Thanksgiving Cheese Board
A Holiday Tradition you didn't know you needed
Thanksgiving is this Thursday, y’all.
It sort of hit me this weekend that I need to get my butt in gear for the holiday season.
The Man and I typically spend Thanksgiving together in our cozy apartment with Mr. Kitty.
Our jobs don’t afford us the opportunity to travel long distances at the holidays — and the short drive to visit family and friends in Northern Virginia is a traffic nightmare.
So Thanksgiving is typically a lazy day for us — with a flurry of activity about an hour before dinner is ready.
We also watch the parade in the morning while we get the turkey ready because you have to, right?
An afternoon cheese board has become another Turkey Day must-have for us.
You need something to snack on while waiting for dinner, and cheese is the perfect solution.
You can get the cheese board ready around noon or 1 o’clock — and people can snack on it until dinner is ready.
No muss, no fuss.
Plus it’s an excuse to open a bottle of bubbly.
Now that I’ve got you on board with a Thanksgiving cheese plate (I doubt it took much persuasion) — you’re probably wanting your resident cheese monger to give you some advice.
So here’s what I’ve learned about creating a crowd-pleasing cheese board over the years:
First - you’ve gotta read the room. If you’re serving a bunch of non-adventurous eaters, a board full of stinky stuff with pungent flavors isn’t going to be a big hit.
When I’m creating a board for guests, I always start the conversation by asking my “three magic cheese questions” that tell you what kind of eaters your guests are.
Do you like goat cheese?
Do you like blue cheese?
Do you like stinky cheese?
Simple, but effective. If the response to any or all of these questions is a wrinkled nose, a “yuck” face, or even a tentative “no” or “maybe” - here’s what to do.
If they’re not into goat cheese, they won’t like anything too barnyardy. Stick to cow’s milk cheeses, or buffalo milk for something exotic. Stay away from sheep and goats milk cheeses.
If they aren’t into blue cheese, skip it.
No stinky cheese? Don’t serve anything aggressive. No washed rinds or blues. Stick with alpine cheese, cheddars, goudas, and triple cremes.
Just because you’re not serving aggressive cheese doesn’t mean it can’t have flavor.
Mix different kinds of kinds of milk and vary your textures
This is how you create interesting boards. It’s not really about the presentation — though a beautiful board always helps.
What really makes a board is the unique mix of cheeses.
Mix your milk - I always include at least one goat, one sheep, and one cow’s milk cheese. Caveat: if I’m not serving picky eaters.
Vary your textures - especially important if you’re unable to mix milks. One creamy, one semi-firm, one hard. You’ll be amazed at what aging does to flavor!
For example, an ideal board for me would be :
Goat Lady Dairy Snow Camp (goat and cow blend, bloomy rind, creamy, soft)
Old Chatham Creamery Ewe’s Blue (sheep)
Jasper Hill Cellars Alpha Tolman (raw cows milk, alpine style, firm)
When it comes to raw milk — here in the US, the only raw (unpasteurized) milk cheeses available are aged for over 60 days. Any fresh or soft cheese will be pasteurized.
Design Tips
Use odd numbers — 3 cheeses, 5 cheeses, etc — are more appealing to the eye
Add color with fruit or fresh herbs
Include a utensil for each cheese — nothing worse than a strong blue mixing with your buttery triple creme
Don’t get into your own head about the layout - people are going to be excited about ALL THE CHEESE. Be creative and have fun!
Condiment Tips
Acid is key
Include pickles and mustard on the plate. Cornichons are traditional, but branch out to fun pickles like carrots or green beans!
Palate cleansers
Add fresh or dried fruit. Dried apricots are great for this.
Also include a jam or chutney. Trust me when I say that the savory notes in chutney will take things next level.
Crackers
I belong to the “don’t gild the lily” school of thought. I don’t like big flavors in my crackers, I want to taste the cheese. But you know, do you.
I really like a plain water cracker or crostini. Top Seedz crackers are amazing if you’re looking for something gluten-free or seeded.
Final pro tip: Let your cheese sit at room temperature for an hour before you serve it. It enhances the flavors of the cheese — and makes creamy cheese ooey gooey!
I’d love to see your boards in the comments — or ask me your cheese questions!
And if you’re just here for the photo of the Distinguished Mr. Kitty…
I found him like this.
The Man admitted to putting his toy under his arm.
But he stayed that way for like two hours.