A satisfying and festive spread of appetizers and hors d'oeuvres is essential to any holiday open house, cocktail party, or family get-together. This collection of hot appetizer recipes has something for everyone, from the traditional to the adventurous.

The cheesy, lemon-kissed artichoke mixture in these pastry pockets is inspired by a holiday classic, hot artichoke dip. Serve it with Rosemary Vodka Tonics.

Simmer dried figs in spiced red-wine vinegar to make them plump and tangy, then wrap in pancetta and bake. Serve them with Campari, Gin, and Orange cocktails -- a twist on the negroni.

A favorite pub snack goes upscale when you coat bocconcini (bite-size fresh mozzarella balls) in panko breadcrumbs. Accompany them with a dish of warm tomato sauce for dipping.

Top these mini pizzas with olives, artichoke hearts, mozzarella, and red-pepper flakes. You can use store-bought or homemade dough to make this crowd-pleasing appetizer.

This recipe couldn’t be easier: Simply wrap strips of bacon around baby potatoes and bake until the spuds are tender. Serve them with mustard or Lemon Aioli if you like.

While these look like meatballs, they’re really bite-size biscuits generously studded with sausage and cheddar cheese. Serve them with your choice of dipping sauces, such as mustard or barbecue sauce.

To make this easy appetizer, marinated goat cheese or feta is baked until soft and golden brown, and then drizzled with olive oil and garnished with thyme sprigs and pink peppercorns. Serve the warm cheese with crackers, sliced baguette, or red bell pepper strips or blanched broccoli for dipping.

Thin slices of bacon enclose perfect little packages of dates stuffed with pistachios and dried apricots. These crowd-pleasing party appetizers can be assembled and frozen up to one month before baking and serving.

Mozzarella and cream cheese make this hot spinach dip extra-rich. To save time, you may use frozen spinach in place of fresh. This appetizer can be made up to three days ahead of time and baked shortly before you are ready to serve it.

This easy holiday appetizer begins with a wheel of Brie or Camembert, baked until soft. A combination of maple syrup and toasted pecans makes a sweet and crunchy topping.

This elegant appetizer begins with small red potatoes, which are boiled until tender and then scooped out with a melon baller. The scooped-out portion is mashed with milk and butter, piped back into the potato skins, and baked until golden. Just before serving, top the warm potatoes with caviar and chives.

Everyone's favorite hot artichoke dip gets a healthy makeover, using modest amounts of light mayonnaise and Parmesan cheese. Serve this party appetizer with fresh vegetables and whole-wheat pita chips.

Goat cheese seasoned with garlic, parsley, and red-pepper flakes is stuffed into button mushroom caps, topped with fresh breadcrumbs, and baked until lightly browned. This easy appetizer recipe can be customized to your liking, adding bacon, shallots, chopped olives, or toasted nuts.

Egg-rich choux pastry gets a savory punch from cayenne pepper, lemon zest, scallions, and parsley. Once the dough is piped into rounds, it can be frozen for up to one month before baking.

Chopped scallions and a piece of smoked bacon dress up clams on the half shell. To keep the clams tender, broil just until the bacon is browned. Serve these easy appetizers with sliced baguettes for soaking up the juices.

These bite-size potato, onion, and dill pancakes are baked, not fried. Top each pancake with a small slice of gravlax and a dab of sour cream just before serving.

Often called arancini, these breadcrumb-coated fried rice balls are a popular Italian appetizer. Here, juicy little pomegranate seeds offset the richness of the risotto's Parmesan and fontina cheeses.

Black Forest ham and Gruyere cheese flavor the choux pastry dough, which is piped through a star tip into decorative rounds before baking. The centers of these savory appetizers are filled with squares of melted Gruyere. Be sure to serve these warm from the oven.

Manchego cheese sauce mixed with chopped serrano ham is cooled so that it can be formed into balls. The mixture is dipped in beaten egg and breadcrumbs and fried until golden, creating tapas appetizers that are warm and creamy on the inside and crisp on the outside.

Goat cheese and nonfat buttermilk make a light, tangy fondue. A combination of herbs -- fresh chives, thyme, tarragon, and parsley -- add color and flavor. If you do not own a fondue pot, a small slow cooker is an excellent way to keep this appetizer warm throughout the party.

Sliced polenta layers are sandwiched with a rich filling of shiitake mushrooms, cream, and Port, then cut into elegant diamond shapes. Heat these appetizers in the oven just before serving, and garnish with slivers of roasted red bell pepper and a dab of mascarpone cheese.