I second stuffed mushrooms. You can prep ahead, and just pop in a hot oven.

I recently made them by sauteeing the chopped stems with garlic, shallot and thyme, and mixed with boursin cheese. Stuffed that mix in the mushroom caps. Topped with bread crumbs (seasoned or plain) and a drizzle of evoo or dab of butter.

I used this menu and added a salad, pesto pasta and raspberry blue cheese grilled salmon for dinner and it was easy and yummy even at room temp.

http://blog.williams-sonoma.com/tips-for-hosting-a-holiday-cocktail-party/

ETA: I think this is the recipe that I used.

http://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/recipes/a50376/boursin-stuffed-mushrooms-recipe/

Prosciutto-wrapped asparagus spears.

What is this pepperoni roll of which you speak? We are having a small group over, including teenagers, and this sounds great for our casual shindig!

SueB

pepperoni roll easiest thing ever! Get a frozen bread/pizza dough. Roll thawed dough approximately 12 x 14 on light floured surface. For each loaf I layer 1/2 lb of sandwich pepperoni and 1/2 sliced provolone cheese. Layer to the edges of dough. A little overlap is fine. Bring long ends in and then bottom edges. Pinch ends and then egg wash dough. Bake 350 for 30 minutes until golden. Use a little bit of cooking spray on your baking sheet

I actually use a bread machine to make a dough for mine but it's still delicious with frozen dough.

The finished product will be somewhat flat and not puffy like a loaf of regular bread. Slice thin and enjoy.

I think pepperoni roll is or used to be a regional thing. I'm from Pittsburgh area and it was always a staple at parties.

That sounds like a good snack for my teens and their friends, too! I bet you can use puff pastry or that dough in a can, too.

For your adult cocktail party, I would consider the timeframe of when guests are at your house, and when NYE dinner is served. Don't go overboard on food when there's a large dinner up ahead.

I would do wine, beer and a festive cocktail, and then spiced nuts, a bacon-wrapped fig-type of appetizer, and something light over a crostini, like from this list: crostini toppers.

With the abundance of citrus right now, I'd also consider a fruit salsa that you can make ahead. This is light and very flavorful. (I'd switch out the summer berries for more citrus and available fruit. The homemade cinnamon chips are very easy to make, too.) Fruit Salsa

All of these can be served at room temperature.

cmm, I grew up in upstate NY and we called it stromboli. It's yummy.

I second the suggestion of the bacon wrapped dates - they are a family favorite and we just had some on Christmas. Sweet and savory at the same time and with a wonderful crunch of crispy bacon!!

Mushroom tarts are another family favorite. A delicate cream cheese pastry surrounding a light and flavorful mushroom filling. These can be made into little turnovers as this recipe does or pressed into mini muffin pans to form a little cup. Easily made several days ahead and reheated.

Smitten kitchen just shared this recipe for Endive with Oranges and Almonds .. and I believe mtn had one similar that included beets (maybe?) very colorful and light-- I'd think great for a pre-dinner bite.

There are many threads regarding appetizers.. I just did a quick search for the thread that included the endive and beet appetizer as well as a photo for the recipe above Mtn's Finger Food thread

I'll continue with the lobster theme from my recent dinner party. How about hot lobster dip? Takes 1/2 lb lobster meat, cream cheese, mayo, garlic powder, topped with slivered almonds. Make in a pie dish ahead of time and pop in the oven. Serve with crackers. So good.

These are unbelievably good and quite easy to make. The recipe is an update of one from the 1960's I believe, using kalamata olives and cream cheese in his version. I've used pimento stuffed green olives, canned black olives as well as the kind called for in the recipe. Just be sure to keep the dough as small as possible so they are bite sized:

Olive poppers

In the same vein as mentioned by tackykat, I do dates stuffed with blue cheese but can't bear to mess with wrapping anything in bacon and trying to get it cooked properly; these use cooked chopped bacon to get the flavor without the hassle:

Bleu Cheese and Bacon Stuffed Dates Another fun
way to prepare these dates is to blend together a fancy honey, such as
lavender or orange honey with goat cheese and then stuff the dates. Bake
them at 350F for about 10 minutes and serve. Melt in your mouth
delicious!

Ingredients• 25-30 Medjool dates

• 4-5 slices bacon, cooked

• 6-8 ounces good quality bleu cheese (I love Rogue Creamery Bleu’s), or Gorgonzola

Directions

Remove the pits from the dates and arrange on a platter.

Finely dice the bacon or place it in a small food processor and mince.

Place the bleu cheese in a food processor or with a hand mixer, cream
the bleu cheese. Transfer the creamed bleu cheese to a pastry bag or a
small Ziploc bag.

Cut a small hole in one corner of the ziploc bag or a larger hole in
the pastry bag. Pipe the creamed bleu cheese into each date.

Sprinkle each date with minced bacon, gently tapping it on the cheese to keep it secure. Serve at room temperature.

