#balancingballoons

Planning a gathering of 5 to 40 people, but only have an hour for food prep?  Cheeseboard to the rescue!  

Let us help you create a cheeseboard with minimal thought and effort!

Step 1.  Chose the board size and extra dish pieces for spreads, dips and chips.

(Picture below)  Here, I am planning a spread for 40+ adults plus a few kids.  I picked up this LONG piece of wood from my local hardware store, I cleaned it with vinegar/water & lemon, then coated it in coconut oil.  Of course, you can just grab a wood or marble cutting board from your kitchen cabinet.  However this party needed a statement board.  I sorted through my collection of bowls and plates, for dips, chips, and other bites.

2.  The grocery store trip!  Since I was filling a LARGE board, my cheeses primarily came from Costco, then I picked up smaller items from Trader Joe’s.  I don’t tend to get too caught up in the cheese array, buy what you like!  Non-cheese items I included; pickled beets, Mediterranean olives, bruschetta mix, hummus, cinnamon almonds, sliced apples, clementines, mini bell peppers, grapes, charcuterie meats, parmesan cheese crisps, spicy jam, smoked salmon, and smoked salmon spread.  I selected a few different textures of crackers; pretzel crisps, pita chips, bread sticks, plus a gluten free rice cracker option.  

We were celebrating a birthday, so the center piece of the board was the CAKE!

3. The Layering Process.  I start with placing the chunks of cheese, then filling the dips and spreads in location appropriate bowls.  The meats are then placed.  Gaps were layered with fruits and nuts.  Any remaining spaces were crammed with crackers.  I also provided a giant bowl of crackers next to the appetizer plates for easy nibbling.

If you are overwhelmed by the 40+ guest cheeseboard compilation, take note, you can easily take it down a few to 35 notches and serve up this mini cheeseboard in a jiffy!

Having a dinner guest over and need a fresh simple recipe?!  I was inspired by this Chili - Garlic - Grilled Chicken with Avocado - Cherry Salsa recipe from Country Living magazine.  

How I DIDN’T follow directions:

1.  Cherry season just wrapped up so I thought Pomegranates would make for a tasty substitution.    ~ I was correct!

2.  I couldn’t find a shallot at my local Trader Joes so I finely chopped a shallots worth or red onion instead.    ~ Although a stronger flavor, still yummy.

3.  I mixed up the chicken marinade during my daughter’s nap time, so the chicken marinated for about 4+ hours.     ~ No harm done.

I served the chicken on a small bed of orzo pasta and my dinner guest brought a fresh mozzarella and heirloom tomato salad as a side.  Accompanied by Rose :).  

Tacos are a great menu choice for a family style menu.  They are delicious and adaptable!  For those that are gluten free, corn tortillas are a welcomed shell.  For those that are meat-free, veggies, beans, & rice are all delicious fillers.  No one shall go home hungry!  Toppings are best served in separate dishes, so each guest can choose their toppings according to their taste buds.  Our all time favorite meat filler is  a killer crockpot (so easy) pulled pork.

PULLED PORK RECIPE:

Ingredients: Boneless Pork Shoulder Blade, 1/2 of beer, 3 Cloves Crushed Garlic, 1 7oz can diced green chiles, 1 8oz can crushed pineapple.  

Directions:  Put pork in crockpot.  Poor beer over pork then spread ingredients over the pork, cook on high for 4-6 hours.  Length of cooktime depends on poundage of pork.  If your pork is done cooking early, just keep the crockpot on it’s warm/lowest setting until dinner time.  Pork should shred easily when done.

Suggested Taco Toppings: Avocado, Cilantro, Jalapenos, Tomatoes. Pico de Gallo, Red Onion, Cotija Fresca Cheese, Hot Sauce.

Suggested Sides: Guac, Chips, Salsa, Rice, Beans