There’s no better way to send off the past year (and count down to the new one) than by sharing a delicious meal with your family and closest friends. If you’re hosting, then you already know that you’re going to need a handful of crowd-pleasing recipes to get you through the night—appetizers for snacking, dinner party-worthy mains and, of course, a few cocktails when it’s time to raise a glass. You’ll find all of that and more right here, starting with a holiday classic: shrimp cocktail. Ina roasts her shrimp in a preheated oven and whips up a simple, 6-ingredient sauce for an impressive appetizer—that’s ready in a matter of minutes.

This twist on fried chicken is a fun way to start your New Year’s Eve party. Open a bottle of sparkling wine for the batter and enjoy the rest with friends or family while you serve up these crispy fried morsels with a creamy caviar dip. As a bonus, the rice flour and cornstarch in this batter help the coating stay crisp much longer than a traditional all-flour batter. Just make sure to use plain rice flour (as opposed to sweet or glutinous rice flour). Inexpensive black caviar is fine for this recipe, but you could also go all out and use the good stuff – it's up to you.

This twist on classic spinach artichoke dip is sure to be a winner at any holiday dinner or get-together. Rachael Ray serves it with sesame breadsticks, celery hearts and pita crisps for dipping.

The secret to keeping the floating bubbles in these champagne jellies is making sure your liquids are very cold — and cooling the mixture quickly so that the gelatin sets before the bubbles dissolve. Inserting the raspberry creates more bubbles, as the trapped gasses move around before the jellies are fully set. The result is a dramatic and festive sparkling treat best scooped with a spoon.