This is a lovely app that can be prepared prior to serving. Cream the
bleu cheese and hold in the frig. Cook the bacon, mince and then hold
in the frig. Pit the dates and also hold in the frig. Then right before
guests arrive, pipe in the blue cheese and top with the bacon.

I copied this from the blog below because I was too lazy to write out my recipe here:Two purple couches blog

Our grandkids love the individual pepperoni rolls made with a tube of crescent rolls, string cheese, and pepperoni slices. Separate the roll dough into triangles and lay 5 or 6 slices of pepperoni (Overlapping) across the wide end of the triangle, Add 1/2 of a string cheese stick and roll up the cough just like you would if you were making the crescent rolls. Bake according to roll directions and use pizza sauce or marinara for dipping. Fast and delicious!

Those Olive Poppers look and sound delicious!!!

Easy make-ahead app that's delicious and can be elegant.

Bake an egg casserole with anything you want. The last one I made had sauteed onions, garlic, Spanish chorizo and manchego cheese. I used a round cookie cutter and cut out bite-sized pieces and served warm, topped with creme fraiche.

I called them "mini fritattas", but really, it's just baked eggs*.

Folks love them.

*I bake my egg casseroles in a bain marie so that they're dense and custardy.

Mimi, that is genius. You could even put a tiny garnish on the creme fraiche,

Sure- a little dash of paprika or chives would look nice. What was nice is that I made the dish the day before a party we were going to. It took a lot of stress off.

Thanks for the pepperoni recipe.

We had arancini from Trader Joe's over Christmas, which I thought of as a lame cop-out (they're frozen) but some of our family members raved about them.

I have also made a similar fruit salsa (summery, with more berries) with cinnamon chips before. Everyone loved it!

I love bacon wrapped stuffed dates. I use two smoked almonds per medjool date, 1/4 slice bacon and then a brown sugar, soy, ginger glaze over all before baking.

I don't know that it's particularly fancy/creative, but they can be prepared the day before and taste great at room temperature and travel well. And always well received.

mimi - that looks great. How did you reheat them? Do you have a link for the recipe, I was wondering if there is there any cream added? Thanks!

I reheated the "mini fritattas" in the microwave. I like them just warmed through.

Here's what I do:

Beat 10-12 eggs with a big splash of cream. Add salt and pepper.

Pour into a 9x13 baking dish, prepared with non-stick spray.

Add to egg mixture whatever you like or have on hand. Ham and cheese. Sun dried tomatoes and feta. Sauteed onions and peppers.

In my example above, I had sauteed diced onions and garlic in evoo and seasoned with salt and pepper. Then, I added finely chopped Spanish chorizo and cooked for 5 minutes. That mixture was allowed to cool a bit and was added throughout the egg mixture in the baking dish.

I also added shredded manchego cheese.

Cover the egg dish with aluminum foil.

Put the covered egg dish into a larger pan, and fill about 1/3 of the way with hot water. Place in 425 degree oven and bake for 40 minutes. Remove foil and continue to bake for 10-15 minutes, or until just set.

This makes the creamiest baked egg ever!

another egg casserole topped with slice tomatoes. Nice presentation.

I’ve made these stuffed mini peppers for many parties. They can be made in advance,
and then heated at party time, or served at room temperature.

http://www.instructables.com/id/goat-cheese-stuffed-peppers/

They're a hit with everyone, especially vegetarians.

Thanks, mimi! My son, who is a vegetarian and now is trying to stay away from dairy, is here over winter break so I'm always looking for something that will work for him but that we like too. It's difficult! This sounds perfect. We love eggs lately!

I make a hot crab dip that is fabulous and always popular. It is easy and makes for an elegant appetizer. I serve it in a silver chafing dish.

Hot crab dip is my favorite appetizer of all time, for stand up appetizers. Sit down, it all changes.

Cyn, long ago I made a hot crab dip that was very good, too. I lost my recipe, though. When I look online, I can't quite find what I thought it was. The base was crab, cream cheese, probably mayo, lemon ... a few other things... and then baked in a dish. Is this similar to yours?

Here is my recipe, Lisa:

8 oz. cream cheese, 1 T. milk, 2 T. chopped onion, ½ t. horseradish, ½ t. salt, dash pepper, crabmeat

Combine and cook for 15 minutes in a 375 degree oven.

here is another my mom did sometimes:

1 lb. crabmeat, ½ c. mayo, 1 level t. prepared mustard, ¼ t. salt, dash pepper, pimento (optional), 1 t. parsley, ⅛ t. powdered garlic, enough milk or cream to thin to desired consistency. Mix ingredients, then blend in crabmeat. sprinkle with paprika and heat through.

I often do my own variation that combines the two.

Oh, thanks, Cyn! Yes, the one with the horseradish. That's the ingredient I think melds it all together.

Thanks all for the good suggestions. I am hungry just reading about your ideas!

This made me hungry, too!

Olychick: I'm definitely making your stuffed dates.

Roarah: DH and I make some sort of fresh salmon dish every Sayurday night. You mentioned making a Raspberry Blue Cheese Salmon recipe, but I can't seem to find it on your linked W-S site. I'd love to see that recipe.