Today I’m over on Lonny chatting about my favorite Saturday afternoon activity… picnicking of course! For our picnics we usually run to the local gourmet grocer and pick up some prepared salads, sandwiches, and all the accoutrements for a tasty cheese board, toss them in a basket, find a patch of grass, and enjoy. Although lately we have been inviting friends over to be able to meet and hang with Archer, so my cheese board game has gotten pretty good. For me, it is a must when picnicking with a crowd, giving people the excuse to linger a little longer, but also enjoyed just as much when it is just the two three of us.

The perfect cheeseboard is all about the balance… salty, sweet, savory, bitter & spicy! I like a little of each and a lot of variety in textures.

For CHEESE I like to include (starred ones are my favorite):
a soft (like brie* or camembert)
a semi-soft (like havarti or gouda*)
a hard  (manchego*, parmesan, aged cheddar*)
a blue (roquefort, stilton)

The cheese, of course, is always the hero but I like the accompaniments just as much, if not more. This is where you get to have some fun adding the sweet, salty, and spicy to the oh so savory cheese.

For SWEET I like to include:
fresh fruit (grapes, figs)
dried fruit (apricots, cranberries)
honey
chutneys

For SALTY:
nuts (salted almonds)
crackers

For BITTER:
Olives

For SPICY:
THESE SPICY PECANS (I seriously buy 8 bags every time I go to Trader Joes. I can’t get enough)

And finally, the cracker of all crackers that are not only beautiful, but have the whole nutty, salty, and sweet balance already going on for them all by themselves are these “salty date and almond raincoast crisps“.

So there you have it… and now I am hungry. Be sure to head over to Lonny to see what else we get up to on a Saturday afternoon. And, and… there is a pretty lux giveaway happening over there as well! x

 Photography by Tessa Neustadt