Autumn Cheese Board

When the ground is covered in crisp leaves, it’s a great time to put together a picnic that savors the changing season.

Cheese boards are always a choose-your-own adventure, but I especially love cheese trays in the fall when it’s time to break into the canning pantry I’ve been preserving all summer. Here I will show you what I put on my board this autumn afternoon to achieve a variety of textures, colors, and flavor combos, but pick any snacks you want because true success with a cheese tray is enjoying your food the way you like it.

Some general cheese tray tips:

• Plating items in order from largest to smallest will help maximize how many goodies you can fit on the plate for the ultimate afternoon of flavor exploration.

• Choose two to three items from each category to give guests lots of combination options. My go-to categories are cheeses, pickles, dips, fruit, and dried items.

• Use bowls to avoid getting items like breads and crackers moist.

Start by adding one optional decorative element and a variety of bowls to the board.

Pictured: one small gourd, two medium bowls, and two small bowls

Add cheese to the board.

Pictured: one wheel of farmer cheese, a wedge of aged goat cheese, and a block of blue cheese

Fill bowls with dips, spreads, jams, and pickled items.

Pictured: pickled okra, pickled peppers and green tomatoes, beer mustard, curried tomato jam, black olive spread

Add fresh fruit around the bowls.

Pictured: two grape varieties

Place crackers and bread around the board.

Pictured: black sesame crackers and fresh pita triangles

Fill any remaining empty space with small dried items.

Pictured: almonds, dehydrated persimmon chips, dried figs (ok, so the figs are slightly out of the shot…)

Add small serving utensils and cheese knives.

Pictured: Kobe reminding me that he will gladly devour the board without the need for utensils

Gather your favorites and munch the day away.