Monday

Olive Penguins!

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Three Ingredients plus toothpicks and you're on your way to a fun appetizer.


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1. Olives







2.Cream Cheese



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3. Carrot



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PARTY!









Would you consider making these?
If you do make them, I'd love it if you would link to my post. 
I hope you like them. :)


* email: onceuponaplate [at] gmail [dot] com


NOTE:  I've received some requests for
directions on how to assemble these.

Actually, I just saw a photo of them on a Turkish internet site. 
There were no directions, so I just experimented,
here's how:



You'll need:

- Pitted Black Olives;  Jumbo for the bodies and medium size for the heads.

- 1 or 2 carrots, peeled and sliced as directed below.
- Toothpicks or cocktail picks long enough to skewer through entire penguin (head, body,
and carrot "feet".
- Cream cheese, room temperature, plain or flavored as desired (see below).
- A small sharp knife
- A small butter or canape knife (blunt, rounded blade.)
- Damp paper towels or kitchen towel for wiping fingers and tidying cream cheese from
olive "bodies" after filling and assembling.
- Platter, tray, mirror or plate for serving

Directions:


Slit jumbo olive lengthwise and fill with cream cheese (this is the body, the cream cheese is the "tuxedo shirt".
I used plain (room temperature) cream cheese and filled the 'tummy' using a small butter or canape knife (cheese spreader knife.)  

You can use flavored cheese (or cream cheese mixed with a little dry-ranch dressing mix, etc.)  Gently wipe "body" with damp cloth or paper towel to tidy any cream cheese smears. Use the medium size olive for the head (point the hole where the pit was removed to the back of the penguin body.)


Peel and slice a carrot into thin rounds for the "feet", cut a small pie-shaped
wedge from each carrot slice (reserving the "pie" shaped triangular piece
for the penguins "beak".)

Insert a toothpick through head, the body and into the carrot "feet" base.
Insert reserved triangular piece of carrot into the small "x" shaped hole
at end of medium-size olive for "beak". 
Arrange on serving platter;  if not serving immediately, cover
gently with cling-film and refrigerate until serving time.




                                          Have fun!













89 comments:

  1. *laughs*
    That is adorable, whre did you come up with this idea??

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  2. Mari, what an adorable idea... they look "do-able" to even a novice like me ... not too labor intensive.

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  3. Those are absolutely adorable! They would be wonderful for a wedding party!

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  4. What a cute, cute idea! We have an office appetizer carry-in Thursday and these guys are definitely going! I really enjoy your blog...great food and ideas. Thanks!

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  5. I have to make these Happy Feet for Lulu~

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  6. I don't think there will be a reader out there who doesn't copy this idea! They are just too cute and adorable, thank you for sharing them Mari!

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  7. Those little guys are incredibly adorable!

    I can't wait to steal your idea :)

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  8. These are TOOO cute. How fun!

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  9. oh my gosh these are so cute! i'll defenitely make these! Did you pipe the cream cheese into the olive?

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  10. I can't wait to try them..adorable and so creative, Mari!

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  11. I LOVE fun food! Great idea...if I ever make them...I will credit you for sure! thanks!

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  12. LOL, those are awesome, Mari! Can food be adorable? Love those!

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  13. I love these! They are the coolest thing I have seen since olive and radish eyeballs for Halloween! I will make these, hopefully soon.

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  14. Those are amazing. I will definitely be making them sometime soon.

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  15. very cute, of course when you shared at wfd i thought you used marshmallow! you know, to cut wills sugar in half!

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  16. wow - these are too cute!!
    how do you get the cream cheese in?

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  17. ROFL! Those are about the cutest little things I have ever seen!
    Oh my...you are so creative!
    Reminds me of the marshmallow snowmen cupcakes I made once upon a time...but these are much more sturdy!
    These really made me smile this morning!
    Thanks Mary!
    L xoxo

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  18. OMG, those are tooo cute for words.

    ...and I can just picture my little grandchildren playing with these guys before they eat them.

    'O-love 'em! :)

    ~mjny

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  19. These are the most darling things I've seen in a while! Yes, I would consider making them at my next party. If I do, I will send you a photo.

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  20. My sister loves penguins. I am for sure making these for her! Too cute!

