I don’t know about you but I have a vivid childhood memory of feeling extra fancy on school days when I got to pack a Lunchable for my meal. Now that I’m an adult, I try to relive that high when serving a charcuterie board. The past few weeks, I have been making a charcuterie board for dinner every Wednesday night before we watch The Amazing Race together as a family. I have been trying to incorporate some country-specific themes into each board based on where we will be racing in that week’s episode. The kids love the board and it’s been fun seeing the race through their eyes for the first time.
I hope my family isn’t charcuteried-out because the Super Bowl is this weekend – charcuterie’s favorite holiday! However, I’m torn if I will be going traditional savory with meats and cheeses or feeling Valentine’s vibes with a sweet board instead.
Let’s Go Savory
The thing I love about charcuterie boards is, while they feel fancy, they are also SO easy. It’s also a huge mom win because every person in our family loves having this for a meal. We typically have traditional savory charcuterie fixings – a selection of meats, cheeses, and crackers – along with some dried fruits, jams, and nuts. In fact, we love this meal so much, we recently wrote an entire Charcuterie Song about it.
It’s important to have a mix of colors and flavors to have a charcuterie board that’s appealing to both the eyes and the taste buds. Adding bowls of different shapes and sizes adds height and variation so your board is not completely flat.
A Little Bit Sweet
With Valentine’s Day approaching, I had the idea to create a sweet charcuterie board to go along with our savory one. We aren’t the couple that makes a huge deal out of Valentine’s Day, but it is always fun to incorporate a little extra love to celebrate the occasion. After a quick trip to Target, I picked up a selection of candy and sweets in reds and pinks and, of course, as many heart-shaped items as I could find. I will tell you – this is definitely a very occasional treat because I am pretty sure I got a sugar high just from smelling this charcuterie board. But the look on my kids’ faces when they saw this special treat was worth it all.
Feel free to change up this sweet version of charcuterie boards for any special occasion with a selection of desserts. I could see this looking amazing for St. Patrick’s Day or maybe for a birthday in your kid’s favorite color!
What charcuterie board should I try next? Is there such a thing as a breakfast board?
