Charcuterie Boards from @MaddieDayAuthor

MADDIE DAY here, with a meal that isn't exactly a recipe. What can I say? I've been racing to finish a first draft, celebrate my short story collection with an in-person launch party, and host a postponed party to celebrate a big birthday. 

So when I gathered with my other blogmates from the Wicked Authors last weekend to celebrate our blog's tenth birthday (so many happy celebrations this month!) and we decided to indulge in charcuterie boards for our first-night dinner, I thought I'd share some of the ingredients and presentation with you all. 

Charcuterie Board

Keep in mind that almost anything goes except something you need a recipe for. 

Ingredients (guidelines only)

Meats

Cheeses

Crunchy things

Spready things

Salty things

Bready things

Fruity things

Wine

As you can see, my initial contribution to the group dinner covered all the bases except for bread (because Barb Ross said she was bringing good baguettes, which she did).

Meats: Genoa sausage, prosciutto, and smoked salmon

Cheeses: Manchego, brie, chevre with herbs

Crunchy: bell pepper, tiny dill pickles

Spready: Dijon mustard

Salty: Kalamata olives, and the pickles

Bready: Baguette, crackers (not shown)

Fruity: small bunches of grapes

Wine: a full-bodied red

Here is (part of) the meal, fleshed out with so many more contributions from my friends.

We had fig jam and humus (spready), baby carrots and sweet small tomatoes (crunchy), additional pickles and olives (salty), marinated cheese-stuffed baby peppers, more wine, of course, and even a vegan cheese. And crackers and the bread (not pictured).

And we made two dinners out of it!

The second night, from left: Liz Mugavero, Julie Hennrikus, Barbara Ross, Jessie Crockett (alas, our sixth blogmate Sherry Harris couldn't make it).

It was the perfect dinner for a group with varied food tastes and requirements, and a meal that didn't require prep time from any of us except opening packages and setting things out. The second night also featured pouring rain, so we were perfectly happy not to have to go out in it to a restaurant or to fetch a takeout meal.

You can read Barb Ross's wrap-up of the whole retreat from earlier this week over on the Wicked Authors blog.

Readers: what's your go-to, no-work meal? What would you include on a charcuterie board?

My most recent release is A Questionable Death and Other Quaker Midwife Mysteries, out in April 2023.

The next book will be Murder at a Cape Bookstore, releasing in August, 2023.

Following that in quick succession will be "Murderous Mittens" in Christmas Mittens Murder and Murder Uncorked, both featuring my new wine bar manager Cece Barton.

Check out all my writing!

We hope you'll visit Maddie and her Agatha Award-winning alter ego Edith Maxwell on our web site, sign up for our monthly newsletter, visit us on social media, and check our all our books and short stories.

Maddie Day (aka Edith Maxwell) is a talented amateur chef and holds a PhD in Linguistics from Indiana University. An Agatha Award-winning and bestselling author, she is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America and also writes award-winning short crime fiction. She lives with her beau and sweet cat Martin north of Boston, where she’s currently working on her next mystery when she isn’t cooking up something delectable in the kitchen.