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  21. I love these! Great job! I will be making these at my next party and I'll send you a link!

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  22. I don't think these could be any cuter. Did you use two different sized olives or is the top one turned on its side? Please help! :)

    Hillary
    Chew on That

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  23. These are so cute! My friend Paige loves anything penguin: I'm send this site to her :)

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  24. What a GREAT response! :)

    Thank you so much for the sweet words!

    Actually, I just saw a photo of them on a Turkish internet site! There were no directions, so I just experimented.

    But one of my sweet internet friends actually found a couple of sites with directions on how to assemble them.

    Who knew?!

    There are a couple of variations of how to make them; I just used plain (room temperature) cream cheese and filled the 'tummy' using a small cheese spreader knife.

    Pitted olives; Jumbo for the body and medium size for the head. There are some links below for further directions an variations.


    A big thank you to Cynthia for finding these sites!

    http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Perky-Olive-Penguins

    http://www.recipezaar.com/Perky-Olive-Penguins-40463

    http://papercapers.blogspot.com/2007/12/olive-penguin-tutorial.html

    I had NO idea stuffed penguin-olives have been so popular.

    Thank you again Cynthia!

    And thank you everyone for your great response. :) If you make them for your friends and loved ones, I'm sure their reactions will be the same!

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  25. How cute are those?!? Very creative.

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  26. That is too cute! and yummy!

    cielo

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  27. Those are too cute for words!!!! My daughter would LOVE them!

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  28. Those are so cute and festive! Found you via twitter.

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  29. Oh man - these are the cutest things I've seen in a while!

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  30. C.U.T.E. These deserve to be in caps. Mari, makes me wish I were throwing a party this Christmas, sadly it's not my turn, but I won't forget these clever little guys.

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  31. These are TOO adorable. At first, I thought they were dark, dark chocolate...my family would get a kick out of this...but after my mini-debacle with the chocolate mice (I gave them unibrows instead of cute, little eyes), I am shaking in my house slippers. I don't think I can insert the cream cheese without macerating the olive, but I shall try. :-)
    I adore your blog.

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  32. I made them and they were a big hit at the Christmas party. Come take a peek.

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  33. I made them and they were a big hit at the Christmas party. Come take a peek.

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  34. I.LOVE.THESE! Brilliant! We love love love black olives at my house, so I guarantee I will be making these soon. Thanks for sharing such a wonderful idea!

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  35. These are the cutest things I've ever seen. Not sure if I'd be able to eat one they are that cute.

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  36. Very cute!!! Too cute to eat!!! These are so adorable.

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  37. These are so freaking cute, I might just die. I love them!!

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  38. *Dead of the cute...* :)

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  39. Oh my, I made these penguins for the 2007/2008 New Years Eve party. My photography skills weren't anything special then, and the presentation wasn't as perfect as yours. Here is a link to the photo (wasn't a blogger back then).

    www.fotki.com/reznyu2/our-photos/2008/new-years-2008/img3563.html

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  40. OMG! i am a sixth grader and i bet i could make it by myself! in fact... off to the kitchen i go!

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  41. OMG how cute. Where have these been all my life? To think of all the parties I went to without bringing these little party animals with me. You're amazing Maria.

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  42. I made something similar for my daughter's birthday party back in June. She was having a penguin party and two of her favorite foods are black olives and mozzarella, so I stuffed them with mozzarella pearls. She loved them and the guests did too!

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  43. these are so cute! i will definitely be trying them for a catering i am doing for a christening... not sure if i'll have the time to photograph them, but if i do, i will make sure to send them your way!!!

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  44. Mari- The pictures are amazing! Thank you so much for allowing me to use the images- http://thesoireecafe.com/2010/01/09/playful-penguin-baby-shower/

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  45. I love these little guys but I wasn't crazy about the toothpick sticking out of their heads.

    I decided to give them party hats to disguise the skewers.

    See photos and instructions on how I did it over on instructables.

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  46. Your blog is really really great and also this cute pinguins!

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  47. That's the best thing I've ever seen.

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  48. These are adorable! I wish I had known about them a few years ago, my nephew's 3rd bday was penguin themed. He would have loved these.

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  49. These are freakin awesome! Cute as heck!

