Edible Blue Ridge Winter 2022

Charlottesville’s Favorite Specialty Food Store

Crackers These rosemary crackers (Little Hat Creek Farm, Roseland) make for a sturdy founda tion to build a perfect bite. You can opt for a low-gluten board, or stop by your favor ite bakery for a baguette or batard, then add a sweet biscuit-like cracker to pair with a blue cheese or brie.

Cheese & Charcuterie Boards: 101 Building a cheese board brings out the creative side in us, but as we concentrate our energies on pies, roasts and holiday shop ping, the stress of entertaining can be overwhelming. With our friends at feast!, we have tips and tricks for composing the perfect cheese and charcuterie board for entertaining, which will allevi ate some of those holiday jitters. Supporting all things local, all items shown were produced in Virginia and are available to pur chase at the shop, making this a one-store shopping trip!

Select your cheese When choosing cheeses, think about milk and texture. Having sheep and goat milk cheeses alongside cow milk cheeses is an excellent op tion — not only because of their unique avors, but as an alternative for guests who may be lac tose-challenged. Having a mix of soft, hard and semi-hard cheeses creates a balance of texture and avors when paired with breads, crackers and accoutrements. If you have a strong or stinky cheese, consider adding a more mild- avored cheese (such as Monastery Gouda from Our Lady of Angels, Crozet) to the mix.

Your foundation A decorative, handmade cheese board is a beautiful touch, but any cutting board, slab of marble or tile, col lection of small boards, or even a sheath of craft paper (giving you the option to label each item) can be used.

Pickles We humbly believe no board is complete without at least one type of pickle. Cornichons are ador able, easy to handle and give you that crunch of salty acidity that might otherwise be missing.

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