Mashtini Bar Birthday

Back in November we decided to throw an impromptu birthday dinner for my sister-in-law. I’m sharing it with you now, because I think it would make a perfect New Years Eve dinner. In fact, I’m planning on doing a reprisal of the Mashtini bar for our New Years Eve celebration.

What is a mashtini bar? It is basically a fun and modern take on the potato bar. Instead of baked potatoes, you serve them mashed, and instead of on a boring plate, you serve them in a martini glass.

We had a pretty traditional set-up: gravy, cheese, ham cubes, bacon, broccoli, popcorn chicken. It was yummy. I’ve also seen it done with stations of different kinds of food, like Mexican-themed toppings, or Greek toppings, like olives and feta.

If you are like me and don’t happen to have martini glasses on hand, you can pick up some plastic ones like these at the party store (we found these at party city). It’s nice to have something like this at a party that can be carried around, if you want a mix and mingle atmosphere–rather than a sit down dinner. It came together pretty quickly. Actually, in just an afternoon, from idea to execution, so you have plenty of time to pull this off for the New Year!

And while we are at it, I thought I would show you the cake my 11-year-old daughter made for the occasion. She made it periwinkle in honor of the birthday girl’s favorite colors, and used that marshmallow technique from our Easter cupcakes to make the flowers on top.