Olive Penguins and Radish Mice

This week I’m injecting some whimsy into the cocktail hour with some beyond adorable olive penguins and radish mice. They’ll wow your guests and get everybody into the party spirit.

what you need for olive penguins

These ingenious little penguins are made with two sizes of black olive, some cream cheese, and a carrot.

• large black pitted olives
• medium black pitted olives
• brick style cream cheese
• carrot
• toothpicks

I guarantee these guys will be the hit of your next party. Don’t worry, they are easy to make, and they don’t have to be prefect. Their imperfections and variations just make them more adorable. You can have dapper ones, scruffy ones, portly ones, sly ones and clueless ones…you’ll love them all.

How to make Olive Penguins

1. Make a small divot in a carrot slice for the feet.
2. Make a small ball of cream cheese (use a melon ball scooper) and add two large olive halves on either side for the penguin wings.
3. Place onto the carrot slice.
4. Cut the leftover bit of carrot into half again, and put it inside the puckered hole of the medium olive to form the beak.
5. Put a long toothpick or cocktail skewer through the head and body and into the carrot feet to secure.

Like I said your only problem might be knowing when to stop. It’s quite a stress-buster to sit down with a glass of wine and make these. You can knock out a waddle (that’s what it’s called, I looked it up) of penguins in no time.

Radish mice

My friend Judith used to make these radish mice for our kids during the holidays, but you don’t need to be a kid to appreciate them. I like to let them roam around a cheese plate.

They are super easy to make, and you’ll get lots of oohs and aaahs in return for very little effort.

I could only find round radishes, so my mice look a little chubby. If you come across oval ones, your mice will look even more like mice. Either way they’re pretty darn cute. Both the penguins and the mice can be made earlier in the day and refrigerated until party time, just make sure they’re covered. But they don’t keep well overnight.

how to make radish mice 

1. Select a radish; it can be big or small, round or oval, but look for a nice long tail. Chop off the leafy end, this will be your mouse’s nose.
2. Cut a small slice off the bottom so your mouse will be stable. The exact place you make your cut will determine how you mouse is positioned, nose up, or nose down.
3. Cut small slits on each side of the head for the ears.
4. Insert small slices into the slits for the ears. You can take slices from another radish.

Cheers!

Olive Penguins

3.58 from 97 votes

Olive Penguins are easy appetizers that make everybody smile ~ made with black olives, cream cheese, and a carrot!

Print Recipe Rate Recipe

Prep Time:15 minutes minutes

Total Time:15 minutes minutes

Servings: 1

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

 

• 1 carrot slice
• 1 large olive, cut in half lengthwise
• 1 medium olive
• 1 tsp cream cheese
• 1 long toothpick or cocktail skewer

Instructions

• Cut a small divot from the carrot slice to form the “feet” base.
• Roll the cream cheese into a ball and insert between the halves of the large olive. The olive halves can touch at the back, and open out in the front to form the wings.
• Take the small carrot divot and cut in half again to form the beak.
• Insert the beak into the small hole in the medium olive.
• Run the toothpick through the head, down through the body, and into the carrot base.
• Lower the head to meet the body, and clean up the cream cheese. Adjust the penguin as necessary.

Notes

Refer to the step by step photos in the post above.

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Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: American

Author: Sue Moran

Keyword: appetizer

Nutrition

Calories: 32 kcal · Carbohydrates: 1 g · Protein: 0.4 g · Fat: 3 g · Saturated Fat: 1 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 1 g · Cholesterol: 5 mg · Sodium: 148 mg · Potassium: 34 mg · Fiber: 1 g · Sugar: 1 g · Vitamin A: 1477 IU · Vitamin C: 0.3 mg · Calcium: 12 mg · Iron: 0.1 mg

Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although The View from Great Island attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.

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