooden skewers in water for a few minutes prior to putting the food on them to avoid splintering, 2) I assembled my skewers in the morning the day of book club & stored them in the fridge, but by the time evening rolled around they were a little dry. Maybe try making them an hour or so in advance instead?

Then, why fix what's not broken? This fruit dip recipe is always a favorite - the recipe is from yours truly {CLICK HERE}. And I love to serve a green onion cheese ball {Smith's grocery store} with toasted bagel chips. 

For dessert, I loved the idea of these individual "Mini Pineapple Upside Down Cakes" from Big Mama's Home Kitchen. {CLICK HERE FOR HER RECIPE}. I served them with vanilla ice cream.

Source: Big Mama's Home Kitchen

This month's pick was The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. {That's why there are dominos on the refreshment table.} I really liked the book & I'd give it 4 out of 5 stars. Warning: there is more salty language than I expected, however some of it is in German - so, since I don't speak the language it was less of a problem. Ha ha. Other than that, the book was very clean & oh how I love the characters! The movie is also very good.