I need a cold appetizer recipe

One other thought -- sorry. This might be higher maintenance than you want to go, depending on the numbers, but a friend of mine just did these really cute little appetizers -- she took the fancy toothpicks (bamboo maybe?) and put a grape tomato, a cube of mozzarella, and a basil leaf on some, and put a grape tomato, a cube of feta, and an olive on others, put them all on a platter, drizzled them lightly with good olive oil (and I'm guessing salt and pepper), and people helped themselves.

Sliced baguette -- toasted or not -- spread with fig jam and topped with blue cheese or gorgonzola. Or, toasted baguette/country bread (depending on how rustic you want to go) spread with pesto (homemade or store-bought -- I've done both) topped with smoked trout. Both are kind of odd sounding combinations but both are delicious. And easy to put together. I've even just thrown the components on a platter and told people what to do to make their own crostinis, but you might want to put them together depending on the event.

Crackers with horseradish sour cream on top (premixed), piece of smoked trout, fig jam, chives. Or this fig, walnut, olive tapenade: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Fig-and-Walnut-Tapenade-with-Goat-Cheese-105649

How about a cold chickpea chaat?, canned chickpeas, finely diced cucumbers & grape tomatoes, (they dont ooze, which is why I suggest them) and finely chopped sweet onions ., salt, pepper, a pinch of smoky pimenton or ancho, some toasted crushed cumin , lemon juice and finely julienned cilantro. toss together in a bowl. Serve on tostito chip cups with a spot of sour cream on top

Texas Caviar from the Cowgirl Hall of Fame

Source of Recipe

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List of Ingredients

3 (16 ounce) cans black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed of all juice
1 jar chopped pimiento, juice included
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced,green part only
1 tablespoon fresh oregano
1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 bunch parsley, chopped
3 fresh jalapeno chiles, chopped
1 firm ripe tomato, chopped
2 cups vinaigrette
1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
3 cloves fresh garlic, pressed or minced

This is a recipe from Meanchef at Cooks Talk Classic
Texas Caviar

In a large bowl, stir all ingredients very well.
Refrigerate for at least 4-6 hours, preferably overnight, in a sealed or covered container.
Remember the longer it sits, the better it gets!

About some bruschettas toast bread ahead put in zip lock for travel and top with anything your hearts desire

Buy some nice crackers or a baguette (slice it) and top with some humus (buy at local store), sprinkle with pistachio crumbs and Moroccan tagine spice. Take a piping bag with a star tip if you want to get fancy.

Texas Caviar, made with canned black eyed peas, and served with Scoops is always a huge hit. Let me know if you want a recipe.

A classic is a ham and cream cheese roll up with green onion.
Just spread cream cheese on ham and put bit of green onion on the lower third and roll it up like a sushi roll. Sealing with some more cream cheese on the edges. Let those cool a bit in the mini-fridge and slice them into disks wet the knife so it slices easy.
They'll sort of look like those Christmas hard candies with the green bit in the middle.
So, bring small cutting board and knife for your list. You can store those in Tupperware overnight with layers of wax paper between each layer.

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if you have a microwave; a corn and black bean salad. With a bag of frozen corn defrosted in the microwave, and a can of black beans (drain and rinse with a strainer, or just drain the can in the sink and rinse straining with your hands). Dress that with lime juice, olive oil, salt pepper. You can use a big gallon zip lock to make and store; those really mini, mini, fridges are tiny so it's floppy.

Boost that up with some chopped green onion, chopped red chili pepper, parsley or Cilantro. (tho for crowd there's always someone that hates cilantro). Serve in a bowl with a spoon..on a platter with some of those Tostitos Scoops cups on the platter. This is much better the next day.

Mince smoked salmon,capers and onions.Add salt,lime juice and iogurt and maybe sprinkle some mint on top...Serve it on italian bread slices and call it Salmon Fusion Dip for kicks.

Hi Grandma Gail! I saw this recipe of Mario Batali's and think it might be a good idea considering it needs very little ingredients and no fancy food processors! You could even whip this up last minute. At least it can give you a spring-board of what to come up with or get your ideas going.

Servings:4-6 Difficulty: EasyCook Time: 1-30 min
Ingredients·
6 comice pears, perfectly ripe (can substitute Anjou pears)·
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil·
1 lemon·
8 ounce wedge Parmigiano Reggiano·
Coarse sea salt, to taste·
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste·
DirectionsStand the pears with their stems pointing up. Slice pears into 1/8-inch slices starting from the outside of the pear and stopping at the core, then repeat on the other side.Arrange the pears overlapping on a platter. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt. Zest the lemon over the pears, using a microplane. Halve the lemon and squeeze juice over the dish.Using a vegetable peeler, shave long shards of parmigiano over the top of each plate. Finish with freshly ground pepper over top.