This title is so misleading, y’all. I never make a perfect anything. We are all about just good enough over here. But doesn’t How To Make A Perfect Cheese Board sound like a nice idea?
I love making cheese boards so much. I venture to guess that I make a cheese board 2 to 3 times a week – sometimes more. No lie. Sometimes I make a cheese board with the intention of keeping the kids out of my hair for 15 minutes while I prep a “real” dinner but then, honestly, I just end of cutting more apples and cheese and salami and the cheese board becomes “real dinner.” Nothing wrong with that – fruit, cheese, meat, veggies – totally balanced.
Cheese Boards Are Awesome. End of Story.
I love a cheese board for the same reason I love making a stir fry or fried rice – no rules. Put out whatever you’ve got in your fridge. Cheese is a staple in this house. You know we love Cabot. I could never, ever be vegan for very long. Cheese lasts forever in your fridge so I like to grab cheese when I see something different or on sale. We are also huge fans of Olli salamis over here and those are great to have in your deli drawer, as well.
In my crisper, if I’ve got baby carrots or cherry tomatoes or celery, those get chopped up.
Don’t Forget The Fruit
From September through March, I always have local apples in my fridge, so apples are ALWAYS on my cheese board. And I am always cutting more and more apples because those apple slices are the first to go.
If you’ve got some local honey, drizzle some over the apples or just let your kids (or friends) stack the apple slices with cheese and salami.
Other Cheese Board Additions
Olives and pickled veggies from the olive bar are a fun treat. I love getting whole, crunchy cloves of garlic from the olive bar. No vampires here.
This past week I saw some beautiful stuffed grape leaves – grape leaves stuffed with rice and herbs, serve chilled. YUM. It definitely added a different dimension to our cheese plate. If you’ve got hummus, you could really give your cheese board a Greek twist with olives, grape leaves, and hummus.
When I made a cheese board this past weekend, it definitely turned into “real dinner.” We had spent the morning exploring at the annual Festival In the Park here in Charlotte and I found a beautiful hand-carved cutting board that looked very similar to my new John Boos kitchen island. I had to have it. And then I had to use it, of course, and take pictures.
I figured this beautiful new cutting board would be perfect to showcase my cheese board adventures.
My kids are pretty good about asking me if I’ve taken a photo of something before they dive into it … but sometimes, it’s just too delicious to wait.
So … the next time you’re not sure what to make for dinner or you need a substantial snack, make a beautiful cheese board.
Since when do you say y’all?!
Ha!!! It just fit better in the intro. My kids KILL me if they catch me saying y’all in the house.