You most likely heard about Chrissy Teigen’s famous “Cravings Board Challenge” contest on Insta… well, I have been creating charcuterie/appetizer boards for years, so I thought I would share some of my best-loved choices that will elevate any app session.

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This is a beautiful board… not mine. But, I love what they’ve got here. Nuts, cheese, meat, dried fruit, breadsticks, crackers, spreads, olives and pickles, yum, nicely done!

Here are some dee-lish stand-alone choices;

• Hard cheese (beecher’s flasgship-Seattle’s own, manchego, gruyère, jarlsberg, cheddar)
• Soft cheese (brie, cambozola, goat, mozzarella, stilton, feta)
• Salami (capicola, soppressata, genoa, hard salami, prosciutto, pepper salami, beef stick, summer sausage)
• Olives (castelvetrano-with pit, they taste better, greek olives, mixed marinated olives, stuffed olives)
• Crackers (seeded rice crackers or partners)
• Nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans)
• Grapes, apple, pear (or any juicy fruit you have on hand)
• Veggies (carrots, celery, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, zucchini, broccoli florets)

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Some yummy pairings;

• Cracker topped with cambozola topped & olive tapenade
• Cracker topped with goat cheese, fig spread, pecans & honey
• Cracker topped with soft cheese, pear, walnuts & honey
• Crostini topped with bruschetta (tomatoes, garlic, basil, pine nuts, olive oil, S&P)
• Crostini topped with anything (woot!)
• Baked brie topped with pecans or walnuts & honey (add a dash of your fave spice; smoked paprika, cayenne, slap ya mama)

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When you dip I dip we dip; (dance break)

• Artichoke dip (there are many versions of this recipe, feel free to add crab, nom nom nom)
• Gorgonzola cream cheese spread by Plated Cravings
• Spinach Dip with slivered almonds & water chestnuts
• Trader Joe’s caramelized onion dip (do not leave me alone in a room with this dip)

Our family frequently eats appetizers for dinner… or we have a little nosh with a favorite drink in the early evening (it’s 5 o’clock somewhere!) and then a light, late dinner. I’m a bit bougie, my husband is NOT, my daughter is, her hubby is not, my son… he’ll eat anything! Next up in “Food”… who has a fondue pot? xo-Katie