This post is being sponsored by The Coca-Cola Company. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
With the Holidays soon upon us, it’s time to start thinking about what to make for all of our family gatherings and what to stock-up on to keep our pantry full for the season. For me, I’ll be heading to Sam’s Club and stocking up on several items. Good cheeses, pickles, olives, bread, puff pastry, seasonal fruit, nuts, spices and of course plenty of Diet CokeⓇ! Come see what we will be making at our house…
A table full of seasonal goodies is what really makes the Holidays for my family and I. The kitchen, especially the table is the center of the season with all kinds of scrumptious goodies. We have several food traditions in our home… Of course the typical cookie and candy making, the traditional meals for Thanksgiving and Christmas and some not so traditional like a dinner that is made up of a whole spread of yummy appetizers for New Years.
Friends and family are always dropping by and I’ve learned that it’s super important to keep the pantry stocked at all times so that we are prepared for unexpected guests. Here are some of my pantry staples from Sam’s Club.
Holiday Pantry Staples
- Tiny Pickles
- Olives
- Cranberries
- Fancy Cheese
- Crackers
- French Bread
- Puff Pastry
- Seasonal Fruit
- Holiday Spices
- Diet CokeⓇ
- Nuts
It’s always good to have those quick appetizers or snacks on hand like the pickles, olives, cheese and crackers. The Sam’s Club French Bread freezes beautifully and is easy to pull out to go with soup or to slice up to use with a dip. Their seasonal fruit is exceptional and is great to give as a quick gift. You could even make a gift out of holiday spices… Wouldn’t that be fun! It’s good to keep nuts on hand for baking along with snacking and we CAN’T FORGET the Diet CokeⓇ! It’s perfect for serving to guests, for helping you get through the craziness of the season AND for baking or cooking.
Wait a minute… Baking and cooking? Yep, Diet CokeⓇ is a great pantry staple that is good for cooking with as well. You may have heard of Diet CokeⓇ cake or even several types of meat slow cook nicely in Coca-ColaⓇ. Here is one of my favorite recipes for Cranberry Chutney with Brie in Puff Pastry to take to Holiday gatherings that is made with, surprisingly enough, Diet CokeⓇ! Here is a QUICK little video to show you how I put it together.
I LOVE how the Diet CokeⓇ Cranberry Walnut Chutney pairs with the Brie cheese, what’s fun is that it’s all wrapped up like a nice gift in some puff pastry. You have the savory cheese paired with the tangy and sweet chutney that is simply scrumptious. Plus, it looks great on a Holiday table. Our family can’t get enough of it! Here’s how to make it.
Diet CokeⓇ Cranberry Walnut Chutney with Brie in Puff Pastry
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Place one lining piece, right side down on top of the exterior piece again pin into place. Using your zipper foot, sew along top edge using a 1/4″ seam allowance. Open like a book and press exterior panel away from zipper. Topstitch along zipper using an 1/8″ seam allowance. Make sure NOT to top stitch both layers together. Position outside panel and lining panel wrong side on together and press away from zipper. Repeat the same steps to attach the other side of the bag with the remaining exterior panel and lining panel to the other side of the zipper. This time placing zipper pull at right. Keep and eye on your top seems and make sure they match up. 
Then press both sides again. 
Position exterior panels right side together and lining pieces right side together and pin along sides and bottom. 
Be sure that you place pins on either side at the intersections of where the lining meets the exterior on each side of the pouch and where the seem of the exterior meet. 
Sew along the bottom and sides of the pouch using a 1/4″ seam allowance. You will need to leave a 4 inch opening in the lining so that you’ll be able to turn your pouch. Make sure to not stitch together the corner cut outs. 
Speaking of corner cut outs… Check out the precision of how the fabric lines up. That’s solely possible because of the Cricut Maker. You can sew with confidence knowing that your fabric will line-up easily because of the perfect cuts. Ok, back to work… Reach inside your bag and shimmy the zipper open all the way. Box your corners by pinching the corners together and line-up the seam and pin. 
Repeat on the remaining 3 corners. 
Sew straight across with a 1/4″ seam allowance. 
Repeat with the remaining 3 sides. You’re so close to the finish line! All you need to do is turn out your pouch so that it is right side out. That’s where the 4 inch opening comes in handy. 
Pull it through that opening just as if you were turning a sock right side out. 
Are you just swimming with PRIDE now!!! Take a minute to make sure everything is settled in all the right places. Push the lining corners into the right spot. You may want to use the eraser side of a pencil or a chopstick to push those into place. You may want to even press your pouch again if it needs it. That’s it, you now have a beautiful, stylish large pouch that you made yourself. It has your fingerprints all over it. You chose your favorite fabric and it screams your style! 
Now, you can profile all of your friends and figure out what their perfect little somethings zipper pouch would look like. Then, whip one up for them to take as a hostess gift, holiday gift, friend gift, it’s Tuesday gift… Basically, it’s a great creative gift that ANYONE can make with a little help from the Cricut Maker & a sewing machine. You could even personalize it with some Cricut Iron-on Lite and the Cricut Easy Press. That would be really cool. What to win some amazing Cricut goodies for yourself? Enter below for a chance to win!