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This year, my husband and I are hosting for Christmas. So for the past couple weeks, I have been on full planning mode: from the menu, to the table setting, to the house decorations, and I thought it’d be great to share with you some of the recipes that have made it to my menu.
First things first, the cheese board. Listen, guys, I take cheese boards very seriously. There is no celebration that happens at my place that does not involve a cheese board. I’m French, after all, and cheese kind of is my specialty. I hear you thinking: “But cheese is not healthy and neither are all the other foods that are on a cheese board.” It’s true, however, it is perfectly healthy to indulge at times and I fully intend on indulging and over eating for two weeks straight this holiday season. 😀
As a matter of fact, I have decided to create a cheat meal section on the blog. I think it would better reflect my reality, which is to eat healthy most of the time and indulge whenever I want to, mainly during the weekends. I have realized that when I started my fitness journey, I looked at some Fitness or Healthy Lifestyle Bloggers on social media for inspiration and motivation, but their feeds led me to believe that they were healthy all the time, which I think created unnecessary pressure on my part (to be perfectly healthy 24/7), guilt and stress (when I was not) and I don’t want my platform to have the same effect on people who are trying to make changes to live a healthier lifestyle. I am sure the ladies I looked up to were not always healthy, and I sure am not healthy all the time.
Back to my cheese board! The rules to create a mouth-watering and eye-pleasing cheese board are simple: you need 4 types of cheese (Blue, Smear-Ripened, Washed-Rind and Soft-Ripened), add fruits (must have grapes, you can add figs, raspberries, kiwis, pomegranates cut in half), dried fruits (apricots, dates, cranberries), charcuterie, different types of crackers and a baguette if you can, olives and pickles, nuts (must have pecans!), and last but not least, cranberry or blueberry jelly.
On my board pictured, I have decided to go with cheese from Quebec. One of the greatest surprises when I started exploring all the marvelous things Canada (and Quebec in particular) had to offer since settling here, was discovering the succulent cheese that is made in the Province. The more I dived into the Québécoise culture over the years, the more I felt like the Province’s culinary heritage was rich beyond measure and deserved to be known worldwide. As far as cheese goes, some of my absolute favorites from Quebec include: Oka, Chemin Hatley (from La Fromagerie La Station), Cendré De Charlevoix, Grand Cru (from La Fromagerie La Station), Bleu Bénédictin (from Saint Benoit Du Lac).
On my board pictured, you will also find charcuterie from the brand Nostrano, which I personally think taste absolutely divine and are always gone in no time whenever placed on my boards. Nostrano is a family business that specializes in producing upscale Italian deli meats. The artisans’ knowhow results in high quality products rich in flavour and natural aromas, that I feel stand out from other brands on the market in the same category. Here, I have placed their sliced Prosciutto, sliced Genoa Salami, sliced Calabrese Salami and sliced Rosette De Lyon. I would suggest adding their Sopressata Sausage and Cacciatora Saussages, which I also absolutely love.
I hope you feel inspired to create your very own cheese board for the holidays and don’t hesitate to tag me on social media to show me your work!
Happy holidays! 🙂
