It’s that time of year again! The holidays are a comin’ which means lots of gatherings with friends and family. Impress your guests with this charcuterie board that will feed a crowd and even please the kiddos. My favorite part of “assembly” appetizers like this…it’s the easiest clean up! Who doesn’t love a one plate clean up.
OK – so let’s get right to it. To watch the full video tutorial click the button below.
Who’s coming over to eat this with me?!?! I seriously need like 10+ volunteers. Anyone? I’ve got the food, you bring the wine 
My #1 trick to building a cheese board (or any platter really)…don’t leave ANY empty space. Just scroll up and look at the first two pictures. Do you see any space between foods? If I didn’t fill in those gaps you would see all the odd shapes of the meat and cheese and it makes the presentation awkward.
To see more about this trick pop over to my first cheese board tutorial HERE.
For this fall cheese board tutorial, let’s chat about using acorn squash as a “serving bowl”. It’s shared in the video but here is a quick breakdown of the two ways I use the squash.
Using a sharp knife, cut the bottom of the squash so it sits flat.
With a small paring knife, at a 45 degree angle, cut all the way around the top of the squash.
Remove all seeds from the top and insides.
Trim down the top of the squash and put it into the bottom to help plug the hole and keep any food from running out onto the rest of your board.
Using cling wrap, press it down into the squash over the top and around the sides. This will help keep all the food inside the squash.
If you’re adding food that’s been marinated in oil olive, I recommend using a small bowl over top of the cling wrap as pictured below.
Ok now back to the fun stuff! What did I put include in this board? What was my shopping list? Well…surprise, surprise it was all from Trader Joe’s!
Fall Inspired Charcuterie Board
Ingredients
CHEESE
- White Stilton Cheese with Cranberries
- Apricot, Cherry, Cranberry Goat Cheese Log
- Chimay Autumn Washed Rind Cheese
- Manchengo Cheese
MEATS
- Peppered Salami
- Spanish Brand Meat Trio
BREAD/CRACKERS
- Baguette
- Brioche Toasts
- Pumpkin Cranberry Crisps
- Cheese Sticks
- Water Crackers
SMALL BITES
- Olives
- Marinated Artichokes
- Hummus
- Cornichons
- Antipasto Tray from Trader Joe's (I used one of the three items but you could definitely use them all)
SWEETS
- Pumpkin Biscotti
- Pumpkin Spiced Pumpkin Seeds
- Butter Toffee Peanuts
- Harvest Chocolates
- Dried Figs
Hope this gives you some inspiration and ideas to create an epic appetizer for friends and family. If you whip up a cheese board, be sure to share it with me on Instagram @jaclynjameshome. I love to see all you create!
Happy Wine & Cheesing!
xoxo
