Charcuterie anyone? Yes, please! First of all, what is Charcuterie? It’s the art of preparing meats which are often cured or smoked such as bacon, ham or salami.  If you ask me, simple charcuterie boards are the perfect way to enjoy time with friends and family these days! Here are a few tips to make a Pinterest worthy charcuterie board your own:

A charcuterie board and a cheese board are basically one in the same, saying charcuterie just sounds fancier. You can find just about everything you need to make one at your local Target or Walmart store, including a nice board. The beautiful board that I am using was gifted to me from Wren Home and you can use code TINA20 to save 20% off. I’ve also linked tons of board options here, to cover all budget ranges.

Now that you have your board picked out, you want to start thinking of all the colors and textures you’ll use to bring it to life. Fruits and dips are the easiest way to add a ton of color.

What you should put on your cheese board

Meat & Cheese: The typical board will have 2-3 different types of meat. Think rolled prosciutto, sliced smoked turkey, salami or even ham. My board is meatless because I married a vegan and sometimes they aren’t any fun! LOL

You can go crazy with a variety of cheese too. Cubed cheese, sliced cheese, wedged cheese…pretty much anything but shredded cheese will work. For our board I juste cubed Colby-Jack cheese since I would be the only person eating it.

Bread and Crackers:  The more the merrier. You can do something as simple as Ritz or get super fancy with thinly sliced or toasted baguettes.

Fruit & Nuts: Fresh fruit will add ton of vibrant colors to your charcuterie board. Think strawberries, blueberries and grapes. Pretty much any shelled nut will work, just make sure their salted for that salty/sweet flavor combination. Pretzels work for this too and white chocolate make for a nice pop of color.

Olives & Dips: Filling small bowls with your favorite dips and olives is a great way to add more texture and flavor to your board. We can always agree on hummus so that’s what I used.

Constructing your board

Now, that we have all of your foods picked out and pre washed, its time to construct your cheese board:

1. Start with your anchors. Anything in tiny bowl or cute ramkin goes first. Typically this would be your nuts, dips and olives.
2. Add large fillers like cheese wedges, grape vines or fanned out crackers.
3. Use everything else to fill in the small spaces.

Boom, you’re done! Now you can pour a glass of your favorite wine and enjoy a movie with your amazing board. Don’t forgot to take a pic of your beautiful creation & tag me on IG @HerLifeSparkles.