The Art of the Board

Charcuterie maven Carney debuts with an inviting take on serving boards, using them as staging tableaux for snacks and full-on meals. She offers extensive instructions for building a board (position cheese before carbs) with bonus “Hopeless Hostess Tips” (such as sourcing mismatched utensils at thrift stores for a quirky tablescape), and labels recipes according to difficulty, budget, and dietary restrictions. The highlight, of course, is the food design, which is inspired by the seasons and showcases ingredients including cured meats, cheese, and seasonal fruit, as well as treats such as chocolate bars and graham crackers, which show up in the cleverly titled “S’more, Please” board. Other delights include cracker-crusted baked mac with Brie or showpiece drinks like an elderflower gin sour. Each board is a dynamic interplay of shapes—from fanning, folding, and twisting ingredients into such decorative edibles as a salami rose, as seen in the “So Very Fondue You” board. With its S-shape