I mean, as if you couldn’t tell. Feast your eyes on this cheese board. I will not lie, I am excited about it. Heck, even my mom is excited about it. I showed her the photos and I think they may be some of her favorites. But while she loved the photos, I do think that both of us loved the pomegranate baked brie even more…but it’s brie, so that’s kind of a given. This cheese board, or really cheese table/spread, is full of all of my favorite things. Cheese, pomegranates, apples, figs, cheese, carbs, peanut butter, cheese… AND it’s kind spooky…but you know, in a fun way!! I have this pet peeve with savory Halloween foods. You see, some of them kind of gross me out a bit. Like I really do not want to eat a meatloaf that looks like a brain. Not today. Not on Halloween. Not anytime. I know some people find stuff like that really cool, but as far as creepy food goes, I like to keep them pretty PG rated, and well, still semi normal looking, cause otherwise I lose my appetite. I know, call me a BABY.
But guys, look what I made. None of it is gross looking, yet it still gives off that Halloween feel…you know? Ok, probably not, I realize that I sound like a crazy person, but if you were in my head, you would get it. Oh, but don’t try to get in my head, because you will only drive yourself insane. <–truth.
Anyway, I do not even know where to begin with this board. I guess I should maybe explain the name first. Basically, I love Harry Potter and I just wanted to call this the Deathly Hallows Cheese Board. I figured the twigs kind of made it seem foresty, so I just rolled with it. OKAY, but on to the cheese…the important stuff, right? There is a Bloody Pomegranate Baked Brie, a Fig and Gorgonzola Cheese Witch’s Hat, Cheddar Cracker Caramel Apples (I swear, they are good), Peanut Butter and Cheddar Black Spiders, Marinated Mozzarella + Green Olive “Eyeballs” and Vampire Apple Teeth…plus all the usual cheese board suspects, like black grapes, figs and prosciutto. Oh, and I even attempted to make sweet potato “Pumpkin Chips”, but that didn’t really work out so well. So I just made sweet potato chips. Hey, at least they’re still orange, that’s pretty festive right?!?
If you are entertaining this Halloween, you HAVE to make this spread. Like, you HAVE too. You will for sure impress everyone attending, and I’m also pretty confident that you will feel pretty proud of yourself in the end too. I know this looks like a lot of work and yes, it will take a couple of hours to prep (if you make everything), but it’s worth it. So worth it… and SO fun! And delicious, I mean hello, do you see that brie? Nothing is hard to put together, I included a lot of different, fairly simple cheese ideas. That cute witch’s hat does need some chill time in the fridge, but I promise, you guys can do this! Don’t let the long list of ingredients scare you off. You need these apps in your life this Halloween. YOU DO.
If you don’t have time to make everything, that’s totally fine too. You can simply make your favorites. I highly recommend the brie though. The brie is just too good to pass up and it’s beyond easy to make, just four simple ingredients. I also especially love the witch hat and the black spiders. The witch hat is a mix of cream cheese, gorgonzola cheese, a little roasted garlic (only if you are into that though), fig preserves (SO MUCH YUM) and salted pistachios. It’s incredibly good. Especially served with pretzels, and umm I may have been eating the leftover cheese on toasted bagels for lunch. <–do this with the leftovers. It’s the BEST. SCORE. Let’s see, what else? Oh right, the marinated mozzarella + green olive eyeballs. These are really nothing crazy creative, but they look a little spooky without actually doing anything to them, so I went with it. Plus, I love marinated mozzarella + olive on toast. One of my favorite snacks! And lastly, we have the vampire apple teeth (step-by-step shots below the recipe). These do not actually have cheese, but I love apples with my cheese and I have been wanting to make these for years, so I finally did! I’m sure you guys have all seen these floating around on Pinterest and in mags. They’re easy, fun and healthy! I used cranberries as “fangs” and thought they turned out pretty dang cute. I got to snack on all the leftovers for breakfast. Let’s just say I wasn’t complaining. Oh and jeez! I almost forgot the apples! I made them super simple. Just caramel and crushed cheddar cheese crackers. I am a huge fan of cheddar + caramel, so naturally this apple had to happen…and you guys, it worked… I am in love, such a delicious combo. I can’t decide if it’s a dessert, snack or both, but either way, these apples are good!
You can also get creative here and add your own spin to this Deathly Hallows Cheese Board. There are so many fun things you can do…I had a hard time picking out my favorites to show you guys. Originally this board was like double the size. Totally serious. You know I love my cheese!
Meet Benny, he says BOOO! HOW TO SHOTS: Vampire Apples Black Spiders
