"Food is symbolic of love when words are inadequate." —A lan D. Wolfelt
Neil and I usually stay in on Friday. Being homebodies anyway, Friday is a way to decompress after a long week of work and just enjoy the quiet and demand-free evening. Now we also enjoy our cocktails! One of my favorite is my made-up: Friday Night Lights-Out, which I will blog about next time. So our perfect Friday night is to sip cocktails, eat and listen to some great music.
On this particular Friday, I wanted something that was light (we are always trying to make our dinners the lightest meal of the day). So I decided on a charcuterie board. It has become the latest fad and I decided to give it a go. It actually was a big hit and because we didn't eat everything on the plate: we even had enough for lunch for the next day.
I looked for things that were on sale and things that we liked. When you make it, switch it up. Pick things that you like. We like smoked fish, Italian meats, cheese and crackers so I threw in smoked oysters, salami, goat cheese and sliced cheese. I bought a loaf of french bread and cut it down. Grapes and fake crab were on sale so I added those as well. Besides onions and garlic, I always have olives in my fridge so I added Kalamata olives and garlic stuffed green olives. Finally, my grocery store had lemon feta relish on sale so I added that in as well. Bottom line...anything goes. Be adventurous. I could have made mini PB&Js and Neil would have loved it. Nothing is sacred...go crazy!!!
Standard boards contain:
2-3 meats
Some of my favorites include pepperoni, salami, summer sausage, & liverwurst.
2-3 cheeses
I would do one soft cheese such as brie or goat and one hard such as Pecorino Romano, Gouda or a standard cheddar.
Crackers or bread-
I love RyKrisp, a loaf of french bread, and Carr's Selections.
Finally add your veggies... just like your mom asked you to eat.
I love olives but carrots, pickled beets, marinated mushrooms, even Giardiniera works well here.
Original board ideas:
Mini sandwiches
Have fun with it! Try mini PB&Js, Grilled Cheese, Mini Bagel Pizzas, whatever your heart desires.
Seafood
My family loves seafood so I throw it in whenever I get the chance. Try crab meat, shrimp, kippers, anything goes!
Sweets
Cookies, pound cake, fruit, chocolate-covered pretzels, you could even get crazy and do a s'mores board!
We sat out back, sipped our cocktails and listened to some great 70s and 80s tunes. And ATE!!! The perfect way to start our weekend.
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