ENTERTAINING YOUR GUESTS: How to Create a Sweet and Salty Assorted Cheese Tray

Hi!  Hope everyone enjoyed the Labor Day weekend.  The weather was beautiful and more warmer days are predicted in the forecast.  Summer isn't over yet!

For those who were entertaining, I wanted to share with you a fun and easy collaboration I created with my sister on how to create a sweet and salty assorted cheese tray.  Paired with you favorite wine, it's the perfect appetizer (or in my case, a meal).  Trust me, there is a lot going on! From an assortment of cheeses, meats, crackers, bread, nuts, fruit and chocolates.  How can you not be full?!

If you ever had those last minute guests or wanted to just gather around with some friends/family and chit-chat, this is a perfect idea to whip up.

We usually have meats and cheeses in our fridge as a go-to snack.   And, I always store an assortment of crackers in the pantry.  You can add your favorite fruits to compliment the assorted meats and cheeses.  We added concord grapes to this tray (yum).  We also added some nuts and dry fruit.



To add to the sweetness, we included different chocolates to compliment the assorted tray.

No gathering would be complete without a lovely arrangement to compliment the display.

I don't know about you, but we always have plenty of bottles of wine stored away.  It's no fun drinking alone, so it's always pleasant to open a bottle that I can share with my favorite peeps.

It was nice to gather around, chatting and laughing, while enjoying the food and wine.

Head on over to my sister's blog, Design by Occasion to view her post.

You can incorporate your own foods for this assorted cheese tray.

Here's what we used:

Cheeses:  Havarti with Dill; extra sharp Cheddar Cheese; Baby Swiss; White Stilton with Apricots

Meats:  Beretta Hot Sopressata Salami; Pepperoni

Crackers/Bread:  Twisted Cheese Sticks; Raisin Rosemary Crisps; Multi-grain crackers; Garlic and Parmesean bread (toasted and cut into little squares)

Nuts:  Cashew Macadamia Trek mix with Pineapple, Cranberry & Almond

Fruit:  Concord Grapes

Chocolate:  Milk Chocolate with Hazelnuts; Chocolate Coconut Almonds

Wine:  Red (Carbernet) and White (Riesling)

Florals:  Pink Spray Roses; White Roses; Blue Thistle; White Delphinium stalks; Burgundy flowers (not sure of the name).  If anyone knows, be sure to comment.

xo,