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  50. AWESOME!!!! Gonna make some soon for the bento boxes of my children! They love olives so... this wold be great for them to find at lunch!!!!! thanx for sharing

    miranda

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  51. AWESOME!!!! Gonna make some soon for the bento boxes of my children! They love olives so... this wold be great for them to find at lunch!!!!! thanx for sharing

    miranda

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  52. hey, something happened to the photos which is a great shame

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  53. Oh my goodness!!! My most favorite thing in the world!!! Black olives and cream cheese!! And the fact that they are adorable just adds to the pleasure. Awesome! I love it!!

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  54. Aren't you the smart one! I've got to do this at our next party. I'm always looking for simple, cute things. Thank you so much for sharing!

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  55. if those are not about the cutest appetizer ever, i just don't know!! i'm a fabric crafter more than foodie, but have to try those with my little girlie girls and boyly boys (grandchildren) later this month. go to my website: http://fligamapoof.blogspot.com/ to see some fabric owlies that could be easily adapted to be penguins. thanks for sharing and have a great day

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  56. Too adorable, I'm doing these with my little ones and of course I'll link you back from my blog. Your recipes are AMAZING, I saw this post in pizzazzerie.com and I've been browsing through your site. Congratulations, you have a great talent.

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  57. This is absolutely the cutest FOOD I have ever seen!

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  58. adorable!!!!! i reblogged here http://1129designorecchinigioielli.blogspot.com/2011/10/i-pinguini-oliva-e-orecchini-abbinati.html and plan ti make them as chrsitmas appetizers, thank you!!! best nicoletta

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  59. Thank you so much for your comments ~ I'm glad you like them, and if you make them I hope you LOVE them!

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  60. Saw these on Pinterest and had to stop by! These are beautiful!! How creative!

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  61. I will be making these for my DAR meeting next week. If the ladies don't love these, I will be surprised and disappointed!!

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  62. I made them using the big black grapes since my kids aren't big olive fans. Added a tiny bit of powdered sugar to the cream cheese to make them a dessert.

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  63. I made these on Thanksgiving and also for my work holiday party. Both times they were a huge hit! People can't believe how perfect they look and how easy they really are! To jazz up a few up, I cut roasted peppers in thin long pieces and put them around their necks as scarves. :)

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  64. Hi, I'm Taced.... thank you for sharing this idea. I linked it on my post here:
    http://milleideeperunafesta.blogspot.com/2012/01/animali-pinguini-per-antipasto.html
    Hugs, Taced

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  65. You are GENIUS! So simple, so intelligent, so funny.. Thank you for sharing!

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  66. Just came across these on Pinterst. Cant wait to try them. I love olives.

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  67. Hey Mari..... Those penguins are adorable.... Pretty and creative site...... Really enjoyable.

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  68. I loved your olive penguin idea, that I built a whole lunch around it! Here's a picture..
    http://einess.com/lunch/Lunch/2012.html#25
    Thanks for the great idea!

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  69. Brilliant! More so since there's no complex artistry involved. Can't wait to try out the idea.

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  70. This are adorable!!! If I ever get around to making them then I will certainly link you or email the pics :)

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  71. Saw these cutest hors d'oeuvres ever on pinterest!! Glad I found your blog -- love it!

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  72. This is genius! And yes, I'd love to make them too:)

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  73. Thanks for sharing this super fun appetizer. I made these several times over the holidays, much to the delight of everyone who saw (and ate) them. I'm sharing and linking to your idea here:

    http://everneveragain.blogspot.com/2012/12/happy-tizers.html

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  74. Have to try these for my daughter's art gallery opening at school tomorrow. I'm going to add some dry ranch dressing to the cream cheese for flavor. How perfect are these guys in their spiffy black and white for an art gallery? Thanks for the additional links. The blog had a tutorial that was particularly helpful, although I could do it without one, it was still nice to see exactly what she did.

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  75. These are so fun!
    My Mom loves penguins and I showed her theses.
    We are making them for a dinner party tomorrow. LOL

    Thanks!

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  76. The penguins are the cutest ever. They look like a little army. I actually made these a while ago and they were a hit. The recipe was on AllRecipes.com. My son is a Penguin fanatic. They were so cute he really didn't want to eat them.

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Thank you for your comments, friends ~ they make my day!

A Sampling of my food . . .

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