Seasonal Grazing Boards

Seasonal Grazing Boards are becoming more and more popular. The reason for the growing popularity is that they are so blatantly beautiful.  I love to customize the boards to fit the occasion, utilizing the beautiful fruits and vegetables from the farmers market. Assembling a board can be tricky and a little costly, especially when you’re using fine cheeses, meats, and organics. However, it is the perfect way to let your guest help themselves to the perfect seasonal entertaining experience. Beyond being the greatest, interactive nibbling experience, it requires no cooking!

My suggestions is always to pick several different boards and props. This allows you to build around them, and shows dimension in the display.  After  picking my props, I then arrange them in visual order usually the night before an event.  This allows time to mix and match. Using texture, colors, and flavors, organizing the food in order will help with the aesthetics of the food.

Make sure items on the board are ready to eat and pre-sliced or broken down, this allows your guests to move along the board with ease. It also helps keep the board looking fresh. Cheese knives are imperative for blocks of cheese, and spoons for olives are important to give a hands on experience while being sanitary.

While cheeses and meats are the stars of the show, be sure to add smaller treats within them.  I love adding a variety of olives and jams, and dried fruit. Put these items directly on the board or in colorful bowls to give the arrangement a pop! These items will heighten the flavors of the meats and cheese. Be sure to choose items that are in season as well as both sweet and savory. Keep your eyes open at the market for fun treats like edible flowers, not only are they colorful, they really add personality to a display. Micro-greens are becoming very popular and I use them to fill the gaps of the board, I also sprinkle them all over the display at the end to give them a finished touch.