The holidays are here and I've been thinking of ways to get creative with the meals I'll be serving at Christmas and New Year's family dinners and gatherings.
Aside from wanting the dishes to be delicious, I'm also trying to see where I can save some money since food is expensive these days.
With that in mind I wanted to create a festive charcuterie board to serve as an appetizer for a family dinner I had over the holidays.
While the dinner is typically the main event at a family or friends gathering, I find the appetizers are just as important to get the event off to a great start.
To get started I headed to three stores in Victoria, B.C. and those stops included Walmart, Real Canadian Superstore and Dollarama.
The budget I set and stuck to was $35 and thankfully it wasn't that hard to do thanks to the great finds at Dollarama.
Here's the appetizer board I put together and how you can re-create it.
The hors d'oeuvres
A box of President's Choice puff pastry hor d'oeuvres. Right: President's Choice puff pastry hor d'oeuvres.
Asymina Kantorowicz | Narcity, Asymina Kantorowicz | Narcity
Charcuterie boards are typically filled with various deli meats, an assortment of cheeses and crackers.
While those are surely the staples everyone wants on a board, I also wanted to jazz it up a bit since it's the holidays.
I figured an assorted box of frozen appetizers or puff pastries would be a nice touch.
I found this box of President's Choice Hors D'Oeuvres at my local Real Canadian Superstore and it was the perfect addition.
The box comes with 40 pastries inside, 10 of each flavour. The different pastries consisted of Swiss and ham lattice rolls; roasted sweet potato and goat cheese lattice-topped rolls; apple, smoked gouda and sweet onion rolls; and chicken and bacon club-style roll.
Each pastry was crispy, buttery and the filling was delicious.
I definitely recommend getting these for your holiday appetizer board and I know I'll be buying them again when I want something quick and easy for a charcuterie board.
President's Choice Puff Pastry Hors D'Oeuvres Collection: $12.99 for 720 grams
All the products purchased for the charcuterie board
Grape tomatoes, antipasto, puff pastries, crackers, breadsticks, olives and gherkins on a kitchen counter.
Asymina Kantorowicz | Narcity
Aside from the puff pastry hors d'oeuvres, I also bought no name old cheddar cheese from the Real Canadian Superstore as it's my preferred type of cheddar. Any cheese is good cheese so get what you like best!
I also got grape tomatoes for a pop of colour and the Marc Angelo Antipasto Misto mix with prosciutto and salami from Walmart.
Since I was trying to stay under $35 for this particular board I decided to head to my local Dollarama as well to see what I could find.
I ended up finding a jar of green olives, sweet gherkins, Breton crackers, sesame breadsticks and garlic and parsley baguette bites.
I'm honestly always pleasantly surprised with the amazing finds at Dollarama and half of the contents on my board ended up being from the discount store.
no name cheddar cheese: $3.99
Marc Angelo Antipasto Misto: $5.97
Grape tomatoes: $2.97
Breadsticks: $1.75
Breton crackers: $2.75
Baguette bites: $1.75
Olives: $1.75
Gherkins: $1.75
Other items that I saw and will most likely buy the next time I'm putting together an appetizer board include cookies, chocolate-cream filled wafers, chocolates, dried fruit and an assortment of nuts like cashews and almonds.
Additional bits for the charcuterie board I found at home
Since this was a holiday-themed charcuterie board I decided to assemble all the food items on a platter into the shape of a Christmas tree.
As I was assembling the board I also checked my fridge to see what I had at home that I could add on.
I had some green grapes that I decided to use since they added a nice light green colour. I also found a small brick of mozzarella cheese I had left over from making lasagna so I used a small piece and cut it into a star shape to put at the top of the tree.
Lastly, I have a herb garden that's still going strong at this time of year (thank you Vancouver Island weather!) so I cut a bit of rosemary to add on as more of a decorative finishing touch.
There is always something in the fridge or pantry that you can add on at the last minute to any board.
Whether it's jam, hummus, dip, cucumbers, peppers, berries, apples, chips or chocolate - it all works beautifully when assembled together.
You could also bake some fresh bread and dip into it olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
The final holiday charcuterie board
A holiday charcuterie board filled with food on a coffee table with bowls of crackers in front of a Christmas tree.
Asymina Kantorowicz | Narcity
I was pretty happy with how my Christmas-tree shaped charcuterie board turned out in the end.
As you can see each layer of the tree is a different food item and I used the breadsticks as the tree trunk.
I couldn't fit the Breton crackers or baguette bites anywhere nicely and I also didn't want them to get soggy from any olive or gherkin juices so I added them on the side in a separate serving dish.
Total cost: $35.67
Charcuterie boards may seem like an expensive meal to put together but there are ways to save. I recommend going to Dollarama or Bulk Barn when you want to get an assortment of products without spending too much money.
While I did put this charcuterie board together as an appetizer, it could also work well as a complete dinner for a holiday date night at home with your partner.
If you're looking for other finger food or snacks for your upcoming holiday party, I also ranked the best cheddar cheese pierogi brands and white cheddar popcorn from Canadian grocery stores.
Another great addition to a charcuterie board is a bottle of wine. Narcity's Sarah Rohoman tried five of the cheapest wines at the LCBO in case you're looking for some ideas.
Happy holidays!
These prices are confirmed at the time of publishing, but they can change at any time. Taxes and fees may not be included.
