Everyone loves good cheese, so impress your guests at your next holiday party by building a unique cheese board with both sweet and salty components to please the palate.
The holiday season has officially begun! In my mind at least. It really dosen’t feel like the holidays until we get to the day of Thanksgiving and then set up the tree afterwards. For Thanksgiving this year, my husband and I (wee! feels good to say that) spent Thursday at his brother’s house, where my sister in law whipped up an amazing meal.
Their Thanksgiving was different than my family’s, but not by much. Turkey, stuffing, homemade cranberry relish, corn, roasted carrots, Texas Roadhouse rolls (amazing), and the rest. We stuffed ourselves silly and then had our choice of 4 different pies afterwards!
The next day, Nick and I went over to my parent’s house for Thanksgiving round two! My sister actually had to work at the hospital on Thursday, so we moved our whole family’s dinner until the next day so we could all be together. It worked out perfectly because we could be with Nick’s family Thursday and mine Friday.
Our spread was similar, except we had my favorites: fiesta corn salad (which I need to put on the blog asap), green bean casserole, and deviled eggs. I’m so thankful for two sides of great families who are welcoming and fun (and also godo cooks!)
Today’s post is not really a recipe, it’s more like inspiration. I created this cheese board with holiday get-togethers in mind– something you can bring to family gatherings, parties, potlucks etc and everyone will love you for it. Who doesn’t love cheese?
You want to choose 3-4 different cheeses. And I know it’s hard to choose just 3-4. If I had it my way I’d making an entire cheese board of probably ten different cheeses, because I love them all so much. Haven’t met a cheese I didn’t like. In fact, at my bridal shower, we played one of those get-to-know-the-bride games, and one of the questions was: “What’s the one thing the bride couldn’t live without?” I put my cell phone, but my best friend said “cheese”.
She’s right– I could never give up cheese!
Anyway, you want to choose 3-4 cheeses. Pick from several different categories too, meaning soft-ripened, semi-hard, semi-soft, surface-ripened and hard (aged) cheeses. Here’s a couple suggestions for each category:
Soft-ripened
Brie (double cream pictured here, triple cream is the best and creamiest!)
Camembert
Humbolt fog (pictured below)
Sheep and goat cheeses
Semi-hard
Cheddar
Baby swiss
Gruyere
Monterey Jack
Swiss
Semi-soft
Colby (pictured here)
Gorgonzola
Gouda (smoked gouda pictured here)
Havarti
Muenster
Provolone
Hard-aged
Asiago
Cotija
Parmesan
Manchego
The four cheese I chose for this board are: Humbolt fog, Colby, Double cream Brie, and Smoked Gouda. All four are some of my favorites! Especially brie. That stuff is amazing.
Which cheese would you choose for your board?
Snack component ideas
Dried fruit (apricots, raisins)
Fresh fruit (grapes, apple slices, melon)
Nuts and seeds (walnuts, almonds, sunflower or pumpkin seeds)
Gherkins (a must)
Thin crackers
Pretzels
Crusty pieces of French bread
Small bowl filled with honey (great for Blue cheeses)
Olives (green, black, kalamata)
Snack veggies (cherry tomatoes or radishes)
Breadsticks
Meats (prosciutto, salami, cold cuts)
What would you put on your dream cheese board?
Hi! I’m Emily, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and self-taught intuitive chef. I firmly believe that cooking is the simplest and most important step we can take to improve our minds and bodies and build healthier communities. Join me and let’s bring food back to the kitchen!
These are great tips! I always feel so overwhelmed when going to pick cheeses for an appetizer spread.
Thanks! Don’t be overwhelmed. You basically can’t go wrong with cheese anyway!!
Yum yum yum! I LOVE cheese too! My mom and I went wine tasting the day after Thanksgiving and then came home and made a cheese board to go with some of the wine we bought. I was so fun and relaxing. Love that you can use “husband” now, it never gets old! ;)
Oh man, wine and cheese YESSS! I could survive off those only haha!
Cheese boards are a must at a holiday party. Or any party for that matter! This is such a great guide! Congrats again on your wedding, btw!
Thanks! :)