Charcuterie Picnic Boxes

These charcuterie picnic boxes are filled with delicious cheeses, fruit, nuts, deli meats and crunchy vegetables. Portable snacking kicked up a tasty notch! 

Whenever our daughters fly out to visit us, we always prepare “car snacks” to be eaten on the way home from the airport. These usually include cheeses, salami, ham and vegetables like baby carrots. 

When I saw the Sunday FunDay theme of charcuterie boards for today’s event, I decided to make an elevated version of our “car snacks” which would also be perfect for road trips or picnics on the go.

As you can see from the photos, I used 28oz. Hefty containers but truly, any short, wide container would work. Do make sure the lids snap on securely though to keep the food from drying out and for ease of transport.

Charcuterie Picnic Boxes

These can be made ahead of time and stored in a refrigerator. Add the crackers just before you hit the road so they don’t get soft and stale. 

Ingredients

Baby cos or little gem lettuce leaves

Sliced meats – salami, prosciutto, summer sausage, bresaola, etc.

At least two semi soft or hard cheeses 

Dried and/or fresh fruit – blackberries, dried figs or apricots, grapes, etc.

Bite-sized vegetables -radishes, baby carrots, grape tomatoes, little pickles, etc.

Nuts – walnuts or pecans work great

Optional: stuffed peppers or olives from your grocery store deli counter

Your favorite crackers

Method

Line a container with leaves of baby cos or little gem lettuce.

Add in wedges of cheese like Camembert and slices of, perhaps, extra mature cheddar.

Roll your sliced meats or form them into little flowers and tuck them in between the cheeses. 

Add in the rest of your ingredients, trying to make a pretty mix of flavors and colors. For an extra cheese/veggie element, I added blue cheese stuffed olives from my grocery store deli counter. Little radishes add crunch and color. 

Finally, pulling the lettuce leaves forward slightly to make room, tuck crackers around the sides of the container. (See note above ingredients list if not serving immediately.)

Happy trails and enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing our creative charcuterie boards. Many thanks to our host, Mayuri from Mayuri’s Jikoni. Check out the links below.

• Culinary Cam: A Grazing Board for Gratitude 
• Food Lust People Love : Charcuterie Picnic Boxes 
• Our Good Life: Christmas Grazing Board 
• Karen's Kitchen Stories: Christmas Tree Charcuterie Board 
• Mayuri's Jikoni: Mexican Vegetarian Grazing Board 
• Sneha's Recipe : Sandwich Charcuterie Board 
• Palatable Pastime : Thanksgiving Turkey Charcuterie Board 
• Amy's Cooking Adventures: Turkey Charcuterie Board 
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Turkey Trot Sandwich Board 

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Cheesy Spelt Mini Muffins #MuffinMonday

These cheesy spelt mini muffins are a great little one/two bite snack that will disappear in record time. Leave them uncovered at your peril! It’s so easy to pop one in your mouth as you go by the plate.

It’s the last Monday of the month so that means my Muffin Monday friends are sharing muffin recipes. It somehow sneaks up on me every month and that makes me wonder how on earth I ever managed to do Muffin Monday every week for almost three whole years!

I was just counting and I have, including this one, 241 muffin recipes on this blog. Crazy talk! Most are sweet with only 54 falling into the savory category. I just love baking muffins and how quick and easy they are. Muffin Monday is an effort to tell the world! 

Cheesy Spelt Mini Muffins

You could also bake this batter in a six-cup muffin pan but the minis are so cute, why would you, except if you just don’t own a mini muffin pan? Plus they will take longer to bake. 

Ingredients

Canola or other light oil for greasing the muffin pan

½ cup or 60g spelt flour½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon fine sea salt

2 oz or 56g extra sharp cheddar cheese, finely grated

3 tablespoons or 43g butter, melted and cooled

2 tablespoons milk

1 egg

Method

Preheat your oven to 400F° or 200°C and prepare a 12-hole mini muffin pan by greasing it with canola or another light oil. 

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. 

Set aside a small amount of the grated cheese for topping, then add the bigger pile to the flour mixture and toss to coat.

In another smaller mixing bowl, whisk together the egg, melted butter and milk. 

Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ones, until just mixed. Divide the mixture between the muffin cups. 

I like to use a little scoop. Add a good pinch of the reserved grated cheddar to each muffin.

Bake for 10-12 minutes in your preheated oven or until golden brown on top.

Cool on a wire cooling rack for a few minutes and then run a spatula around the edges to loosen the muffins. 

Enjoy!

As I mentioned above, it's Muffin Monday. Check out all the great muffin recipe links below:

• Blood Orange Yogurt Muffins from Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Cardamom and Orange Sourdough Muffins from A Messy Kitchen
• Cheddar Cheese Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Cheesy Spelt Mini Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Irish Soda Bread Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Sourdough Hot Cross Buns from Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Sourdough Multi-grain Grape Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

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Jalapeño Cheddar Muffins #MuffinMonday

Slightly spicy and oh so cheesy, these jalapeño cheddar muffins are fluffy inside with a little cheesy crunch on the outside. In short, they are delicious. Perfect for breakfast OR snack time. They are also a great accompaniment for soup!

