There’s nothing better than bringing joy to your children’s faces with a nice surprise — and you can do that easily with the following ideas for a party buffet. With these four creations, you can turn every child’s birthday into an unforgettable experience for your little one.
1. Cucumber Crocodile
You’ll need:
- 1 packet toothpicks
- 3 cucumbers (1 large, 2 small)
- 1 carrot
- green grapes
- 2 dried cloves (optional)
- 1 packet mini salami
- 1 jar cocktail wieners
- 1 piece mild hard cheese
- 1 packet cocktail tomatoes
Here’s how:
First, take both the small cucumbers, and cut one end off both of them, then cut them in half lengthways. These four pieces will later act as the legs of your crocodile.
The large cucumber will form the crocodile’s body. Cut off the tip at one end, this time making a straight cut. Then, cut an incision into the end of the cucumber, about 4 inches deep and in the shape of an acute-angled triangle, in order to create the crocodile’s mouth. This should not be exactly in the middle, but in the lower third of the cucumber. Now cut equal-sized zigzags in the upper and lower “jaws” to give the crocodile some teeth.
Make sure the crocodile’s legs are in place and place a strip of carrot cut in the shape of a tongue in the reptile’s mouth. Use grapes for eyes and fix them in place on the upper side of the body with toothpicks. As a final touch, you can add cloves to the grapes as pupils for the eyes.
At this point, your creativity knows no bounds: take grapes, salami, sliced cocktail wieners, cubes of cheese, and tomatoes and spear one or two of the ingredients on each toothpick. Arrange the colorful little skewers in five rows along the sides and on top of the crocodile’s body, so that by the end, the tasty reptile is studded with bright “spines.” You’ll have no problem eating this crocodile.
2. Cheese Mice
You’ll need:
- 1 bundle radishes
- 1 black olive
- 1 large piece Swiss cheese
Here’s how:
First, trim the upper end of the radishes (where the leaves are), leaving a little green showing. These will form the noses of your mice. The roots will make the tails. Later, your little root vegetable mice will be stuck in holes in the cheese.
Using some radishes that won’t end up as mice in the cheese, cut little slices from the surface all over the globe of the radish. These will form the ears — you will need to make two slits for them in the mice radishes in the right places.
Now, cut an olive into pieces as small as possible and place two of them as eyes between the nose and ears on each mouse. Now your little creatures are ready to take their place in the cheese!
3. Bread Roll Turtles
You’ll need (for 3 turtles):
- 3 bread rolls
- 15 breakfast sausages
- 1 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 black olive
Here’s how:
Use a small, sharp knife to make five holes in every bread roll. They need to be large enough in diameter so that the sausages will fit inside. To position the turtle’s head correctly, make one of the holes a little higher than the others.
Then stick the sausages in the holes in the bread. To create the turtles’ mouths, cut a little triangle out of each head sausage. Finally, put two dabs of mayonnaise above the mouth for eyes, and place two tiny pieces of olive on top of them for the pupils.
4. Melon Shark
You’ll need:
- 4 toothpicks
- 1 large watermelon, as round as possible
- 1 cantaloupe or honeydew melon
- 1 red grape
- fruit of your choice
Here’s how:
Use a bread knife to cut off the upper end of the melon at an angle. Then hollow it out completely with a spoon.
Next, stand it on a wooden board, with the hole underneath. Now take the knife in hand and make a horizontal cut about 2 inches above the board. This should cut about halfway through the fruit. Stop there, and make another cut from above, in the center. Cut down until you reach the ends of the first cut, and can easily remove the large segment of watermelon husk. Check the video again if you’re having trouble picturing it.
With a small knife, create a border around the hole that is left behind: you want to cut away a strip of watermelon skin a little under an inch wide, all the way round the hole. This is the first step in sculpting the shark’s maw. Make sure you only cut a little way into the skin. Then run the knife under the skin around the edge of the hole, so you can remove it from the rest of the melon.
Next, create the teeth. To do this, first make a slanted cut in both corners of the jaw and then cut zigzag shapes all the way round to create your shark’s mouth.
For the dorsal fin, you’ll need a large triangular piece of melon from the segment that you removed earlier. Fix it in place on the back of the melon with the help of two toothpicks. Use the two others to hold the eyes in place. You make these from two round pieces of a different type of melon that you have chosen, with half a grape set on top of each one.
To finish, prepare a fruit salad with the rest of the melon and a mix of fruit of your choice. Then fill your shark’s mouth with it. Suddenly sharks don’t seem so threatening anymore, right?
At the sight of this animalistic masterwork, your little rascals will be seriously impressed! This really is the perfect buffet for a special day.