It all looks so good. Alas, I just wasn't able to participate this weekend. DS came over Sunday to fix dinner for me, which was a good thing cause I was not feeling well. I was still not 100% yesterday, plus my DIL and grandson came over to sped the day yesterday. Well, I do have my priorities, and I'm afraid that playing with my GS that I don't get to see very often is way up there. So the appetizers will have to wait. Shelley, Nancy, Ann, your pictures are so scrumptious, as always. Marigene, Chase and LPink, your dishes sound so good. Funny, when I told DH about the appetizer party, he asked if something from the dessert chapter could count as an appetizer! Sally

In New Jersey we had pizza parlors in the very late 40's. It was called Pizza pie. When I started dating my DH to be ( he was from Iowa and I from NJ and we were dating in Mass.)he had just returned from being stationed in California....and was fascinated with the Trader Vic and other Hawiian restraunts.... In the east we didn't know anything about rum drinks with umbrellas and Pupu platters....we were too busy drinking Martinis and Manhattens (and some drank 7 and 7 blech!) and talking through our teeth, to care about what happened on the west coast.LOL! And Cheri rumaki was "exotic"....cutting edge in the late 50s'! LOL! When my parents would have a party, the only "mixer" that friends used was seltzer ( in a syphon!) and ginger ale! And no wine, no beer...just booze! When we had parties in the early years...it was BYOB! LOL! When we finally got out of the just married/poor category, we did like out parents....M and M parties and "highballs". I can't remember when we started to serve wine as a before dinner drink. For a lot of years it was only served with dinner....at least in our crowd....at least until mid 80s'. Linda C...walking down memory lane... It's been said they were the "greatest generation"....they had to be!! LOL!

EASY and QUICK Appetizers 1. Brick of Cream Cheese thickly slathered with Red Pepper Jelly 2. Brick of Cream Cheese thickly slathered with Green Pepper Jelly Note: Sometimes the Red and the Green Pepper jelly are on the shelves with sweet jellies. Sometimes they are stocked with condiments such as mayo, pickles, olives. The Red Pepper Jelly is much hotter than the green. 3. 1 can of small shrimp.. broken pieces are okay. Drain and add enough of Best Foods (Hellmans) mayo and mash up to make a spread. No need to add spices or herbs. Buy an assortment of crackers and cocktail breads to serve with the above 3 appetizers. Buy a bunch of parsley and 'decorate' the 3 plates with parsley after removing some of the big stems. I specialize in parsley placement ;-) at my house.

Thanks for all the ideas. (BTW, no cheese in my chicken pot pie.) I made some stuffed mushrooms, and will put out a veggie/dip platter, along with some mixed nuts, and a big bunch of grapes. It is tough to answer these types of questions without knowing the guest list.... but carbo- loading every now and then has never been a problem. And we all live in the nyc metro area.