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This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #ShareHolidayJoy #CollectiveBias

There is one scary thing about moving 5 states away with nothing but what you can fit in your car and only knowing one person in the entire state. Ok, just kidding, there are lots of scary things about doing something like that but the one that sticks out is having to start over completely. New job, new home, new surroundings, new friends. New life.

I’m an introverted person and if I can sit at home for days and days and not see another human being I’m completely content. That is one reason this work for myself thing goes so well. But even I need human interaction every once in awhile and as much as I love my roommates I need other human interaction. So thank goodness for local blogger groups and a creative entrepreneur group and a writers group and a knitters group that give me copious opportunities to make friends 🙂

Even though I’m surrounded by lots of new friends the holiday season really makes me miss my family. We’re not particularly festive people around Christmas and there are some things I won’t miss about the big day. But all in all I’m more than bummed I won’t be woken up by my sister at 8am because she’s too excited to sleep anymore or sit around with my family after opening gifts eating my grandma’s sticky buns or heading off to my aunt’s house to learn some new card or dice game and eat too much food and meet my brand new nephew. 

While thinking of missing out on all those memories makes me a little teary eyed I know that I’ve made enough amazing friends here that I won’t be short on great memories this year. So I invited all the lost and wandering stragglers who either don’t have anywhere to go for Christmas this year or can’t make it home for Christmas dinner. We’ll do a little white elephant exchange and watch a Christmas movie and enjoy a fabulous Christmas feast.

But do you know how LONG it’s been since I entertained people? In my home as a hostess anyway. I entertain lots of people all the time as I am so hilarious 😉 Anywho I’m tickled to put on my decorator hat, set a beautiful table, and put everyone else in charge of food pot luck style while I take care of dessert. And ohhhh man is this dessert awesome. Rich chocolate cake layered with creamy mascarpone frosting and tart pomegranates. Yes, please.

Since I like all the matchy matchy I decided to carry that red and white theme into the table settings and dropped by Sam’s Club to scope out some ideas. When I spotted the vintage looking glass bottles of Coke I was sold. They remind me of those commercials that come on about this time of year every year where people are sharing a Coke with friends and family. You know the commercials where the warm fuzzy loving sharing feeling spans the globe all because people shared a bottle of Coke? Love it. If you want to share even more love pick up a 4 pack of 2 liters that are on sale for the holiday season for just $3.98!

So what better way to welcome my guests in than with a fun, classic glass bottle of Coca-Cola as their place card that they can take home with them after dinner? Plus they’re made with real sugar. No high fructose corn syrup in sight! Which makes my little crunchy heart and homesteader friends happy 🙂

You can grab that cute little printable to use for your own guests or as a gift tag to spread the holiday joy by passing these out to your friends and neighbors two ways. Click here for a jpeg image you can upload to a free service like PicMonkey or Canva {or Photoshop if you have a subscription} and add text. Just right click on the image and save it to your desk top {or two finger tap for all you Mac users}. If you want to hand write the names or sweet holiday note of thanks then you can click here for the PDF version that’s printer ready 🙂

How are you going to share the holiday joy with Coca-Cola this season?

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Chocolate Cake with Mascarpone Pomegranate Frosting {free printable!}

Yield: 10 slices

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Chocolate cake with mascarpone frosting and pomegranates is a sweet finish to any holiday dinner and perfect for any decadent dessert!

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Ingredients

For the Cake:

• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups Coca-Cola

For the Frosting:

• 16 oz mascarpone
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 2 Tbs heavy cream
• 1/2 cup Pomegranate seeds

Instructions

For the Cake:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt and mix on low speed until combined.
2. With the mixer on low speed slowly add in milk and vegetable oil. Add in eggs one at a time and mix until completely incorporated then add vanilla and mix well.
3. In a small saucepan heat 1 1/2 cups of Coca-Cola over medium low heat and bring to a gentle simmer. Allow to simmer until reduced to one cup about 20 minutes. Once reduced bring to a boil and add to batter while boiling, mixing well.
4. Divide batter evenly between three 8 inch cake pans lined with parchment paper and bake at 300 degrees for 30 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes before carefully turning them out to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the Frosting:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment whip mascarpone until fluffy then whisk in powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, scraping down bowl after each addition, until completely incorporated. Add up to 2 Tbs of heavy cream to reach the desired consistency.

To Assemble:

1. Lay your first layer of cake on your cake stand or serving platter and top with 1 cup of mascarpone frosting, spreading in an even layer. Repeat with remaining two layers and top with pomegranate seeds.