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It's about time to celebrate #NationalCheeseDay! And why not with an amazing cheese board that'll make everyone ooh and ahh over it's beauty, it's abundance, and it's pure overflow of cheeses, breads, nuts, pickles, fruits, and more?
Ya'll know I'm all about some cheese, and though most of the food holidays are stupid, this one is on par with an actual holiday for me. Like, it's on the calendar. It's June 4th, which gives you plenty of time to prepare. And being a Monday this year, what better to have to look forward to after work than a lovely spread that you can have for dinner and involves NO cooking? So let's get cheesin'.
I hate to admit I lost the receipt from this trip, but I guarantee that everything on this board probably comes up to less than $30, and you'll have a lot of leftovers, enough to make two or three times what I'm showing here, driving the cost per board down lower and lower.
When creating a great cheese board, you want a variety of flavors and textures. Choose at least two hard cheeses and two soft cheeses as your base. Then add a nut, a type of meat if desired, something tangy and pickled, something sweet like chocolate or jam, grapes, and of course, crackers and other breads to act as vehicles for the cheeses. I went a little non-traditional with the pretzels but they were so great with the goat cheese. But above all, be flexible with what you're looking for, as it's cheesy come, cheesy go, little high, little low.
How to Make a Cheeseboard
Ingredients
- Spanish cheese sampler that includes Iberico cheese, goat cheese, Manchego cheese
- Garlic & herb goat cheese
- Mini blue-brie
- Danish blue cheese
- British mature and oak smoked cheddar
- Italian dry sausage slices
- Classic cornichions
- Sea salt pita crackers
- Roasted and salted cashew halves
- Chocolate sticks
- Two soft baked pretzels
- Green grapes
- Honey
Instructions
- Assemble as desired.
I lured over several friends to sit and chat at the kitchen table over this and wine this past weekend, meaning that this would be an amazing addition to a book club meeting, taking to a cookout, or for a television viewing party. Or just y'know, to lure people over to your house when you want to socialize but don't want to go anywhere. I almost guarantee it'll bring people out of the woodwork.
Want to win a year's worth of cheese? (They don't even want to know what I consider a year's worth of cheese). Enter your best cheese board picture on their Facebook page or tag them on Instagram.
Lidl is a fairly recent addition to my hometown of Lexington, and I have been three times so far. I like it a lot, especially the cheeses, chocolates, funky chip flavors, and wine section. They've got things there that you just can't find at other stores, plus the surprise factor of them always having new items is just plain fun. And that's before even getting into the Surprises section, which is almost overwhelming. But oh man, the cheese — cheese doesn't even need a holiday to be celebrated. But in case you do, Happy National Cheese Day!