Great party recipes

I hosted a neighborhood party last night at my house and it went off without a hitch!! (of course, Jake was at grandma's house or else we would have been entertained all night with DRUMS!!) Most of the neighbors showed up and everyone brought their favorite holiday hors d'oeurves........one thing I've got to get better at is having an ending time for my parties - I think the last person left at 1:00 AM!!!! Whew - I'm too old to stay up that late! We had a great time tasting all the food and enjoying everyone's company. We have been blessed - all of our neighbors are great people - everyone likes each other and looks out for each other.

I thought I would pass on a couple of recipes that I used last night - I "borrowed" these from one of my southern living magazine.......hope you enjoy.

Marinated Shrimp (I doubled in order to feed more)
2 lb unpeeled, large raw shrimp (21/25 count)
1 1/2 cups white vinegar
1 cup veg. oil
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup capers, undrained
1 1/2 tsp celery salt
1 medium-size red or white onion, sliced and separated into rings

Bring 6 cups salted water to a boil; add shrimp, and cook 3 minutes or just until shrimp turn pink. Drain and rinse with cold water. Peel shrimp, leaving tails on. Devein if desired (If pushed for time - purchase the frozen cooked and peeled shrimp - let them thaw overnight and then assemble everything the next day).

Combine vinegar and next 5 ingredients in a shallow dish; add shrimp alternately with onion. Cover and chill 6 to 24 hours, turning often. Drain shrimp mixture, discarding liquid before serving.

You can serve with herbed saltines - take saltine crackers, brush with melted butter, sprinkle with dried herbs and bake in oven for a few minutes.

Black bean and Mango Salsa
1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 mango, peeled and chopped
1 small green bell pepper, chopped
2 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
4 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup Italian vinaigrette dressing
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
2 tsp chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp seasoned pepper
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp hot sauce
Serve with assorted tortilla chips

You can substitute the mango for 1 (11-oz) can shoepeg corn - drained. Proceed with recipe as directed.

I also made the Christmas Wassell from Tracie's Charming Hospitality blog as well as some of the white chocolate treats with andes chocolcate mint and coconut/walnuts....very good!

Overall - it was a success!

Hope everyone has a great Sunday.

Love to all