My favourite part about entertaining as you can probably guess is the preparation for the day or night ahead. The menu planning, the styling prop gathering, the table decorating, all the details that go into the day or night place me right into my element. The space where for me time is non-existent, I am sucked into the present moment, soaking it all in, tweaking, placing, setting and finalizing. I am that person that writes down the menu, dreams of the table decor and days sometimes even weeks before I start to gather and placing items from around my home to make a beautiful table.

To be honest Paul and I don’t entertain all that much anymore, our schedules are so busy and when we do have a night off together we tend to just hunker down with each other as it is kinda a luxury.

But I still do love a night spent with my girls. Every year my besties and I have a girly holiday evening together, we usually bake and decorate cookies, make handmade Christmas tree ornaments, watch one of our favourite movies The Holiday or Love Actually and drink some kind of merriment elixir.

This year I am hosting so I thought I would share with you an easy (but looks extravagantly beautiful) way to entertain during the holiday season. Not only it is one of my favourite types of meals, it is really simple to throw together and looks absolutely stunning on a long or round dining room table or even on the coffee table.The ultimate charcuterie platter, an assembly of nibbles meant to be shared with those you love. Which for me is what the holidays are about; cherishing and spending time with those so near and dear to our hearts, making memories, and eating some really damn good food together, laughing, telling stories, being silly and being present.

I love to make things look beautiful and when you put a little time and thought into it a charcuterie platter they can be absolutely stunning. Again I may be bias to the charcuterie but I think it might just be the best looking kind of table at a party. I like to use a variety of cheeses, salamis, cured meats, dried and fresh fruit, honey and spreads, chocolate and nuts, breads and crackers, fresh herbs and some kind of baked brie (hint hint, the one below is beyond good, it makes magic in your mouth).

I use a combo of cheeses, a soft spreadable one like a cream cheese or goat cheese to go with my Momma’s homemade pepper jelly (which is insanely good and I may need her to guest post to share it ;). I also like to have a harder cheese like Parmesan (which goes very well with Parmesan crusted salami I found at my local market), it may be a bit unconventional but thinly sliced Parmesan, a slice of salami and a grape go really well together. My absolute favourite cheese and one that never misses a charcuterie platter of mine is apple wood smoked cheddar, it pairs perfectly with Spanish salami, a cracker and thin piece of fresh apple on top.

In between it all is a scattering of dried fruits and nuts, some really good quality dark chocolate, sliced gala apples and red grapes, French bread with olive oil and balsamic for dipping, mandarins, a couple of different kinds of crackers, raw honey for drizzling (trust me on this one, it is kinda a game changer, drizzle it on top of everything and thank me later {a cracker, a piece of cheese, a slice of salami, a drizzle of honey and a cracker on top, heaven}) and sprigs of fresh herbs for a little greenery and garnish.

I am known for my pesto and sun-dried tomato baked brie but for this occasion I wanted to do something a little more holidayesque (side note, I am totally mading an extra pesto brie for my bestie because she is allergic to nuts and I will share my recipe with you one day, it’s really good, simple and always requested). This brie is absolutely stunning when it comes out of the oven, it smells, looks and tastes like the holidays. It would be gorgeous all on its own as well, perfect to take to a holiday potluck.

HONEY THYME BAKED BRIE WITH PISTACHIOS, WALNUTS, DRIED FIGS & APRICOTS

ingredients

1 small round of brie (or if you are serving a larger crowd use a big round of brie and double the rest of the ingredients)

1/3 cup of dried apricots

1/3 cup dried figs

1/3 cup of walnuts

1/3 cup of pistachios

2 tbsp of honey

1 tbsp of butter

1 tbsp of fresh thyme

1 tbsp of white wine

directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Chop the apricots, figs, walnuts and pistachios and de-stem the thyme. Set aside.

In a small oven safe pan on medium heat melt the butter and add the honey and thyme. Cook down for a couple of minutes and then deglaze with the white wine. Cook off the alcohol (1-2 minutes) and then add in the chopped fruit and nuts. Cook for another 5 minutes.

Place the nut and fruit mixture into a bowl, place the brie down in the pan (the same one you cooked the fruit and nuts in) and then top the brie with the nut and fruit mixture, placing the extra amount around the brie.

Bake the brie in the oven for 15-20 minutes and serve warm!

charcuterie buying list

- Salami (a few different kinds, I used Parmesan crusted, a Spanish variety and a cured Italian one)

- Cheese (again a few varieties with different textures works best, goat cheese, Parmesan, apple smoked cheddar, blue, the above baked brie, or really any of your favourites)

- Crackers (a couple varieties again, I used water crackers and an artisan chia cracker)

- grapes, apples (sliced) and mandarins

- fair trade, good quality dark chocolate

- French bread (olive oil and balsamic for dipping)

- raw honey

- dried fruits and nuts for scattering

- fresh thyme and rosemary to garnish