I love making jello shots for parties. What I don't love is picking up all those sticky little plastic cups after the party is over and throwing them in the garbage.

Unfortunately jello shots on their own are tricky to pick up and if you skip the cups you're likely to wind up with shots slipping through guests' fingers and landing on their clothes or your carpet.

Inspired by an article on serving cocktails in vegetables, I decided to make jello shots that were easy to pick up and either fully edible or compostable.

Step 1: Chocolate Strawberry Jello Shots

Ingredients:

Strawberries (the biggest ones you can find)
Strawberry jelly powder
Creme de cacao
Vodka
Chocolate chips (optional)

Wash the strawberries and pick out the nicest ones. You will need about 3 boxes worth of strawberries for 2 cups of jello. Cut off the bottoms so the strawberries can stand up but be careful to not make holes for the jello to leak out. Cut off the tops and hollow out the insides.

For chocolate dipped strawberries, melt the chocolate chips in the microwave on low heat and then dip each strawberry in the melted chocolate. An alternative is to drizzle melted chocolate over top of the finished jello shots (not pictured but equally delicious).

Mix 1 cup of boiling water and the jelly powder. Stir until the powder is completely dissolved. Add half a cup of cold vodka and half a cup of creme de cacao and stir. Pour liquid into the strawberries and chill in the fridge until set.

Step 2: Cucumber Gin and Tonic Jello Shots

Ingredients:

Mini cucumbers
Unflavoured gelatine
Gin
Tonic Water
Lime juice (optional)
Sugar (optional)

Wash the cucumbers. Cut off the ends and then cut each cucumber into 4 sections. Hollow out the cucumber with a pairing knife or small spoon.

Boil 1 cup of tonic water and mix in the package of gelatine. Stir until completely dissolved and remove from heat. Add 2/3 cup of cold gin and 1/3 cup of cold tonic water. If you prefer a sweeter gin and tonic, add a dash of lime juice and sugar.

Pour the liquid into the cucumber cups and chill in the fridge until set.

Step 3: Lime Margarita Jello Shots

Ingredients:

Limes and / or lemons
Lime jelly powder
Triple sec
Tequila

Wash the limes and lemons. Cut the limes in half and squeeze out the juice. Turn the lime halves inside out and remove the pulpy bits. For lemons you can use a knife to cut out the insides.

Mix the jelly powder with 1 cup of boiling water. Stir until completely dissolved. Add 1/3 cup Triple Sec and 2/3 cup Tequila. Pour the liquid into the lime and lemon halves and chill in the fridge until set.

Before serving, cut the lime and lemon cups in half to make wedges. Right before eating you can dip the edges in sugar (like rimming a glass)

Step 4: Naughty Shirley Temple Jello Shots

Ingredients:

Cherry jelly powder
Orange jelly powder
Maraschino cherries with stems*
Lemon lime pop
Vodka
Grenadine (optional)

Mix 1 cup of boiling water with the cherry jelly powder. Stir until completely dissolved. Add 1/2 cup cold vodka, 1/2 cup cold water and a bit of grenadine (grenadine optional). Pour the liquid into mini muffin tin, filling them up half way.

Cut the bottoms off of the cherries so they stand up and place one in each muffin cup. Chill in the fridge until set.

Mix 3/4 cup of boiling water with the orange jelly powder. Stir until completely dissolved. Add 1/2 cup cold vodka, 3/4 cup lemon lime pop. Pour the liquid into the mini muffin tin, on top of the cherry jello, and chill in the fridge until set.

To easily remove the jello shots from the muffin tin warm up the bottom of the tin by setting it in warm water.

Enjoy watching your friends attempt to tie the stems with their tongues!

*Maraschino cherries with stems are really hard to find in Ontario, I finally got mine from Bulk Barn but they told me they don't always carry them so be sure to call in advance.