Better Boards & Beyond

Taking your Holiday Charcuterie to the Next Level

During the holidays your boards can be as visually stunning as they are brimming with festive flavors. Plus, they offer the ideal opportunity to capture picture-perfect moments for your holiday social media feeds. This holiday season, beyond the usual cured meats and cheeses, enjoy a culinary holiday renaissance, featuring everything from yuletide pancake boards to DIY decorating spreads, offering an even more delightful and festive culinary experience.

S'BOARDS

• 1 box family size graham crackers

• 1 box chocolate grahams

• 2 bags giant roaster marshmallows

• 1 bag marshmallows

• 3 one-lb milk chocolate bars

• 3 cookies and cream bars

• 9 Reese's peanut butter cups

• 9 Reese's white chocolate peanut butter cups

• 2 white chocolate bars

• Mega Stuf Oreos

• 1 jar marshmallow fluff (for no-cook s'mores)

• 1 jar cookie butter

• 1 jar peanut butter

• 1 jar Nutella

• strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries

BREAKFAST BOARD

• Buttermilk pancakes

• Baked bacon

• Scrambled eggs

• Butter

• Maple syrup

• Fresh fruit

• Chocolate chips

• Peanut butter

• Nutella

• Whipped cream

Celebrating the holidays often means entertaining house guests, so when they wake up hungry, start by washing and slicing the fruit to put on the board first. You can also add syrup, butter, chocolate chips, Nutella and peanut butter any time. While the bacon is baking, get started on the pancakes.

When the bacon is cooked, turn the oven down to 200°F and slide the pancakes in to keep everything warm while you scramble eggs and start arranging everything on the board.

Arrange the cooked pancakes down the center for the board. Finish by placing the baked bacon and scrambled eggs on the left side of the board.

Serve immediately while everything is warm. Enjoy!

Charcuterie Chalet

You can always build your foundation with a gingerbread house kit, but for a complete DIY, cream cheese is your best bet for charcuterie chalet glue. You can also use it to make a beautiful, smooth snowy drift (on the rooftop or elsewhere).

• Triscuits are excellent for wall construction.

• Salami rounds make great roofing tiles. You can also use ham or prosciutto to make rosettes for your landscape.

• Pretzel squares are great for window frames.

• Dried fruit pieces add a pop of color for any type of decor, plus, half slices of dried oranges as window awnings/coverings or decorative transom.

• Rice or popcorn cakes cut in half make great doors and you can attach a cranberry as a doorknob.

If you are vibing for a rustic scene and have plenty of pretzels on hand, you can stack them on your exterior walls for a great log cabin look.