Once again, I’m sharing a small batch recipe for Muffin Monday, the last Monday of the month. It makes just six normal sized muffins but I must confess that my husband and I each ate two, one after the other, as soon as I took the photos for this post. They are so good! Just double the ingredients if you need 12.

Jalapeño Cheddar Muffins

I used a English mature cheddar for the extra sharp cheddar in this recipe because it’s our favorite but I have to admit for prettier muffins, an orange-colored cheddar might make a nicer contrast with the green jalapeños on top. Does anyone know why we color our cheddar here in the States? I must research this but if you know, please tell me why! 

Ingredients for 6 muffins

1 fresh jalapeño

Drizzle olive or canola oil to grease 6-cup muffin pan

1 cup or 125g flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Few good grinds of fresh black pepper

4 oz or 112g extra sharp cheddar

1/3 cup or 78ml milk

3 tablespoons canola or other light oil

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce (We prefer Lea & Perrins.)

1 egg

Method

Slice six thin rounds from your jalapeños to use for decoration, then mince the rest of them, discarding the seeds (if you want them less spicy) and stems. 

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and grease your 6-cup muffin pan liberally with canola or olive oil.  I don’t recommend using muffin liners when baking with cheese because the melty cheese makes the muffins hard to remove from the paper.

Grate your cheese. Put aside a small handful for topping the muffins. Whisk together your flour, baking powder, salt and pepper in a large bowl. 

Add the bigger pile of cheese to the flour bowl and stir to coat the cheese.

Now add the minced jalapeños and stir to coat again.

In another bowl, whisk together the milk, oil, Worcestershire sauce and egg. 

 

Pour your wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold them together until just mixed. 

This is a really stiff batter, almost a dough. But trust. When the muffins bake, all that cheese is going to melt and you will end up with lovely tender muffins.

Divide the batter evenly among the 6 muffin cups. Top each with some reserved cheese and a slice of jalapeño.

Bake in your preheated oven about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool on a rack for a few minutes and then remove the muffins from the pan to cool completely.  

If, despite liberal greasing, your muffins still stick to the pan a little, just run a knife or silicone spatula around the outside of each muffin and they should pop free.

Enjoy!  

As I mentioned above, it’s Muffin Monday, our favorite day of the month! Check out the other recipes my blogger friends are sharing: 

• Banana Pineapple Muffins with Macadamia Nuts from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Ginger & Lemon Muffins from Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Jalapeño Cheddar Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Lemon Zucchini Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Sourdough Tangerine Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

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Homemade Cheese Cracker TIE Fighters

These homemade cheese cracker TIE fighters are cartoonish compared to the real thing but they are so delicious that I hope you will be willing to forgive my artistic license. 

For today’s Foodie Extravaganza party, our host chose a Star Wars theme since it’s May the Fourth and all day long folks will be saying "May the Fourth be with you" and memes will abound. 

I must confess that I’m not a big Star Wars fan. In fact, the only movie of the series I have seen in its entirety is Episode VII: The Force Awakens. That said, the whole franchise is such a huge part of popular culture that there is no way to avoid knowing the characters and general story. Unless you live under a rock. 

In case you don’t know what a TIE fighter is, here’s a photo for you. They are star fighters in the Star Wars universe usually piloted by the Imperial force. TIE stands for "Twin Ion Engine.” This is what I tried to make out of cheese crackers and little cheese balls. 

I think mine are pretty cute but I also understand that “cute” is probably not supposed to be an adjective pertinent to TIE fighters. So sue me! At least I tried. 

Homemade Cheese Cracker TIE Fighters

The chilling time is essential to make sure the crackers hold their shape. Because everyone knows that TIE fighters are hexagonal. I bought this hexagon cookie cutter on Amazon: Hexagon Cookie Cutters <affiliate link. It was a bit smaller than I was hoping for but it was simple to use and wasted very little dough. I got about 48 crackers out of this dough recipe. So 24 TIE fighters. 

Ingredients

For the crackers:

1/2 cup or 63g all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

pinch fine sea salt

3 oz or 84g extra sharp cheddar cheese

3 tablespoons or 43g unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes

1 tablespoon cold water

For assembling the TIE fighters:

2 oz or 56g extra sharp cheddar cheese

2 oz or 56g cream cheese, softened

1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

Method

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, smoked paprika and pinch of salt. 

Grate the cheddar cheese for the crackers finely into the flour bowl. Toss till well combined. Add the mixture to your food processor along with the cold bits of butter. 

Process about 20 seconds, until the mixture looks like damp sand. 

Add the cold water and pulse until the mixture looks like clumps of dough. 

Transfer the dough to a large square of cling film. Fold the sides over and press the dough down into a neat square about 6 in or 15cm across. 

Fold the ends of the cling film over to keep the dough from drying out. Refrigerate for at least 45 minutes (or up to two days.)

Meanwhile, grate the cheddar for the TIE fighters and combine it thoroughly in the food processor with the cream cheese and paprika. 

