How much does our current cheese and charcuterie board craze owe to the humble Ploughman’s lunch?  Well as it turns out, quite a lot. The humble cheese board has a long and illustrious history harking back to the days of sheep herders and farm workers. This was long before our phones started being used to capture every nuance of every morsel we consumed, first eating out and now eating in. In those pre-industrial days, sheep herders on the mountain unwrapped a piece of cloth to reveal a hunk of bread and another of cheese. Bread and cheese were the staple of their diets, perhaps with a p ..read more

The art of the charcuterie board is in the selection of the offerings, and not in the complicated layout or complexity of selections chosen by a TikTok influencer, rather than an actual charcuterie fan or cheese lover. And a hospitable welcome by the host and the conversation of a convivial gathering of friends or family members will make a lasting impression beyond the origin of the cheeses and meats.  Use these six tips to compose a charcuterie board with a balanced offering that might include one or two selections from each of these groups: Salty and rich Start with cured me ..read more

5 Hacks to a Better Charcuterie Board Your charcuterie board doesn’t have to be bigger to be better.  And you don’t have to be a professional food stylist to present a tik Tok or Instagram worthy arrangement to wow your family and friends when you entertain. Bowls are Handy Helpers – Use your wooden bowls either on the board for visual interest or off the board to expand your presentation/arrangement.  Either way, small bowls will hold lots of bits and bobs – olives, jammy spreads, nuts, mustard, pickles, dried fruit – and they’ll keep juicy fruits or pickle juice where they belong ..read more

Ditch the Huge Charcuterie Board If your serving board needs to be huge, why not just use your table-top?  Unroll brown paper down the center and add whatever wood boards and bowls are in your cupboard. Voila! A grand grazing board is sparked from the place where necessity and creativity meet up. Before huge, complicated layouts on charcuterie boards became a “thing” on Instagram or TikTok, charcuterie and cheese boards were much simpler affairs, usually simple wooden platters or plates with just a few selections. The origin story of the charcuterie board is a humble one and continues to ..read more

Use your Lazy Susan for entertaining and discover a dozen ways or more to put a fresh spin on a classic!  This rotating wood board will serve as an icebreaker at your next party as it holds court in the center of your table with friends gathered round. There are nearly endless ways to use a rotating Lazy Susan on your table or buffet for entertaining.  By its very nature as a spinning board, it’s perfect for serving just about everything.  Corral an odd assortment of bowls and small plates on a Lazy Susan for a pulled together look. And of course, the main selling point:  ..read more

Nothing could be simpler than using your Lazy Susan for a cheese board. The round top of a Lazy Susan makes it simple to compose either a charcuterie board or a cheese board or a mash up of the two.  Since the top of the Lazy Susan spins, it simplifies the composition – there’s no need to duplicate offerings so everything is within reach.  With a spinning top like a Lazy Susan everything on the board is “passed” or spun from guest to guest. To compose your board, visually divide your board into quarters.  Arrange the cured meats in one corner, and the cheeses in another.&nb ..read more

The secret to this Brussels sprout salad lies with the vinaigrette.  Sweetened with Maple syrup and brightened with fresh lemon juice and lemon zest, the dressing mingles with the earthy flavors of the sprouts to bring the flavors alive. This vinaigrette is a variation of my favorite shallot-centered salad dressing sweetened with a healthy dose of Maple syrup instead of the classic pinch of sugar. Since Brussels sprouts are a fall crop and our New Hampshire orchards are bursting with apples at the same time, this salad takes advantage of these two fall favorites for a classic sa ..read more

Pistachios are having a moment and well they should with their sweet, salty taste profile.  I like them roughly chopped and added to just about any salad, but they are a great addition to this orange and fennel salad.  The fennel and blood orange slices looked so inviting laid out on a wood cutting board as I was prepping the salad, that I decided to serve the salad arrayed across its surface.  It made for an easy serve yourself for lunch with friends.  While shopping I spied the blood red oranges and knew their deep color would contrast beautifully with the pale ..read more

The view from my window is white....it's blizzard time here in New Hampshire.  Not to worry as an old time favorite... made from ingredients almost always on hand in the refrigerator... makes for an easy, delicious winter salad that will add some colorful green to an all-white world! Today's lunch or dinner salad: Bacon, Spinach and Red Onion with a creamy Blue Cheese dressing. There's a reason these handful of ingredients are found in so many recipes, singly and together.  Classic combinations can so easily be updated or modified to take advantage of what's in th ..read more

August brings ripe tomatoes and sweet corn to my New Hampshire garden and the local farmers market.  I always buy an extra ear or two of corn for the grill so there will be leftovers for this easy summer salad.  My favorite corn variety hasn’t changed since childhood. It’s still a bicolor butter and sugar with its mix of yellow and white kernels.  Thanks to all the early summer rain, the cherry tomatoes are bursting on the vine this year, and I have also harvested some colorful red onions.  The natural sweetness of the corn and tomatoes doesn’t need much to boost the flavo ..read more