My First Charcuterie Board

Since Charcuterie boards are all the buzz these days, I decided I wanted to make one.  I planned on creating a charcuterie board for our Christmas open house, but had so many other menu choices and limited time so it never happened. Since I had already purchased several things to make a charcuterie board, I threw one together for dinner one night last week to serve with our butter bean soup. 

A charcuterie board is really just a fancy meat and cheese board.  This is a simpler board created for our family of 6 (2 adults and 4 children).  You can find images of epic charcuterie boards online that are huge and overflowing with goodies.  I made this one with kids in mind.  I left some space between things on this board so that little hands could more easily reach for things without touching everything else.  I also included things I knew the kids would love like ordinary (sliced which is easier) cheddar cheese, blueberries, and yellow tomatoes.  The kids actually tried and like most things on this board, but I wanted to make sure to include some favorite foods. 

I started by putting my large cheese selections on the board to anchor everything else around.  I used small dishes for some items to keep them from rolling off the board.  Charcuterie boards can get expensive, but I purchased most of what you see here at Aldi.  The nuts were on clearance at Walmart after Christmas.  

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Here is the breakdown of what's on my simple, kid-friendly charcuterie board.  Cherry-size yellow tomatoes, cheddar cheese, whole grain club style (Kroger brand) crackers, almond nut-thins, double creme brie, mascarpone cheese, and blueberries

The other side: cashews, parmesan wedge, prosciutto, garlic stuffed olives, hard salami, and kalamata olives

In this picture you get a behind the scenes look at how I stage and photograph food.  I photograph in our sunroom because it has the most light of any room in our house.  I usually shoot closer to the windows, but when I photograph in the afternoon, I get shadows near the windows so I shot these pics on our dining table.  This white board is one of my photo boards which I bought at a resale store years ago and painted.  I can move it closer to window light or further away as needed to get the best shot.  

I prefer to shoot in the daytime for better light, but I have a light that makes nighttime photo shoots possible.  I will post an amazon link below.  It is expensive, but I have used mine for years and it works great for quick and easy night shots. 

This is always on my sidebar because it is such a great resource for anyone interested in food photography.  Tasty Food Photography by Lindsey from Pinch of Yum is the best resource I have found for improving food photography.  

There are endless possibilities when it comes to creating a fabulous charcuterie board.  You can make it simple or more complex, just be sure to include some things you know your family and guests will enjoy.  Some more ideas I did not include are dried fruits, a small pot of honey or jam, and some fresh vegetables like sugar snap peas or sliced cucumber. 

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