A question

A friend emailed me for suggestions on a New Orleans style hors d'oeuvre to serve at our next book club meeting. We had just finished 'A Confederacy of Dunces' by John Kennedy Toole and loved it, hence the menu selection. It got me thinking of course. Once upon a time I called the Big Easy my home, between the ages of 13-18, and surely I should be able to quickly come up with several mouth-watering representations. Well, sure. There's oysters Rockefeller, steamed shrimp with remoulade, any type of gumbo, oysters on the half-shell....I could go on and on but I think I'd begin to sound like Bubba from 'Forest Gump' listing all the things one can do with seafood. Those are the typical things you'd see on a menu. But, I wondered aloud, what did mom serve at all those parties she and dad were putting on? What was that concoction she was always taking over to other people's houses in a fancy Tupperware container? What about Shrimp Mold? No, not shrimp left to grow green fuzz in the refrigerator for a month. Mold as in what you form it in. You know, gelatin? Sounds very 1950's doesn't it? Well, I hauled out the old family cookbook to see exactly what one puts into something so glamorously called Shrimp Mold, and here is what it told me: condensed tomato soup and cream cheese. Hmmm. I remember it being very tasty. Was that just my 16 year old taste buds talking? Can it stand up to my significantly older, more well rounded ones? Off to the kitchen....