Cheesehavarti, gouda, cranberry goat cheese, and blue cheese
Charcuterie salami and prosciutto roses
Crackers
Baguette – toasted and not toastedlightly brush with butter or olive oil and broil for 4-7 minutes, flip halfway
Dried Figs
Apple
Pomegranate
Candied cranberriesspritz with a bit of water and toss in granulated sugar
Popcorn
Rosemary
Instructions
Alpine Herb Baked Cheese Dip
Preheat oven to hi broil.
Cut cheese into little cubes. Toss in a bowl with olive oil and rosemary.
Pour cheese into a baking dish. I used a mini pie pan, but a mini cast iron would work great too (something about 3-4” wide).
Place in the oven for about 8-10 minutes, keeping an eye on it to make sure it melts, but doesn’t burn.
Remove from oven, top with salt, and serve.
Appetizer Board
Make/Bake – You want to prepare anything that will take a while to make. For the above I went ahead and made the popcorn, candied cranberries, popcorn, and the hot alpine cheese dip.
Prep other ingredients – this will be opening packages, slicing fruit, etc. For this step, I cut up apples, pomegranates, made prosciutto roses, sliced cheeses, and opened packages.
Place your board – you want to place your board wherever you want its final destination to be. It’s so much easier to build your board in place. Transferring boards can end in disaster and ingredients go everywhere. Also it can get so heavy!
Create the layout – you start to build a layout by placing your bowls first. For this one, I knew I had 5 bowls (anything liquid or needs a spoon) and one lipped dish that needed to be placed. So, I tried to somewhat split them across the board to create interest to the eye and varying heights. So, I filled the bowls with honey, two types of olives, pepper jelly, artichokes, and the hot cheese.
Place the hero pieces – if your board has something essential to it, this is when you want to plate it. Make sure they have a good spot. Since I did this board with a focus on cheese, I set that out next. Kind of placing them in largest empty spots or curling around bowls. I like a variety of shapes and flavors to cheese, so be sure to do slices, cubes, etc. to get a variation.
Set larger items/supporting ingredients – this would be necessary pieces to the board, but not as important as the hero. On this board that’s the charcuterie meats, breads and crackers.
Fill in with “fillers” – this is my favorite part because you’re really making the board come together. For this board this is the fruits, candied cranberries, rosemary, and popcorn. With boards like this remember that more is more! Keep going to you’ve filled almost all the holes.
Utensils – I like to get utensils that go with the theme, but also are useful. Spoons, knives, etc. If they can match, even better!
Decorate – Now, this is a fun way to get creative and customize your boards for specific holidays or occasions. Here I added little décor around the outside of the board with jingle bells, greenery, and lights. But you could add edible flowers or little props. Like for a Valentine’s Day board you could add little paper or toy hearts. Something fun to make it unique.
Assemble off board needs – This would be plates, napkins, utensils, or even a little menu to tell people what is on the board!
Notes
You don't have to keep specifically to all the ingredients I used, but have fun building your own board!