Divide it into 1/2 teaspoon portions and roll them in balls. Cover with cling film and refrigerate with the cracker dough. You are going to end up with a few leftover cheese balls but they are delicious on their own so no worries. 

Preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your baking pan by lining it with baking parchment or a silicone liner.  (I couldn’t quite fit all my crackers on one pan so I baked them in two lots, one after the other.)

Remove the dough and the cheese ball from the refrigerator. Open the cling film around the dough, lay another piece of cling film on top, and use a rolling pin to roll it into a rectangle 8x9 in or 20x23cm.   

Use the hexagon cutter to cut the dough into crackers. 

Re-roll out any remaining dough to make the rest. If the dough feels too soft to transfer easily to the baking pan, chill it in the freezer for 5-10 minutes before attempting the move. It is already so hot here in Texas that the extra chill time was essential in my warm kitchen. 

Place the hexagons on your prepared baking pan. Use a skewer or chopstick to poke a hole through the center of each. The first batch was 35. The second batch was only 13 for a total of 48.

Bake until golden brown around the edges, about 18-20 minutes, rotating the baking pan halfway through baking.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely before assembling the TIE fighters. 

I was impatient so I transferred mine to a wire rack so they'd cool faster. 

To assemble the TIE fighters, gently press one cheese ball onto one cracker. Top with another cracker and press gently. Turn it sideways to balance on the crackers. Repeat until all the TIE fighters are assembled. 

Enjoy! And may the force be with you.

As I mentioned above, the theme for today's Foodie Extravaganza party is Star Wars! Many thanks to our host, Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla. Check out all the fun Star Wars recipes below. 

• Baked Lightsaber Churros by The Spiffy Cookie
• Blue Milk Cocktail by A Day in the Life on the Farm
  
• Galaxy’s Edge Inspired Blue Milk by Tara’s Multicultural Table
• Han’s “Dice”-d Potatoes by Sneha’s Recipe
• Homemade Cheese Cracker TIE Fighters by Food Lust People Love
• Millennium Falcon Peanut Butter Cups by Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Foodie Extravaganza is where we celebrate obscure food holidays by cooking and baking together with the same ingredient or theme each month. Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you! If you're a spectator looking for delicious tid-bits check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board.

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Spicy Ham Pimento Cheese Sandwiches

These Spicy Ham Pimento Cheese Sandwiches are a welcome savory treat that is perfect for parties or picnics. Like ‘em even spicier, add more jalapeño!

A couple of weeks ago, my husband made a dish that called for eight ounces of roasted red peppers aka pimentos. Younger daughter was dispatched to the store and came home with a 12-ounce jar. Now you or I might have just hummed the whole thing in but my husband is still quite the recipe rule follower (although he is getting better with experience) so he weighed out 8 ounces and put the rest in the refrigerator. 

Fortuitously, my pimento cheese recipe calls for exactly four ounces so it did not go to waste. To change things up a little, I added eight ounces of diced ham as well. Delicious!

Spicy Ham Pimento Cheese Sandwiches

For this sandwich spread, I used a pack of ready diced ham but this would also be an excellent use for some of your leftover baked ham from Easter or Christmas. If you don’t have leftover pimentos, there are 4 oz jars available at most grocery stores. 

Ingredients 

1 (4 oz or 113g)) jar pimentos, drained and chopped

1-2 teaspoons finely grated onion, plus any juice

8 oz or 227g extra sharp cheddar cheese, finely grated

1 fresh jalapeño, minced

8 oz or 227g diced ham

1/2 cup or 120ml mayonnaise

10 slices sandwich bread, crusts removed

Method

Grate the cheddar finely into a large bowl with plenty of room for mixing. Use a microplane to grate the onion right in top of the cheese so that any onion juice will also drip in. 

Add in the minced jalapeño and the pimentos. Use a fork to mix them thoroughly with the cheese and onion.

Add in the diced ham and mix again. It’s easier to mix thoroughly when the ingredients are dry so make sure to do this before adding the mayonnaise. 

Now, add in the mayonnaise and mix well.

Spread on bread for sandwiches. Be generous! Put it on thick. No one likes skimpy sandwich filling.

Or if you want to get fancy, cut the sandwiches into three. These will be very popular on a party table.

If you make them ahead, refrigerate the sandwiches covered with slightly damp paper towels and then cling film. This keeps the bread from getting dried out and stale. 

Enjoy!

Happy Easter to my readers who celebrate today! It’s Sunday FunDay and my friends and I are sharing creative ham sandwiches. Check out the links below. Many thanks to our host, Sue of Palatable Pastime. 

• Keto 2-Minute Protein Bread & A Ham Sandwich from Sneha's Recipe
• Peameal Ham and Egg Breakfast Sandwich from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Spicy Ham Pimento Cheese Sandwiches from Food Lust People Love
• Grilled Ham, Cheese and Tomato Sandwich from Palatable Pastime
• Ham & Pickle Sandwich from Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Croque Monsieur from Making Miracles

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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