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, showstopping desserts 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 one of our favorite sweet treats. Whether you're throwing a fancy, black-tie affair or hosting a laid-back gathering of family and friends, these cookies (with two surprises inside!) make the perfect favor or addition to your dessert table.

This 5-star shrimp cocktail is about to become your go-to recipe; it's easy and crowd-pleasing, and you can whip up the cocktail sauce in minutes.

Melissa d’Arabian’s Crispy-Skinned Chicken à l’Orange brings French flair to your table with golden chicken in a sweet, citrusy orange sauce perfect for a festive New Year’s meal.

This bright and elegant seafood dish features tender scallops sautéed in butter with shallots, garlic and parsley, finished with a splash of dry white wine and a squeeze of lemon for a touch of French‑inspired simplicity.

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.

Spritzes are for winter months too! Try replacing traditional Aperol with the smashed cranberry-brandy mixture in this cocktail recipe for a refreshing and cozy sipper.

Brigitte Malivert says, "The tang of grapefruit marmalade adds a lovely brightness to every bite of this rich, spiced flan made with rum caramel. For the flan custard I took inspiration from kremas (sometimes known as cremasse), perhaps Haiti’s most famous celebratory drink. Like flan, it’s creamy and velvety smooth, made with coconut cream and other rich ingredients. It’s spiked with Haitian sugarcane rum and traditionally poured for Haiti’s Independence Day on January 1 and for other festive gatherings, particularly those during the holiday season. In this recipe I wanted to pair kremas’s traditional flavors with something contrasting. I chose grapefruit marmalade, an everyday ingredient and morning staple in many Haitian households. Spoon the marmalade generously on the flan, then use leftovers to spread on toast to enjoy with coffee."

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 decadent starter is an example of less is more. We cut strip steaks into logs, then quickly pan roast until medium rare and finish with a basting of butter, garlic and thyme. After a quick rest, the steak is cut into cubes, put on small skewers and finished with a sprinkling of truffle salt.

This classic dinner party dish is made from start to finish in the multi-cooker. Briny capers and olives marry with dried apricots and a touch of brown sugar for the perfect blend of sweet and savory.

This sweet and savory stuffed pork rib roast will be the showpiece of your holiday meal at the fraction of the cost of a beef rib roast. To make it easy to slice into individual portions after roasting, make sure to ask the butcher to remove the backbone and have them French the rib bones for a neater presentation. Once you’ve carved the roast, don’t let those bones go to waste! We pop them back into the oven to crisp up for a little added treat.

A dish of chilled, shucked raw oysters is a fun and festive way to start an evening. This version simply involves stirring together a Bloody Mary-inspired mixture loaded with punchy horseradish as a mignonette-like topping. Serve ice-cold and wash them down with your favorite celebratory beverage.

Soy sauce, smoky bacon and sweet brown sugar dress up water chestnuts for a festive party appetizer. The crunchy centers are a great counter to the crisp, meaty bacon and the sticky-sweet glaze.

You can never go wrong 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.