Copyright 2005 Jonathan Teng

These are two of my favorite appetizer recipes that I used to prepare in parties! They are quick, easy and the ingredients are available in any store.

Note: Both appetizer recipes yield 8 servings.

COCKTAIL KEBABS

Ingredients:

8 large Shrimp, cooked
1 Garlic clove, crushed
2 Green onions, trimmed
2 tbsp Lemon juice
1/2 Red bell pepper, seeded, cut in thin strips
2 tbsp Olive oil
1 tsp Sugar
1 tsp Coarsely ground mustard
8 small Ripe or green olives
1/4 tsp Creamed horseradish

Instructions:

Remove heads and body shells from shrimp but leave on tail shells. De-vein shrimp by removing black spinal cord. Cut each green onion in 4 daisies. Put shrimp, green onions, bell pepper and olives in a bowl. Mix garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, sugar, mustard and horseradish. Pour over shrimp mixture, cover and marinate at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Remove ingredients from marinade and thread equally on 8 wooden picks. Drain on paper towels.

Variation: Add small slices avocado to shrimp mixture.

CRISPY WONTONS

Ingredients:

3/4 lb Ground Pork
1/2 tsp Grated Fresh Ginger Root
8 Chopped Water Chestnuts
1 lb Wonton Skins
1/4 cup Chopped Green Onions & Tops
Vegetable Oil For Frying
1 tbsp Soy Sauce
Catsup
1/2 tsp Salt
Hot Mustard
1 tsp Cornstarch
Sweet & Sour Sauce

Instructions:

Combine pork, water chestnuts, green onions, soy sauce, salt, cornstarch and ginger in medium bowl; mix well. Place 1/2 teaspoon pork mixture in center of each wonton skin. Fold wonton skin over filling to form a triangle. Turn top of triangle down to meet fold.
Turn over; moisten one corner with water. Overlap opposite corner over moistened corner; press firmly. Heat oil in wok or large saucepan over medium-high heat to 375 F. Deep fry wontons, a few at a time, 2 to 3 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy. Drain on paper towels. Serve warm with catsup and hot mustard or sweet & sour sauce, as desired.

If you have enjoyed these appetizer recipes why not take a look at these **MUST TRY** Recipes: http://www.easy-recipes-secrets.com/easy-appetizer-recipes.html and http://www.easy-recipes-secrets.com/easy-chicken-recipes.html
About the author:

Jonathan loves eating! If you are like him, then you definitely need to visit http://www.easy-recipes-secrets.com – The special place where Jonathan reveals 3 BIG secrets to make any recipe a pure success!

Christmas time is so special and many parents enjoy scrapbooking about Christmas holidays. Why not combine scrapbooking with another favorite, Christmas cookies, like Rachel Paxton does in this free Christmas scrapbooking idea?

Christmas Cookies Scrapbooking Layout

Rachel Paxton

One of my favorite family holiday traditions has always been making Christmas cookies. It is a tradition that has been passed down through our family, and I am continuing it on today with my daughter. This year my daughter decided she wanted to try to make them herself, and they turned out great! I was the official
documenter, taking pictures and recording the decorative results for our family scrapbook.

To make the scrapbook layout more personal, I decided to use our favorite Christmas cookie recipe as part of the layout. I also used cookie cutters to make my own die-cuts to embellish the page. I was very happy with the results!

Directions:

Take several photos of your family making Christmas cookies. If you didn’t make any this year, you may have some old photos laying around from Christmases past. I chose to use only three photos in this layout because the recipe took up a lot of room on the page. I took a picture of the unfrosted cookies as they came
out of the oven, a picture of my daughter frosting the cookies, and then a picture of the finished cookies.

For the background paper, I chose a holiday-themed piece of 12×12 paper. It is green with holly berries. To mat the pictures and the caption, I used green card stock.

For the caption, I typed “Making Cookies, Christmas 2004″ vertically on a page in a large font that I liked and printed it off the computer. I matted this narrow piece with green card stock and glued it to the left-hand side of the background page.

For the pictures and the recipe, I used a full 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of green card stock for the matting. I printed out the recipe and placed it at the bottom of the card stock (with a picture of the finished cookies at the right-hand bottom corner of the recipe), and I arranged the other photos at the top of the card stock with two die-cuts I created from our cookie cutters. The cookie cutter shapes were a bell and star cut from yellow card
stock. I glued all these pieces to the green card stock and then glued the card stock to the background page. That’s it! See the following link for a photo of the completed page:

http://www.crafty-moms.com/articles/121904a.shtml

Here is the Christmas cookie recipe:

Christmas Sugar Cookies

1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 c. butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 egg
2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cream of tartar

Mix powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, almond extract, and egg. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Divide dough into halves. Roll each half 1/2-inch thick on lightly floured surface. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Bake on lightly greased cookie sheet until the edges are brown, 7 to 8 minutes. Makes 5 dozen cookies. Frost when cookies are completely cooled.

Frosting

3 c. powdered sugar
1/3 c. butter, softened
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 tbsp. milk

Mix powdered sugar and butter. Stir in vanilla and milk. Beat until smooth and easy to spread. Divide into bowls and add food coloring until desired colors.

Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom. For scrapbooking, card making, gift-giving ideas, and more family memory-making activities, visit http://www.crafty-moms.com.

This article provided by the Family Content Archives at: http://www.Family-Content.com

Are you tired of throwing the same old Halloween party every year? Why not try one of these great Halloween party ideas to really make your Halloween party stand out?

Fun Halloween Party Themes and Ideas

By John Lenaghan

Halloween is the day of the year that has the most parties thrown in its honor. Everyone loves to dress up and attend Halloween parties with their friends. Most people end up getting several invitations to different Halloween parties that are often on the same night. If you are planning to throw your own Halloween party, how can you get all your friends to head to your shindig and not someone else’s? You need to come up with some unique and fun ideas that will get everyone on your list so excited about your party they won’t even consider going anywhere else.

Not Just Any Old Theme

Many people don’t bother thinking of a theme for their Halloween party since it seems to be somewhat of a theme already. But rather than just putting up some Happy Halloween banners and fake cobwebs, why not come up with a great theme party idea? You can do anything from a haunted house or graveyard to a monster mash or horror movie bash. Once you’ve chosen your theme apply it to everything from your invitations to your party food. Guests will love some guidance on what to dress up as, especially if you do something a little different.

Your Halloween party invitations are one of the most important aspects of your party. Invitations are the best way to get your guests excited about your party. Many people don’t even send invitations anymore so even sending out simple ones will help your party stick in people’s minds. Be sure to apply your party theme to your invitations. If you can’t find any invitations at your local party store that go with your theme you can always use invitation templates that you can download for free from the Internet.

You can totally customize invitation templates and add colorful pictures as well. Guests will love to receive these fun invitations in the mail. You should send your invitations out approximately three to four weeks before your party to give everyone time to make plans to attend. If you’re running short of time sending electronic invitations is a great idea too. You can add animation and sound to e-invitations and even check guest’s responses online. Be sure to contact anyone who doesn’t respond via telephone since not everyone checks their email often.

Spooky Decorations

Everyone will expect to see your house decorated to the nines on Halloween so be sure not to disappoint. Your decorations should match your theme, so give them plenty of thought. For instance, a haunted house theme should be complete with low lighting, smoke, a spooky soundtrack, and even live ghouls to jump out and scare the guests as they arrive. A horror movie bash might include retro horror B-movie posters stuck on the walls which you can find on the Internet and print off at home.

Decorations can be found just about anywhere in the months leading up to Halloween. Even grocery stores carry a wide selection. Start shopping early so you can get the best selection possible and take advantage of any sales. If you can’t find just what you’re looking for you can always rent decorations from a local party supply shop or even purchase decorations from the Internet. The Internet has an almost endless selection and you can find just about any party supplies or decorations you’ll need.

Music is an important aspect of any party as well. While some spooky tunes are fun at first, you’ll want to switch over to some more upbeat music once the party gets going. People love to dance so have plenty of high energy songs ready to go. If you are inviting a variety of different people have several different types of music so no ones gets bored.

Tasty Halloween Treats

Food is an important part of any party. While you don’t need to provide a full meal, some creative and tasty snacks and treats will help keep your guests fueled for the night’s festivities. Turning simple party food into ghoulish culinary delights will surprise and please your guests. Try making some bewitching cupcakes, and put out snacks such as gummy worms and other Halloween candy treats.

Costumes are a given, since this is Halloween after all. If you are having a Halloween theme of some sort, let your guests know on your invitations that they should dress to fit the theme. For instance, if you’re throwing a horror movie bash, you can simply say, “come as your favorite horror movie star”. Don’t expect all your guests to comply with your request. Some people have been thinking up their Halloween costume since last year!

Don’t forget about the party favors! Depending on how many people you’re inviting and how much you’re willing to spend, the possibilities are endless when it comes to party favors. A simple idea is candy bags full of traditional treats such as candy corn. Something more substantial might be a pumpkin carving kit that comes with cutouts and tools. Your guests will love having a little something to take home with them.

Endless Costume Possibilities

If you really aren’t into the scary aspect of Halloween, you can always break with tradition and hold a different type of Halloween party. Have a famous couples party or a crazy hat party instead. Guests can still dress up but might be more creative then a white sheet with holes cut out of it. Dressing up for Halloween is something that both adults and kids can enjoy so great creative and have fun with it!

Having games at your party isn’t a necessity, but can be a great deal of fun for your guests. Games act as an excellent icebreaker if everyone doesn’t know each other. Any games where you can break people off into teams will help to get everyone talking. Pumpkin carving contests are a good idea, as is bobbing for apples. Be sure to give a prize to the best costume as well.

Your Halloween party is sure to be a success if you take the time to plan. Leave yourself plenty of time and don’t forget it’s all the little details that help to make a fabulous party. Enlist the help of family and friends if you’re feeling overwhelmed, and remember, planning is half the fun!

John Lenaghan writes about party planning and other tips for http://www.party-ideas-4u.com where he provides valuable tips and advice about Halloween party ideas, birthday party ideas and other party planning topics.

This article provided by the Family Content Archives at: http://www.Family-Content.com