Happy hosting // cheese board (part 1)

Part 1? Yes part 1. I started on this post and realized halfway through writing that if I included everything there was to say about a good cheese board I would leave you quite overwhelmed. So part 1 today, part 2 tomorrow!

Image via Pinterest

 I've always been a huge cheese fan. It's probably the best thing on this entire planet! Gimme cheese with everything and on anything, I love it all. A couple years ago, when I began to host more; I started getting into cheese boards. Hosting Tip: One thing I believe every gathering should have is snacks/appetizers. Even if you are serving a huge dinner shortly after your guests arrival, it's always courteous to have something for them to nibble on. You never know how hungry your friends will come or if your perfectly planned dinner will surprise you in taking longer than expected.

With appetizers and cheese at the top of my list it's enviable that I love a good cheese board. And not just a good one, but one that is pretty and has a lot of variety. Now, there are many opinions out there of what a cheese platter should consist of, I've heard...something soft, something hard and something blue...Something sharp, something nutty and something fresh, etc. With all the "rules" aside let me go through a few of my favorites.

Brie (soft & delicious)

Goat (fresh & popular)

White Cheddar (sharp & enjoyable)
Parmesan (hard & strong)

Gruyere (Sharpe & similar to cheddar)

Toscano (rich & creamy)

Smoked Gouda (bold & safe)

Roquefort (sour & blue)

Okay so if you're a cheese lover like me this next bit of advice may be difficult to accept. Only choose 3 cheeses as the base of your cheese board. If you want to get wild or are hosting a group of 12+ go with 4, but it's important to not overwhelm your guests and their palettes. This may not seem like enough but trust me, there's so much more you can add as compliments to these cheeses that will keep your company satisfied. 

Cheese board compliments

Meat and cheese go together like bread and butter, some of my go to's are prosciutto (light & salty) or salami (tough & flavorful). For something sweet...add fruit to your board, fresh or dried work well. Crisp apples, figs or grapes make for a refreshing compliment and dried cranberries and/or apricots are a great...I also sometimes live wrapping sliced figs in prosciutto! It's simple and pretty on your table. For something salty/crunchy add a handful of salted almonds or cashews here and there! Once you have gathered all the goods for your perfect cheese board it's time to arrange and serve...tips and tricks for this coming in part 2. Stay tuned!

Friends & hosting

Something I have really grown to enjoy is hosting. When Paul and I were first married the idea of hosting intimidated me a little bit and looking back 4 years ago I'll admit I was not the best at it. My mom was always such a great host and I really admired that growing up. Even just a simple get together with my aunt and uncle or a couple of her closest girl friends. She had a bottle of wine open ready to serve, always had the best appetizers. To this day I still look forward to dinner parties at her place mainly due to her pre-dinner snacks. She made hosting look so easy!

Overall I know that I notice and appreciate a great host and because of that I've really made it a point to grow in that area! Recently I had a little get-together at my place for the premier of Parenthood's final season. I'm a little devastated.

It's been a little warm out still so I decided that a simple summer sangria and a chilled lentil dip would be a great mid lunch/dinner snack. A friend introduced me to this awesome lentil recipe, it love it and it's super easy to make!! Only 3 ingredients and you can pick them all up at Trader Joes.

If you don't have a Traders nearby I'm sure you can find these items at any grocery store but what you will need is lentils (I like to get the pre-cooked ones), Crumbled feta cheese and a bruschetta mix. First add put lentils into your serving bowl and mix in bruschetta and feta to your liking! Serve with corn tortilla chips. 

For the sangria, I used a new recipe that I found on Pinterest! You can find it HERE. One thing I ended up doing differently is adding 1/3 cup of sugar. Both Paul and I decided it needed some sweetness after sampling it. I was serving to a smaller group so I cut the recipe in half. It was super good!

Happy Hosting!