For this Formula One wanna-be, you'll need 2 cucumbers -- one for the car's body and one for the wheels. "For the body, try to find a cucumber with a nice star pattern on the front, which is very sporty looking," says Saxton Freymann, artist and coauthor of "Play with Your Food." And if you find a cucumber with a squiggly remnant of its stem, this makes an excellent exhaust pipe.

Ingredients

• 2 cucumbers
• Radish
• 2 black-eyed peas

• Toothpicks
• Knife

Instructions

1. Decide where you want the driver's seat on the cucumber body -- in the middle or slightly toward the back is best. Using a sharp knife (a parent's job), slice out a radish-size wedge that has a slightly slanted front (the dashboard) and a curved back. "Be conservative in cutting," warns Freymann. "You can always remove more cucumber later." If you like, test the fit of your radish at this point.

2. Slice 4 wheels from the second cucumber. Make them roughly the same diameter and about 1/2-inch thick. "It works best to slice these from the very center, or two from opposite ends, depending on the shape of the cucumber," Freymann says.

3. Using 4 toothpick axles, attach each wheel separately. "This is not a functional set of wheels," says Freymann. "The goal here is just to get them to stay put."

4. Pick a radish for your driver. The root end will be the nose and should poke into the air at a jaunty angle. Using a toothpick, create 2 holes and press in 2 small black-eyed peas for eyes. "You don't even have to bother with a mouth," says Freymann. Slice off the other end of the radish at a slight angle so that your driver sit comfortably in the seat. For added safety, attach your driver to the car with a toothpick. Now we suggest a race to a bowl of dip!

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