Cold cuts, potato chips and hot dogs are out, I take it?

Say, julienne of baloney and a rondelle of hotdog balanced alluringly on a chip?

Maybe not this time.

Anything with cheeeeeese and/or potato.

Smoked salmon & cream cheese pinwheels. Or tiny little brown-bread triangle smoked salmon & cream cheese sandwiches (one sandwich cut into 8, no crusts).

Sliced apples will oxidise and go brown very quickly and might look horrible after a while. Use just grapes, red and white, preferably (if you can get them) those big sweet muscat ones.

Do you have (or do you know someone who has) a chocolate fountain? Strawberries, banana and pineapple pieces and marshmallows on skewers, dipped in chocolate.

Maybe scallops wrapped in bacon?

Sounds like a really fun party!

Oh, and for the mezze platter- taramousalata?

Appetizer parties are great. So much nibbling. I love doing grilled bread with bruschetta and/or tapenade on the side to spread on. I get french or italian bread and slice it on a diagonal, thin, and then grill it on the bbq until it gets charry black hash marks on boths sides....it's heaven. It comes out crusty and rustic and delicious. Add some olive tapenade and/or fresh chopped tomatoes with garlic to put on top...more heaven. Add cheese for more heaven for people who love cheese. Very fun to build your own; everyone loves it.

Something else that's delicious and looks nice on a plate - chop up some pimento, and mix it with chopped fresh spinach and some cream cheese. Spread thickly on the wrap of your choice - any flavor. Roll it up and slice into little discs. Another kind of pinwheels. Super good.

A puu puu platter of little tidbits on wooden skewers that people can cook on an open flame somewhere is fun.

Fondue - cheeses with bread, pretzels and/or veggies.

Sushi - maybe not raw fish, but fresh veggies and cream cheese.

Maybe scallops wrapped in bacon?

Rumaki! Is that coming back into vogue again? It was super popular in the 80s. I haven't thought of it in years, and then just yesterday I saw some already made up and packaged at the local market, and I yelled OMG Rumaki really loudly...hehe. I used to love it. So good.

Dates wrapped in bacon. my number 1 favourite.

mini crab cakes

anything wrapped in prosciutto

My favorite hors d'oeuvre is something I call cucumber-tomato sandwiches. Good tomatoes are a must. I make these things all summer long and people go nuts. They're not really fancy, but they're good. They're nothing original, it's like a little BLT.

Cook 3/4 lb. of bacon, cool, chop into bite size pieces. Mix bacon with about a cup or so of Hellman's mayo, and a few turns of fresh black pepper.

Peel and slice an English cucumber. Slice tomatoes. I usually buy 4 or 5 tomatoes.

On toasted French bread or cocktail pumpernickel bread spread mayo and bacon mixture, top with a tomato slice and a cucumber slice. I usually have to cut the tomato in half, because they're too big. You don't have to toast the pumpernickel, but I do toast a French baguette slices, because it holds up better. I usually use pumpernickel because it's good and easy.

cream cheese jalapeno poppers. crab cakes. mozzarella sticks, crab rangoons. nachos.

TPS, it's going to be so fun! She loves appetizers! Our favorite course when dining out is the hors d'oeuvres, and for the past few Christmases, I've given Mom a variety of homemade savory pastries and such to keep in her freezer. When it came time to plan the party, I knew she'd be charmed by this idea.

EJ, I just douse the apples in acidulated water; they hold up fine. The muscat grapes are a lovely idea!

My sister, a professional baker, is handling dessert, and I imagine she'll bring a plate of her small sweets (tartlets, mini brownies, cookies, and the like) in keeping with the small bites theme.

on preview: you're all making me hungry! Excellent!

Pigs in a blanket!! (It's just not a party without them.)

goat cheese is good too.

jonmc, the last time we went to my partner's parents' for dinner, his dad has set up the deep fryer for eggplant parmesan. Since he had all that oil bubbling hot, while we waited, he cranked out a few plates of jalepeno poppers and crab rangoon. Plain old boxed-up grocery-freezer fare, but deep-fried it was awe-inspiring: so crisp, so hot, so loaded with fatty yum.

I won't have time to tend a deep fryer, but yum.

Goat cheese! Good call.

I don't know if this works as I haven't tried it myself (I'll eat brown apple) but I've heard if you put a bit of diluted lemon juice on apple slices they won't turn brown.

chihuahuas. on toast.

OH NOSE!!!!!!

No, not Nose. Nose smells.

Oysters on Horseback
Yakitori

Eggs with more eggs in 'em is what I usually do and people love it. The easy version - hard boild eggs, split in half, take the yolk out and save in a bowl which you mix with red caviar & Crème fraîche, so that the goo created isn't too runny. Return the mix to the eggwhites, chill in fridge and they'll be perfect when guests arrive.

The trickier version is to mix the eggyolk with chopped parmesan, chopped red onion, some salt and pepper as well as red and black caviar. Return to eggwhites as above.

Oh, and the caviar should be from Cyclopterus lumpus. (lumpsucker? Really? We just call it rock-fish.)

Devilled eggs. Yeah, I know they're "normal" but everyone seems to love them. I make good ones.

I was going to mention brownies, but that's covered. I make good brownies, too.

Cold cuts, potato chips and hot dogs are out, I take it?
iconomy - I have ever told you that you're my hero?

I like those rolled up tortilla spiral things.

Mix some softened cream cheese and spices - like taco seasoning, garlic or onion powder, herbs, whatever. Spread on a large flour tortilla. I use about 1/2 a block of cream cheese for a 12+ inch tortilla. Lay on some shredded lettuce or lunch meat of some sort if you want. Roll up the tortilla and put it in the fridge for an hour or two, so the cream cheese gets hard again. Then slice it into pinwheels. Try not to eat them all yourself before the party (this is the hardest step).

Spring rolls, especially shrimp spring rolls. A Chinese buffet place up the street makes them here every year in April and May, and we get 'em a dozen at a time, with take out. Too yummy. You might find a place nearby to do a batch for you for pickup, if you don't want to fry yourself, and don't cotton to baking pre-mades.

Crab stuffed peperoncini. Mix 4 ounces of softened cream cheese, 6-8 ounces of lump crab meat, a coupla dashes of tobasco, minced green from one scallion together in a bowl. Scoop it into a ziploc bag, cut off a corner of the baggie. Cut the top and seeds off a pepper, stick the tube into the pepper and fill. They're fabulous!

Cantelope wrapped in melon, and fruit kabobs - strawbs, pineapple, banana, kiwi, etc., on a stick. You can douse them in a sweet poppyseed dressing if you like, or any sauce you like on fruit. I love hors'd ouevre, but fruit would be a nice change from so much rich food.

Maybe some halved cherry tomatoes w/ pesto.

Sounds like a fun party.

Cantelope wrapped in melon

It's the mythical MetaLope!

Something curried on toast?

Oooh forgot - melon pieces wrapped with prosciutto.