FALL CHARCUTERIE

It's that time of year again when all of the Fall flavors are in full bloom; pumpkin this, cranberry that, apple something and turkey, turkey, turkey... all of the yummy stuff. What is missing you say? CHEESE! As you've seen on here before we don't usually have a gathering that doesn't include cheese, and for good reason. A charcuterie (or grazing board) is the perfect addition to any event! Read on to see our latest fall charcuterie creation and get some tips on how to put it together for yourself.

The Basics

• a board, plate, platter

• the cheeses

• the meats

• breads/crackers

• fruits, condiments, etc

For our board this time around we are using a custom made platter that features our TOJ logo, made by one of our better halves. It worked perfectly for our fall charcuterie! But feel free to use any platter or even a plate depending on how many you are serving.

Keep in mind, you don't need to spend a million dollars to build your charcuterie! Take a look at our post on how to build a charcuterie board for under $35.00 for tips and ideas.

To get started, you will need your cheese selections. We usually try to find a good combination of aged cheese, soft, firm, crumbly and creamy cheeses. For this one we used an aged pepper gouda, honey goat cheese, pepperjack and colby. A variety of cheese will satisfy everyone and it's nice to mix up your textures.

For a fun twist on fall, we used a cookie cutter to cut out a gouda leaf. And since you never want to waste good cheese (I mean can you imagine...) we filled the cutout with some candy corn.

Our meat selections this time around were a spicy dry salami, soppressata and some prosciutto. All great alone, all great paired with cheese and crackers. We took another crack at the salami rose, it's a work in progress but definitely getting better!

For the crunch, Triscuits and Scalloped Garlic crackers from Aldi were our selections. We also added pistachios, blueberries and dried cranberries for some fall colors along with the most adorable chocolate pumpkins for a sweet touch (Aldi for the win, AGAIN).

Add some Roasted Red Pepper hummus (love the color for our fall board) for a spread/dip, and some garlic stuffed olives for added snacking measures and you've got yourself a fall charcuterie board!