Easy Olive & Cheese Tree Appetizer

This was a really easy appetizer that looked quite festive for our holiday nibbling. I was looking for something that I could do without having one of those “Pinterest fails” and found the basics for the tree on BettyCrocker.com.

Our family likes all kinds of olives so I purchased large bottles of Kalamata olives, large green olives stuffed with pimento (for the red color) and large green olives stuffed with blue cheese. And to keep from having to cut cheese to the correct thickness I decided on pre-cut square slices of cheddar.

Also needed were plastic wrap, toothpicks (I loved the fancy ones but only had a few on hand!) and a 9″ tall cone-shaped green or white floral foam piece for the tree base.

Cut your toothpicks in half if you want tiny sticks to pull the olives off the tree. We broke our toothpicks in half and many of them were ragged, splintered, and hard to get a grip on. Next time I will leave the toothpicks whole.

Cut your cheese pieces into desired shapes. You could use small 1″ canape cutters to cut out the shapes. We cut our star freehand. The remainder of the cheese we just cut into small squares.

Drain the olives. Cover the foam tree base with plastic wrap, then start sticking the olives onto the tree base with the toothpicks. We found that a spiral shape worked best as we worked our olives in and around all the way up from bottom to top. Then fill in the gaps with more olives and cheese slices. (You could also use sun-dried tomatoes or sprigs of herbs as gap fillers.) Top the tree with your star. Cover the finished olive and cheese tree with plastic wrap so that it does not dry out, then refrigerate until you are ready to serve.

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Easy Olive & Cheese Tree Appetizer Recipe

Ingredients

• 10 oz Whole Kalamata Olives, pitted
• 10 oz Blue Cheese Stuffed Green Olives, large
• 10 oz Spanish Colossal Queen Olives Stuffed with Pimento
• 7 oz Sharp Cheddar Cheese Cracker Cuts
• 1 9" Green Foam Floral Cone
• 1 box Toothpicks
• Plastic Wrap as needed

Instructions

1. Cover the foam cone with plastic wrap. Drain the olives.

   Cut your toothpicks in half if you want tiny sticks to pull the olives off the tree, or leave the toothpicks whole if desired. Push toothpicks through olives. 

2. Cut your cheese pieces into desired shapes with small 1" canape cutters or cut freehand. Make a star for the top of your tree. Cover with plastic wrap until ready to use. 

3. Attach the olives onto the foam cone with the toothpicks in a spiral design, starting from the bottom of the tree and working your way up to the top. Fill in the gaps with more olives and cheese slices using more toothpicks. Place the star on the top. 
   

4. Cover the finished olive and cheese tree with plastic wrap to keep it from drying out. Refrigerate until serving.