Building a beautiful board with Good Day and Point Reyes!

Caveat: the phrases highlighted in hot pink are a testament to my age.

Reason: I used the phrase "took it on the chin" in an email recently and the recipient had to Google it.

"How do I build a beautiful cheese and charcuterie board?"

This has almost become a timeless question. Over the past number of years this has become all the rage.....if I may use an old phrase. I really thought this style of cheese and charcuterie board would be a passing fancy....see, there I go again. By that I mean the uber-crowded board with everything you can think of on it to the point you cannot see the board and so why buy a beautiful board if you are just going to cover it up? The board winds up looking kinda like that previous sentence....lol(another ancient phrase). But, to date, that style has not lost it's luster (old phrase #4). So let's figure out how to make a beautiful board without it looking like the compost bin. We eat with our eyes first, right? I am sure that the previous sentence is also as old as dirt....ungh, there I go again!

When it comes to the items on the board, there are soooooo many ways to select them. And there is a myriad of choices when you go to the store! I am going to try to make it easier.

1. I start with the cheese. The cheeses I am selecting are all from Point Reyes Cheese in California. I wanted to spotlight this maker because, for the second year in a row, one of their gift packs made Oprah's Favorite List!!!!! The cheese community is super proud to see one of our own recognized by the mainstream! The gift pack Oprah loved is called "Cheese and Thank You". And the cheeses made at Point Reyes fit my mantra. When someone asks me

2. Next, I select the charcuterie. Mind you, "charcuterie" translates to "cured meat". It is also the person who cures the meat and the location where it is sold. If you are building a board of any nature that does not have cured meat on it, IT IS NOT A CHARCUTERIE BORD!! Ok, I will get off my soapbox now. I find that prosciutto is hard to make pretty, so I tend to pick up sliced salami, capocollo, soppressata...heck, you can use jerky or meat sticks! Smoked meats are great too, like ham, smoked fish, smoked poultry. Whatever you have!

3. Then I select the accompaniments (perhaps some of these items are already in your pantry or refrigerator?)

   1. Jams, jellies, honey....pretty much, again, what do you have on hand?

   2. Carbs: baguette, crackers, cookies, potato chips, popcorn....you get the idea

   3. Fresh and/or dried fruit (in season of course)

   4. Ferments: cornichons, olives, bread and butter pickles, pickled beets(or other items).

   5. Don't forget a couple of sweets! Chocolate is surprisingly good with cheese!

More info for the holiday season:

• If you are looking to purchase a pre-made board, check out The Grater Good Christine does a beautiful job!

• For 10% off anything on Cheese Grotto's website, enter code FORAGETOFROMAGE at checkout.

• For the sugared items (cranberries and rosemary this time): Make a simple syrup by combining 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar. Warm and stir until sugar is dissolved and mixture looks clear. Let it cool. Give the food a good bath in the simple syrup, and place on a cooling rack for 1 hour. At 1 hour, give the items a good roll or dusting in white sugar. Let dry on a cooling rack. Can be done ahead and refrigerated.