Serving Tips and Ideas for Casual Gatherings

 

Here a Simon Pearce Woodbury square plate is used with a Woodbury petite bowl as a serving piece for bread cheeses and olives. 

Two Birds eye maple wooden spreaders add a sophisticated accent to spread the soft cheeses on the whole grain bread. Note how the bread is sliced and then cut on an angle and slightly fanned out. 

The real theme here is the use of fresh from the garden (or market) herbs.  Not only do they accent the cheese selections (with basil, rosemary and thyme springs) but the rosemary branch on the olives gives a Mediterranean nod to the use of rosemary in many flavorings.  (Greeks used to inhale rosemary when they wanted to increase their memory.)

Cheese and wine pairings make sense because of the contrast, complexities and enrichment of the flavors.  Easy to prepare and serve, they take the stress out of entertaining. It's also a fun way for guests to try and learn about different styles and makers of cheese.  These were selected from assortments I recently found at the Woodstock Farmers Market in Woodstock, Vermont. 

Easy to resource from local groceries, prepare quickly and create serving ideas make entertaining a snap. It allows you to be a guest at your own party and spend time doing the part you like best, like having fun with your guests rather than working over a hot oven or making things at the last minute.

Below- you can see the flowers in the bowl as well as that wonderful cheese that was cut in half. It is just oozing even at room temperature with flavor. If it hadn’t been served as such the guest’s wouldn’t have known. 

Note also how Basil and Lemon Balm stems are used in the flower arrangement as well. This adds easy filler to the flowers and creates a coordinating and interesting accent. Let me also mention that the flowers are loosely arranged in a Barre Bowl which keeps them lower and controls their loosely and easily placed shape.

Arranging flowers in a bowl is fast and easy and takes the fuss out of time needed to create a more planned arrangement. Simply cut stems so flowers are just slightly above rim of bowl. Continue to add stems of whatever you have on hand and fill out open spaces. As flowers lean on each other they create a nice mound and flow with whatever the shape of the bowl is.

 Wine makes a self serve bar, so placing enough for your guest count as well as a few extras (some people will always mix up or lose  their glass so rather than deal with finding a glass when you’re in the middle of something else it’s much easier to just let a guest help them self).  

 

Make sure to put a few bottles out, perhaps a few opened to breath for red and a few in a chiller if offering white. I suggest that hosts looking to save time and effort use an “all-purpose” glass for wines, something preferably with a stem that has an adequate bowl shape and size to hold red wine, white wine and a variety of other beverages. 

Doesnt mean I dont like to have the right glass for the right beverage, but as this is a casual gathering, keep it simple.

 

Always offer bottled water for guests that may want to stretch their drink limits.

A few sprigs of thyme, basil and rosemary and oregano add a soft but culinary accent to the cheese presentation and are completely edible.  Any sunny corner can yield a bounty of herbs, they are low maintenance  and a few snips is all you need for garnishes.  Later you can dry/freeze your own "bouquet garni" and use in soups to add a rich and fragrant flavor.