Tuesday, November 15, 2011

wine and cheese platter


I had my 25th birthday celebration this past Friday. (You can see more details about the decor in this post here). Since the party was on a Friday at 8pm, but I wouldn't be home from work until 6pm, I wanted to set up an appetizer table that was easy to prepare ahead of time and included only cold items. The spread needed to be filling enough to tide everyone over until dinnertime at 9pm.




I came up with a wine and cheese spread, which included 4 types of cheese, an assortment of dried fruits, marcona almonds, sliced baguette, and crackers. I made a list of suggested wine pairings, which I printed and framed.

The night before, I set up the table with a gold wrapping paper runner, a vase of hydrangeas, some votive candles, and wine glasses. I also put out green cocktail napkins, the empty cheese platter, a wine and cheese sign, and the red wine.

Right when I got home from work on Friday, I prepped the cheese, placed the cubes back in the fridge in individual ziploc bags, and sliced the baguette. About 30 minutes before everyone arrived, I plated everything up. About 5 minutes before the party, I pulled the white and sparkling wine out of the fridge.

I followed Le Partie Sugar's description on how to set up a successful cheese platter. I usually just place blocks of cheese on a platter, but pre-cubing them made it easier for guests to grab a piece. (Le Partie Sugar suggests leaving soft cheeses like brie and chevre in whole pieces since cutting them up will get a bit messy.) I used the dried fruit to separate each type of cheese and I placed a piece of card stock atop each stack to label the cheese.


1 comment:

  1. OH man this puts mine to shamne!!! :::::Crawls in a hole:::::

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