It’s the holiday season! The air is crisp, leaves are falling and I’m already dreaming of a white Christmas. I love this time of year. Although it's one of the busiest times for Oakford Gourmet Selections, I absolutely adore helping make my client's spirits bright through beautiful, and festive, Christmas charcuterie board and grazing table catering. Food is how I show love, and I love spoiling my family with some of my holiday-themed grazing boards.
Holiday Charcuterie Season
Charcuterie boards and grazing platters are the epitome of party snacks. I love the flexibility of the boards. Not only can you make them different sizes with different food combinations, but you can also modify the boards to fit the theme of the season you’re in. This time we’re pivoting our standard charcuterie board to a holiday or Christmas charcuterie board! Besides, when Saint Nick comes down the chimney, he might want something a little different from the standard cookies and milk!
Building the perfect holiday charcuterie board is as simple as picking the right ingredients for that holiday. In this charcuterie board how-to, we’re focusing on the traditional Christmas colors of reds, greens, and whites.
How to Make a Perfect Christmas Charcuterie Board
Meats: I like to select three of four different types of meat for a Christmas board. You don’t have to stick to the common meats such as salami, I like to use the holiday favorites such as turkeys and hams. The best part of these meats is that most people already have them in the fridge during the holidays!
Cheese: I like to include a couple of different cheeses on a typical holiday charcuterie board catering job, including both soft and hard cheese. For the holidays, I like to bring in cheeses that have a holiday theme such as goat cheeses with cranberry in it. I also like to use nice cheeses with green wax or cheese with green herbs in them.
Fruit: Lucky for us, winter fruit tends to be perfectly red. I love to include winter fruits such as cranberries, pomegranates, berries, and permissions.
Veggies: Veggies are the best way to bring in the greens! Some of my favorite Christmas charcuterie board veggies include cocktail cucumbers sliced lengthwise, celery, and snap peas.
A fun hint when adding snap peas: slice down the middle of the snap peas and fold them open to expose the peas, adding a level of art to the platter!
Bread and Grains: I love mixing up the bread and grains on a Christmas platter. A lot of local bakeries and supermarkets are doing Christmas bread that includes walnuts and cranberries. These slices of bread perfectly compliment the other ingredients on the platter.
Holiday Charcuterie Board Accessories
Jams, Jellies & Dips: It’s always good to include a few jams, jellies, and dips for different palettes. Hummus is a great white/light dip for a Christmas-themed board. I also love to include red jellies, but my favorite is fig spread.
Sweets: I always sneak in bites of desserts into a Christmas board and usually include Christmas cookies like gingerbreads, sugar, and gingersnaps.
Extras: The board extras are a great way to add in colors that you’re shooting for. In this case, I love to bring in the greens such as pickles and olives!
Garnishes: Top off charcuterie boards with beautiful and good-smelling garnishes. My favorite garnishes that I use all year long include rosemary and tarragon.
Presentation: You can create a beautiful Christmas board on a typical wooden board but I also love to shape the charcuterie boards in the shape of a wreath and/or tree for fun.
My best piece of advice when creating a Christmas charcuterie board is to choose the foods that appeal to you! If you don’t think anyone at your gathering will eat green olives, go with the canned back olives! Remember, the most important part of a beautiful board is the people you surround it with.
I look forward to seeing the Christmas charcuterie boards you put together! Remember to tag us @oakfordgourmet, or to schedule your Utah holiday catering, visit our Contact page to get started!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays,
Karen
Karen Ormsby is the founder and owner of Oakford Gourmet Selections. Karen is an Australian native who brings her diverse and educated palate to creating beautiful, artistic, and delicious charcuterie boards and grazing platters. Located outside of Salt Lake City, Utah, Oakford Gourmet Selections provides charcuterie and grazing catering perfect for any sized events including girl's nights, weddings, receptions, engagements, parties, networking events, and more.
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