For Thanksgiving, my job was to make the cheese board, so, naturally, I wanted it to look and taste good! The first thing you need is a nice board for the cheese, of course! The one I used is a simple wood board, with a small bowl with it. So, the most important part of a cheese board is the cheese and crackers. For cheese, I used 5 different ones: cheddar, manchego, swiss, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and black truffle. In my family, we don’t love the softer cheeses, like brie, so we stuck with more basic cheeses. Next, crackers. I used 4 types of crackers, which were sesame and poppy-seed, table water, rosemary, and Ritz. Though crackers may not seem too important to a board, it is important to have a variety of flavors to them. So, that was the basics of my cheese board, but, I had to add more to make it really special. I added one meat, which was a really delicious salami. You don’t want to add too much meat to a cheese board, as you do not want it confused with a charcuterie board. The last few items on the cheese board was cashews in a bowl, grapes, rosemary, and a pomegranate cut in half. The rosemary and pomegranate were put on for more of a decoration and pop of color, which I do think really pop on the board. If someone did not like cheese in your family, cashews and grapes can be a great snack for them, or cheese-lovers can put them on their cheese and crackers. My favorite combination was a rosemary cracker, manchego cheese, and a slice of salami. The manchego and salami complement each other well, and the rosemary cracker gives a nice flavor. If you don’t like meat, I would suggest a Ritz cracker and black truffle cheese. The black truffle cheese is strong, and would not go well with the salty salami. Of course, there are many combinations out there, which makes cheese boards super fun and customizable! Enjoy
The Best Donuts!
This morning, I woke up early to watch my sister’s hockey, and then we decided to go get some donuts after. We stumbled upon a place called The Other Coffee Shack, in Pembroke and Marshfield, MA. It didn’t look like much from the outside, but we decided to try out the donuts. We got a dozen, with an assortment of honey-dipped, chocolate glazed, coconut, German chocolate, and even an apple crumble! They were all really yummy, and not at all what we were expecting from such a small, unnoticeable place. Never judge a book by it’s cover! If you are ever in that area, and looking for a delicious snack, I hope you’ll think of The Other Coffee Shack.
Going Bananas!
This weekend, I realized that our fruit bowl had some brown bananas in it, so, I decided to make banana bread with them! Personally, I don’t love making banana bread. The mushy bananas gross me out, but it tastes so good in the end, so I’ve learned to handle it. My favorite thing to add to banana bread is walnuts, so I added about 1/2 cup. I also attached the recipe below, along with some tips to make your banana bread really stand out!
Ingredients
Directions
Hope you will try out some of these! Enjoy!
My Favorite Cookies!
I don’t know about you, but I really love making cookies, no matter the time of year! They are super easy to make, but taste so good. My personal favorite type of cookie are snickerdoodles, which is where you make a kinda basic cookie dough, and then roll the dough balls into cinnamon sugar. They are super yummy and so easy! Resting the cookies in the fridge may seem unnecessary, but it makes the cookies much better! I’m not really sure why, but they always taste better this way! You can make these any time of year; I’ve made them in the winter and the summer, and they have tasted amazing both times. Here is the recipe. Enjoy!
Snickerdoodles
Ingredients
Directions
All Around the World!
Recently, I traveled to Maui in Hawaii and I have two places which I would SO recommend to anyone who is taking the trek to Hawaii! My two places are called Wow Wow Hawaiian Lemonade and Coconut Glen’s Homemade Ice Cream! Wow Wow Hawaiian Lemonade is located in a small shopping area. The exterior is brick, but when you walk in, you get vanished away to amazing smells and colorful drinks! In the picture I took, you can see that they are served in cute little mason jars and you have a choice for what “aloha” sticker you want! My two sisters got the classic lemonade slushy, while I decided to get a watermelon basil lemonade. It was so good and refreshing and the mason jar is such a cool souvenir to bring back! Here is the website: http://www.wowwowhawaiianlemonade.com/
The second place is a little bit of a hike..ok, a lot a bit of a hike. It is on the Road to Hana, but is the best ice cream I’ve ever had! The view from the Road to Hana is beautiful, and the ice cream was so yummy after a long day. It is dairy free and made of coconut milk. They also have fresh coconuts that they chop right in front of you! I will always go back to these places if I ever have the opportunity to go back! http://coconutglens.com/