Mini filo dough cups (pre-packaged so super easy) with chopped up mushrooms sauteed in some reduced balsamic vinegar. Easy to make but look fantastic!

I like to make these non-sausage rolls. Very easy to make, because you don't shape them individually, but satisfying and delicious. I make white bean & roasted mushroom; chard and olive; butternut squash and goat cheese. They're vegetarian, which I find is always welcome.

These small galettes with pears, spinach, bleu cheese and rosemary are delicious as well!

Deviled eggs. They are cheap but everyone always loves them. You can add any sort of flavoring to make them special. For example, I am going to a tapas party this weekend so I will make them with paprika and garnished with pimento and olives.

I second the deviled eggs. Mmmm. Being that I'm Southern and love any excuse to candy anything, if you have some time in your hands you could make a big batch of candied nuts and put them in little wax paper rolls. Easy to carry in one hand and you can pour a few in your mouth at a time. Or a lot. We always make these for Christmas, but I'm running a guerilla campaign to make them a year-round food.

as always, mini tartlets and dice of savory cakes (zucchini + bacon / smoked salmon & peas) are great ! the simplest of things : dice of cheese lightly sprinkled with cumin or curry, and balls of goat cheese covered with nuts, seeds or chives. I know, pretty simple, but great-tasting.

our go-to apéritif snack is toasted baguette slices smeared with tapenade, anchoiade, tarama - crunchy/salty/savoury go well with slightly bitter cocktails (I love Campari, vermouth, spritz...). You can make the toasts at home and then just top them when you arrive.

also in the same south-of-France vein - pissaladière... basically a pizza-dough base topped with caramelized onions, anchovies, and black olives, cut into bite-sized squares. Easy to make ahead, but best if warmed up a bit in an oven, toaster oven, or even a skillet.

otherwise, crudités, grissini wrapped in ham, toothpick-skewers of mozzarella/tomato or raw ham/melon, bites of feta or other cheese wrapped up in phyllo/brick pastry, with or without pesto/chutney/preserves inside or as a dip? the only limitation is, what can you comfortably eat with one hand without getting unduly messy? ;) (the other consideration - what kind of cocktails will you be drinking? are we talking tiki drinks or martinis?)

if you're needing inspiration, the French apéritif and Italian aperitivo offer lots of inspiration for more creative approaches - verrines, little salads, mini sandwiches...

Bacon wrapped, cheese stuffed dates. Lots of cheeses are suitabe: manchego, clue, soft white spreadable laughing cow cheese, skewer the bacon around the dates with two toothpicks and then bake. Always big hit, and you can assemble beforehand and cook later. Or rewarm them after they've been baked.

These were a hit at a recent get together: horseradish spiked tomato poppers. Hollow out some cherry tomatoes with a small, sharp knife. Pipe in a bit of the following mixture: creme fraiche with prepared horseradish (up to a half and half ratio if you want them real zesty!). Top the stuffed tomatoes with some fresh chopped chives and course ground sea salt. These look really nice, they're easy, and they're bite sized. Other than the dab of creme fraiche, they're healthy! Perfect with cocktails. I actually served these as a little hors d'ourvre with some French rose, it was really nice.