Delicious & Easy Charcuterie Board

charcuterie board with meat cheese and snacks

We’ve seen charcuterie boards that look so good, our mouths starts to water! We could live off them if our hips, thighs and stomach could tolerate all the goodness 24/7. We finally made a charcuterie board piled with meats, cheeses, nuts, crackers, snacks and fruit for a backyard get together. We want to share what we loved on it, and what we would add next time. It’s the perfect appetizer when you host guests for dinner. You don’t even have to know how to cook – you just have to find what tastes good, and place it nicely on a pretty wood serving tray.

We might make it a weekly dinner thing, just one night a week…paired with a glass of wine, of course. Who’s in?!

charcuterie board with meat and cheese

Cheese

  • One of our favorite cheeses these days is Boursin. Oh my goodness, it is so insanely good. Costco sells a three-pack of Boursin cheese, and you can find at the local grocery store, too.
  • Also delicious is Manchego cheese. We love to get the big block from Costco. It’s good plain, with crackers, and even with fig spread on top.
  • Goat cheese with fig spread on top. Yummy!

Meat

  • A salami is good to include on the board. I loved the Murray’s Calabrese salami we used.
  • Pepperoni, like an authentic Italian pepperoni stick you cut into slices.
  • Candied bacon would be dreamy on this board, too.

charcuterie board with meat and cheese

Fruit

  • Blueberries
  • Raspberries
  • Grapes
  • Strawberries
  • Apples, sliced

Extras

  • Hummus. We love Sabra classic hummus.
  • Carrots, that can be eaten plain or with the hummus, or Boursin
  • Pickles, small bite sized ones
  • Corn nuts
  • Nuts, such as candied nuts, Marcona almonds with rosemary (a personal favorite), cashews, etc.

charcuterie board with meat and cheese

Crackers/Pretzels

  • Gluten free pretzels. These are great plain, or dipped in hummus, or with the Boursin cheese. We like Pretzel Crisps or Snyder’s of Hanover gluten free pretzels.
  • Crackers. If you have not tried these Simple Mills Almond Flour crackers and you are gluten free, you need to run to the store right now to buy them. If you are not gluten free, you still need to run to the store to buy a box of these. They are THAT good. We buy them in bulk at Costco on a regular basis. Love them!
  • Dot’s pretzels. OMG, so yummy!

charcuterie board with meat and cheese

hostess with charcuterie board with meats and cheeses

Tell us, what are we missing? What do you love on your charcuterie board?

Looks how pretty these wood serving boards are*:
Target Acacia Serving Platter
Enzo White Serving Board (love this one)
Wooden Serving Plank, West Elm
Acacia Cheese Board, Pottery Barn
Mateo Paddle Serving Board, Crate and Barrel

*This post contains affiliate links. Thanks for supporting our blog. 

Summer Recipe: Fresh Corn Salad

summer corn salad

We daydream about good thymes in the garden every summer. 🙂 Although we haven’t mastered many garden skills yet, we’re trying. Jenna has a strong showing of tomatoes and zucchini’s most summers. Jessica has had moderate success with spinach, herbs and radishes. Oh, and mint has multiplied everywhere. We are happy to report this year’s garden is growing, and fingers crossed we produce some actual food for our families, and the animals don’t grub on it all before we do.

With gardens, come more garden salads, and entertaining in the backyard. We hope to share more recipes with you, and heres’s the first one.

Fresh Summer Corn Salad
Recipe adapted by Cookie and Kate
serves 5-7 people as a side salad

Salad Ingredients:

  • 9 cherry tomatoes, chopped
  • 1/2 Yellow pepper, finely chopped
  • 1 jalapeno, with seeds removed and finely chopped
  • 5 Green onions, chopped
  • 1/2 cup crumbled feta
  • 4 cobs fresh corn, either grilled or boiled and then sliced off the cob
  • 1/2 english cucumber, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped

Dressing Ingredients:

  • Red wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons
  • Garlic, 2 cloves pressed
  • Olive oil, 1/4 cup
  • Sea salt, 1/2 teaspoon
  • Black pepper to taste

fresh corn salad from the garden

fresh corn salad for summer entertaining

New Craft We Love – DIY Tie-Dye Coffee Filter Art

diy coffee filter art for kids-tie dye butterfly

Coffee filters don’t just come to the rescue every morning as you make your cup (or two, or three) of coffee. They can be the inspiration for DIY art projects, too. We made beautiful DIY butterflies with tie-dye coffee filters. We all loved this project – literally it was fun for my 7-year-old all to my 30-something self (and all the ages in-between). It’s so therapeutic to color various patterns and squiggles on the filters, and then watch it magically create a tie-dye pattern with water.

We shared all the details with Momtastic. Check it out here.

 

DIY LaCroix Baby Shower Favors That Sparkle

lacroix cans make the cutest diy baby shower planter

We know you aren’t actually hosting a baby shower in the next month or so during stay-at-home orders, but we do know baby showers are going to happen again when we make it through this historic, difficult time. When COVID-19 does pass, and a baby shower is on the calendar, you will be ready with the cutest baby shower favors ever!! With this DIY favor, the colors pop (so it’s a decor piece as well) , you can drink ALL THE cans of LaCroix to make these DIY planters, and everyone loves a little “baby” succulent they can grow at home, too! It’s a win/win for the host and guest, and also for the mom-to-be because they can be gender-specific or neutral.

All the details are here at Momtastic.

 

DIY Perler Bead Art & Happy Snail Mail During COVID-19 2020

DIY perler bead art for easter-happy snail mail for kids

Easter is going to be one for the books this year. Due to COVID-19, we may or may not have eggs due to store shortages, we will not be doing an egg hunt with all our families, we won’t be drinking our aunt’s famous bloody mary’s or mimosas as we catch up with our cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and we won’t be at mass with our faith communities. COVID-19 has brought all kinds of emotions, fears and also a personal challenges to be grateful for the simple blessings in life we often take for granted. We are beyond blessed that we can stay-at-home with our little families, and although this Easter will be hard, we pray it also brings hope. Hope in humanity. Hope that things will get better. Hope because He is risen. Hope that good things are on the horizon.

We are doing out best to get creative with the art supplies we have on-hand during these long days at home, and since we miss our family and friends so much, we wanted to send happy snail mail to remind them how much we love them. If you don’t have perler beads, we highly suggest that you buy them from Amazon. After all, we have 4 more weeks (at least) at home. The tiny beads provide hours of fun and creativity. If Easter is not feasible for DIY perler bead art, then do whatever designs you want, and glue them on cards to send through the mail. It will add sunshine to someone’s day, and right now, it’s the small things and acts of kindness that make a BIG difference.

DIY perler bead art for easter-happy snail mail for kids

This is so simple, it doesn’t require official steps. First, buy the beads (or use the beads you already have). Next, design something small that can fit on a card. You can find designs online, or create your own. Follow directions for ironing so the beads fuse together. Lastly, with a hot glue gun, glue it to a blank card, and write a sweet note inside. You can do this DIY perler bead craft year-round. For the words on the front, you can use a label machine, stamps, or write the words.

We hope you find the silver lining during these uncertain times, or something to be hopeful for in the coming months. Happy Easter. We are sending love and hope to everyone right now.

DIY perler bead art for easter-happy snail mail for kids

DIY perler bead art for easter-happy snail mail for kids

DIY perler bead art for easter-happy snail mail for kids

DIY perler bead art for easter-happy snail mail for kids-sunshine during COVID-19

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