Good morning oldbat2be! Thank you for asking about our party, it went swimmingly and the weather cooperated to the extent that we had people sitting on the screened porch and the decks and back patio.
The food was a rousing success! The final menu was:

Marinated flank steak wrapped around lightly steamed asparagus and roasted red pepper with (optional) horseradish cream

Smoked salmon with cream cheese and dill on roasted rye rounds

Ham and small biscuits with a choice of mustards, savory mayonnaises and walnut cranberry chutney (that last I bought on a whim when picking up the ham and had to restrain myself from eating it all with a spoon, it was SO GOOD)

Caprese skewers of marinated mozzarella balls and cherry tomatoes

Antipasto platter (huge hit, to my surprise)

Roasted red pepper hummus and pita chips

Fresh fruit (no chocolate glaze)

Baked Brie en croute with fruit / table water crackers with this

Cheese ball covered with overlapping layers of spiced pecans to look like a pinecone / veg crackers with this

We went through seven bottles of champagne, four of Viognier and three of my favorite red blend. And a half bottle of claret!

I ended up not making a single thing! The caterer made everything except the ham, which I got from Honey Baked Ham (half ham, about 6 lbs). Because of our performance week rehearsal schedule I did not make DH's favorite bacon wrapped dates but would be happy to share that recipe:

Pitted dates
Toasted pecan halves (insert one into each date)
Bacon slices (wrap around and secure with toothpick)

You can make these two ways, by using raw bacon and cooking them in the oven until bacon is crisp, or by using the ready cooked bacon and zapping them to get crisp just before serving. Ive used both methods depending on how rushed I was. It takes a bit of trial and error for microwave times depending upon the number of canapés you have on the cooking dish and the strength of your microwave oven. I usually do about 12 at a time and start with 45 or 50 seconds, then add time from there. Some recipes for this call for stuffing the date with cream cheese or goat cheese but that can get very messy and I like the crunch of the pecan better. To cook in the oven, 10 or 15 min at 400 degrees, or until bacon is crisp (keep an eye on them). Whatever you do don't use the broiler as it will char the toothpicks! Regardless of method, space them out on the cooking sheet as they will stick together if they're too close.

As for the cheese ball, I do not have the caterer's recipe, but I know it has cream cheese and cheddar cheese, and it has lots of minced Vidalia onion and red and green and yellow peppers and other shredded veg like carrots and other stuff. I have never made a cheese ball but this one is a bit lighter because it is not just cheese. I don't know if that would help you google for a recipe? By this time I think most every recipe (or a reasonable facsimile) inthe world is google-able :-). This concoction was not an actual ball as it was flat lying on the serving dish, but it was a pinecone-y oval shape and had toasted pecan halves pressed into the mounded surface, and several long sprigs of rosemary stuck Into the top like a spray of pine, very pretty on a platter!

Exactly one week later we had a holiday dinner party for ten guests, a sit down dinner catered by the same company. I made the dessert, a cranberry trifle that was really, really good! And now I have a few weeks off until the next Big Meal.

I hope your holiday is wonderful and you share it with good friends and loved ones, Oldbat!