Cream Cheese Penguins

With the Ladies Cookie Exchange last Monday night Anthony and Nick came to my rescue and came up with the absolutely cutest Cream Cheese Penguin appetizer in the world. They were made with black olives, carrots and cream cheese! They added scarves by using canned red pepper strips. We froze water in the bottom of the serving tray. The little penguins stuck to the ice and then I added crushed ice around them for the Arctic effect. They traveled perfectly and were a huge hit!

Cream Cheese Penguins

18 jumbo black olives, pitted
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
18 small black olives
1 carrot

1 can red peppers cut into strips

Cut a slit from top to bottom, lengthwise, into the side of each jumbo olive. Carefully insert about 1 teaspoon of cream cheese into each olive. Slice the carrot into eighteen 1/4 inch thick rounds; cut a small notch out of each carrot slice to form feet. Save the cut out piece and press into center of small olive to form the beak. If necessary cut a small slit into each olive before inserting the beak.

Set a big olive, large hole side down, onto a carrot slice. Then, set a small olive onto the large olive, adjusting so that the beak, cream cheese chest and notch in the carrot slice line up. Secure with a toothpick and add scarf around the neck.