A Charcuterie Tray Tutorial

In home décor, transitional may be trending, but in the world of entertaining, charcuterie trays are what’s hot.

Charcuterie (SHär-kootərē) is the art of preparing cured or smoked meats, and the charcuterie tray is the savory and aesthetic way of presenting those meats. Needing a foodie fix for the upcoming holidays, we decided to do a quick tutorial on putting together the perfect tray for your table.

Whether creating a small tray for a special family meal or serving guests at a holiday soirée, the basics are the same. Obviously, you start with the tray. Lucky for us, we are a décor company and have a great selection to choose from. Here are a few of our food safe favorites:

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The best thing about charcuterie boards is that the possibilities are endless. Change a few ingredients and you have something new every time.

The basic elements are smoked or cured meats, cheeses, crackers or bread and fresh or dried fruits and nuts. You won’t want to just throw these onto the tray though. A little creativity must be incorporated to give it the wow factor. Here are a few things to consider:

1. Give your tray some “pop” by adding delicious fresh fruits or veggies or using colorful bowls to hold dips, spreads and jellies.
2. Think about color and texture. Having a good variety will make your presentation more interesting to peruse. Have colorful jams or spreads next to dry nuts or crackers, shiny kalamata olives next to a crusty brie.
3. Did you ever take an art class and talk about composition? Well now is your chance to use that skill. Arrange your ingredients in an aesthetically pleasing way, balancing color and texture across the tray.

For our charcuterie tray, we used turkey summer sausage, Chianti red wine salami, prosciutto wrapped mozzarella, mango fire cheddar, pico de queso cheddar, and three Spanish cheeses – Iberico, Cabra al Vino and Manchego. To harmonize flavors with the meats and cheeses, we used cornichon pickles, candied walnuts and roasted marcona almonds with rosemary. For the tray, we used our Normandy cheese serving plate with knife (23299).

As our Elf on a Shelf, TimTam, can attest to, everything was delicious. We wish you flavorful fun as you prepare for your holiday feasting.

Celebrate the versatility of the Mimosa with these great recipes.

For some, a Bloody Mary is a morning favorite, but if you ask me, Mimosas are the ultimate breakfast drink. The traditional orange juice and champagne mixer originated in Paris in the roaring twenties, and since then it has taken on a life of its own — even managing to claim a national holiday perfectly timed to usher in wedding season. Happy National Mimosa Day everyone!

As we head into wedding season, I would highly recommend that mimosas be served at every single shower, party, and rehearsal dinner happening, because champagne and delicious – enough said. For the traditionalists out there, you can’t go wrong with equal parts orange juice and champagne. But for those with a bit more of an adventurous spirit, here’s a couple of my favorite recipes presented “his and her” style, in keeping with the spirit of the season.

STRAWBERRY MIMOSAS

Strawberries compliment champagne deliciously and add a lovely blush for presentation.

Ingredients

2 oz chilled homemade Strawberry Juice or store bought if you can find it
3 oz chilled Andres of California Moscato Champagne
1 sliced strawberry for each Mimosa
A fresh strawberry for garnish

To Mix a Strawberry Mimosas

Place strawberry slices in the bottom of a champagne flute
Fill the champagne flute halfway full of the strawberry juice
Pour champagne into the flute until full.
Pour the champagne slowly, to prevent foaming and overflow
Garnish each glass with a fresh berry
Will make about 6-8 mimosas

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Prefer beer to bubbly?

No problem. There’s a mimosa for you, too! In our opinion, Blue Moon is the ideal pairing for OJ, but Shock Top or any light wheat beer will work!

BEERMOSAS

Ingredients

4 bottles beer (such as Blue Moon)
1 cup orange juice
Orange slices, for serving

Directions

Fill tall glasses 1/4 full with orange juice and top off with beer. Garnish with orange slices.

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And…Because we love you, here is our beer bread recipe, perfect to serve with your Beermosas.

Beer Bread

3 cups self rising flour
1 cup sugar
1 can or bottle of beer (pale beer taste of white bread, dark beer taste of wheat bread)
1 stick salted butter

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 350
Mix flour and sugar
Pour in beer and mix with your hand or spatula
Place mixture in to pre-grease bread pan
Cook for 30/45 minutes or until light golden brown
Pull bread out of oven and pour pre-melted butter over the top and around the edges – making sure it goes down the sides of the pan – to give the bread a golden crust
Pop the bread back into the oven for 10 minutes or until golden brown
Feeds 4-6 people or one, if you don’t want to share

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Love the product as much as the Mimosas? You’re in luck – it is in-stock and ready to ship.

Paired with the Strawberry Mimosas, you have :

Paired with Beermosas:

Check out our complete product line on imaxcorp.com