The first few weeks of November represent the calm before the storm officially known as the holiday season. Let’s face it, once Thanksgiving hits, it is total chaos until New Year’s Day. In addition to the decorating, the shopping, the baking and the cooking of huge holiday meals, there are the parties. There are many, many parties of all different shapes and sizes including office get-togethers, church potlucks, classroom celebrations, extracurricular activity parties and other festive gatherings of family and friends. We love to celebrate as much as the next guy, but sometimes finding the time to prepare something delectable for each occasion can be a bit overwhelming.
Anticipating we would need help, we reached out to our talented friends, Casey Young and Ashley Elvis. As co-owners of Board in Aiken, they make their living crafting beautiful charcuterie and specialty boards that really know how to party! We tasked them with creating unique boards to help carry us through three different holiday gatherings. They were up to the challenge and their creations grace the pages of this spread.
If you assumed that boards were limited to charcuterie, the Crudité Board will quickly disabuse you of that notion. It is a colorful combination of fresh veggies, hummus and a spinach artichoke dip that will shine at an office party or as a healthy side for a holiday meal.
Christmas morning is best spent enjoying gift giving and precious time with family, not preparing breakfast and making a huge mess that will have to be cleaned up before starting the real cooking for the day. Enter the Breakfast Board. It is a delightful spread of Belgian waffles and pancakes with all the toppings, including chocolate chips, syrup, marshmallows, whipped cream, two jams, and butter, rounded out with candied bacon and mini cinnamon rolls.
The last entry is perfect for the kids to take to a party at school or for teenagers to enjoy with a movie upstairs while the adults have a party of their own. The Movie Board has both the sweet and salty covered with regular and caramel popcorn, fresh fruit, brownies, chocolate-covered pretzels and all the candies - chocolate and sugary.
Our more enterprising readers may be tempted to recreate these boards at home and the pictures will definitely provide inspiration. As for us, we will leave it to the professionals to lighten our load during the busiest time of year. And, who are we kidding, we don’t have the time or the talent to create such stunning boards.
If you choose to follow our lead, Board in Aiken offers a large selection of boards, from traditional charcuterie to about anything you can imagine. Visit their website at www.boardinaiken.com to check out their offerings.
