Happy Friday! Today I’m sharing one of my favorite things I made during the holidays that can be repeated all year long for every occasion- simple charcuterie boards. A completed board looks amazing and like you put in a lot of work, but they are quite simple to prepare.
What I grew up calling a meat and cheese tray is now a charcuterie board. Charcuterie is french for cured meats, or the process of curing meats. The modern charcuterie board has expanded to include meats, cheeses, crackers, nuts, veggies and fruits. It’s a fancy snack tray and they are a whole lot of fun to make.
As you will see in a bit, you don’t have to limit yourself to meats and cheeses. You can make a platter of any type of food you want, to include a whole meal. Arranging foods on a platter is a fancy way to serve snacks or meals and will make your guests feel special. You can also add a little something extra to your own intimate celebrations.
I made charcuterie boards for Christmas Eve and the hubby and I grazed all day and all night. Our main board included a buffalo chicken dip, ham and pickle sandwiches, chex mix, an assortment of meats, cheeses, crackers, nuts and a few veggies.
It’s a good thing this tray had some healthy things on it. The next tray or platter is a cookie and candy tray. I baked a couple of different kinds of cookies, made a sugar cookie chex mix and bought some mini chocolate candies.
I became a little obsessed with charcuterie boards and with searching charcuterie board ideas leading up to Christmas. I even asked for and received this book – Beautiful Boards by Maegan Brown- for Christmas. I perused through many Kindle Unlimited books but none of them measure up to this one. Many of the books I found were just recipes for boards, but didn’t give specific instructions. If you are new to creating charcuterie boards, this book is for you. It takes all the guesswork out of it by giving you the exact size and shape board you need and the amount of food for each board. There are boards for every occasion, birthday parties and game days.
When you want to move to the next level, there is She a follow up book –Specatular Spreads– for filling a whole table or countertop.
The book inspired me to plate up our Christmas morning breakfast on a platter, making it a little more special too.
These food trays were so much fun to create. You may want to make your own for an upcoming Super Bowl party or for Valentine’s Day. The Beautiful Boards book has those covered too.
Some things you may want for creating charcuterie boards:
Trays, boards or platters- Boards with edges work better. Things tend to roll off flat cutting boards, but you can still use the flat boards.
Mini cups and dishes for dips, spreads, jams or to corral nuts and fruits.
Tongs or small forks, and spatulas
Your imagination! You can do anything you like with this concept.
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