Entertaining is one of my favorite things to do. I love having friends and family over for a glass of wine, light appetizers, dinner or all of the above. I love accommodating our guests and have been told I’m not too bad at it. So, I’d like to share some tips I’ve learned over the past few years of having my own place and actually being able to throw adult gatherings.
Last weekend we had a lovely brunch date with our friends and then we headed to the house for more winin’ and dinin’. What they didn’t see coming, was the spread of cheese, meat and crackers I had to accompany the wine we were enjoying at home. I think we can all agree cheese and wine are always welcomed, but when you have a variety of cold cut meats to accompany the cheese, well that’s just a whole other story.
To be honest, I haven’t always been comfortable with putting together an elaborate cheese board. My parents, or any of my distant relatives for that matter, never took the time to offer appetizers at a party. We would just dig right in to whatever was served for dinner. With time, however, I started offering my own variations of appetizers and cheese boards. I learned that it actually takes minimal effort to put together a cheese board and it looks (and tastes) a lot better than potato chips or nachos with cheese.
With that being said, I’d like to share the simplest way to put together a charcuterie & cheese board. If you’re not sure how to say charcuterie, no problem, just say cheese board. Charcuterie actually refers to the meat aspect of the board, and if you want to get technical, the meat usually consists of cold cut meats, sausage or even bacon. Anyway, we’re not here to be pretentious and talk about what the heck the word means, we’re here to talk about what goes into this board!
What you’ll need:
A nice big cheese board. This is where you’ll place everything, so make sure it’s pretty big.
Cheese knives. These are usually sold in a set of three or four and each one works well with a specific type of cheese. You can look up the functions or just use them with whatever cheese you buy. Plus, they look pretty.
A couple of small glass containers. This is where you’ll place smaller pairings like berries, jam, or nuts.
CHEESE. Get a couple of cheeses that are different. I like to go with a cheddar (mild or sharp) and a white (gouda, pepper jack, or mozzarella).
Crackers. Water crackers work best, in my opinion.
Cold cuts. Some stores sell a variety of them in one container, ready to go, or you might have to buy each one separately. I’d go with salami, prosciutto, and dry-cured chorizo.
Nuts. Almonds are my go-to, they are delicious and elegant.
Jam or berries. If you have berries at home, great! If not, opt for some berry jam, which works great as a spread on the crackers!
Wine. Obviously optional, but if you do get wine, try to go with a red and a white. We found the most crisp and delicious Chardonnay at Trader Joe’s that day (pictured)!
This is probably the simplest way to make a charcuterie board. It took me one trip to Trader Joes and about $35 (including two bottles of wine) to achieve. If you don’t have a Trader Joes nearby or don’t care to go there (what is wrong with you?!), you can find similar things at Whole Foods, Tom Thumb, or Kroger.
All of the ingredients pictured are from Trader Joe’s, except for the jam, which I already had at home.
Let me know if you try this at home!
Thank you so much for stopping by.
Love,
Cynthia
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