Owl Meat & Cheese Tray

More About This Recipe

• I am all over the owl trend. (I’ve been semi-obsessed with owls for a while, ever since a friend gave me a copy of Wesley the Owl – a book that made me laugh and weep and be utterly amazed.) So, owl-o-phile that I am, I was thrilled to see all the adorable owl appetizer plates on the interweb (like this cute little guy). For my owl meat & cheese trays I used Provolone, Colby-Jack, and Cheddar cheeses; and for the meats, ham and salami. Really, you can use any meat and cheese, and layer as you wish. The results will be just as adorable, because of course, it’s all about the googly owl-eyes! The owls are super easy to assemble. For implements, you’ll need round cookie cutters (1 ½-inch, 2-inch and 3-inch), a smallish heart-shaped cutter (about 2-inch, or a teardrop if you have it), and a knife. The owls are made of a total of roughly 8 deli-standard slices of cheese, or cheese plus meat, for each owl, plus two black olives (for the pupils). You can use whatever you like or have on hand, ideal slices that are about 1/8 of an inch thick - the paper thin stuff is too difficult to handle. Here’s the breakout of what I used: Body: 3 square slices of cheese (about 3 1/2-inch square, a standard packaged slice), with a slight curve cut out of one side of each Feet: 1 2-inch cheese heart, cut in half (or two teardrops, if you have a teardrop cutter) Wings: 1 large round slice of cheese, or one of your square slices cut with a cookie cutter, cut in half Feathers: Cheese - 6 cheese full circles and 9 half circles, cut with 1 1/2-inch round cookie cutter Meat: 4 full circles and 8 half circles, cut with 1 1/2-inch round cookie cutter Eyes: 2 3-inch cheese circles Beak: 1 small triangle, cut from the scraps Serve with crackers, or even better, warm crescent biscuits and condiments to make tiny sandwiches!
• These owl recipes are such a hoot, you'll definintely want to serve them at your next party!