Platters and Boards: Beautiful, Casual Spreads for Every Occasion

by Shelly Westerhausen, Wyatt Worcel (Contributor)

 Platters and Boards — Entertaining dishes and party dishes your guests will love

Entertaining and party dishes from Platters and  Celebrated author and food blogger Shelly Westerhausen shares the secrets to creating casually chic spreads anyone can make and everyone will enjoy (and envy) in her bestselling Platters and Boards cookbook. This visual cornucopia of a cookbook is the guide to entertaining with effortless style.

Platters and Boards is an inspiring resource for throwing unforgettable  Organized by time of day, 40 contemporary arrangements are presented with gorgeous photography, easy-to-prepare recipes, suggested meat and drink pairings, and notes on preparation and presentation.

Helpful advice

Tips on portioningGuides to picking surfaces and vesselsRecommendations for pairing complementary textures and flavorsA handy chart featuring board suggestions for a variety of occasions (from holiday parties to baby showers)Fans of Cook Beautiful, The Art of the Cheese Plate, InStyle Parties, Magnolia Table, and Cravings will love Platters and Boards.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Cooking, Nonfiction, Reference, Foodie, Culinary

307 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 20, 2018

About the author

Shelly Westerhausen is also known as Shelly Westerhausen Worcel.

Shelly Westerhausen is the author and photographer behind Vegetarian ‘Ventures, a meat-free blog that focuses on the adventurous side of vegetarian cooking. She is a freelance recipe developer, writer, and photographer whose work has been featured in Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, Saveur, and Vegetarian Living. She stopped eating meat at age twelve, and, growing up in Indiana, she’s watched (and helped!) Midwestern vegetarian cuisine develop into the rich and tasty scene it is now. She lives in Bloomington, Indiana.

Reviews

[Deborah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book isn’t nearly as helpful as the previous book I read on boards. Not many pictures. Lots of recipes.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I borrowed this from the library but might straight-up buy it. SO PRETTY. SO MANY GOOD IDEAS!

[Shipshapeeatworthy · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was a kid I loved the foods at big family gatherings -- little pickles, cubed cheeses, cut fruit and veg, cold cuts, chips, crackers -- lots of imagination and a little something for everyone. Sometimes I would stick with the stand-by favs or there were times when I would venture out of my comfort zone to try something new. Thinking back on those spreads whatever else they were they were celebratory. Seeing it in my mind's eye makes me smile. So with this new book Platters and Boards from Shelley Westerhausen (her book Vegetarian Heartland that came out late last spring is great) and Wyatt Worcel I couldn't wait to dive in and try some of their board themes. At the heart of the book they have really tuned into something here: this book is meant to take those special and celebratory moments of bonding over shared food into the realm of the everyday.

For those of you who maybe would see this as a book just for occasions -- it's not. Well, it's for both really. Platters and Boards provide templates for both special occasions and just a casual weeknight meal. What's really great is (aside from the fact that each of the boards require very little cooking) that they've organized the book into five main sections: Morning, Afternoon, Evening, Anytime, and Essentials; and within those first 4 sections they provide creative themes upon which the platters/boards are built. In the introductory section there are lists under A Board for Every Occasion that have taken all of those themes and placed them into different event/holiday/party categories. So if you're hosting let's say a baby shower they list ten themes that would be compatible. Entertaining has never been so easy! They also explore in-depth how to create your board/platter by examining what you may need in the way of actual boards/platters (what materials best suit different foods or ingredients), ingredients, portioning (how to serve one to one hundred people), and then a few notes on serving and storing.

Although Westerhausen is vegetarian, Worcel is not so in each of the themes he provides a "Meaty Suggestion" but to be honest this book really suits any diet. You can substitute or omit any board component so that if you're gluten-free or vegan you're free to swap in some gorgeous gf bread or beautiful vegan cheese. I can't stress enough how creative, versatile, and customizable this book really is! I had no difficulties sourcing any of the ingredients (except for the raspberry dust used for a board component for their Date Night theme which I easily made myself by oven-drying some fresh raspberries). In addition to their "Meaty Suggestions" they also offer "Drink Pairings" for each theme.

All of the themes I tried were ones that I scaled down to suit my family of three because in the beginning I realized that I could create some weeknight/weekend un-events (I'm thinking of that part in Alice in Wonderland where she arrives at the "un-birthday" party -- why wait for special occasions?) . My four-year-old had no idea what breakfast in bed was but when I put together the Breakfast in Bed Board with the Miniature Tomato, Garlic, and Goat Cheese Frittatas she could totally see its appeal! Here I swapped out bagels for some delicious locally baked sourdough. Everything was scrumptious and transformed our Sunday morning into something most convivial.

What I think I'm appreciating most about this book is how each platter or board becomes a showcase for beautiful whole food ingredients and really provides an excuse to shop seasonally and locally. When I was building up the Happy Hour Platter I loved seeing the rainbow of ingredients and while I don't normally buy potato chips I didn't feel too bad adding them to the platter because they were the perfect foil to all the fresh, vibrant produce. Both the chips and veg tasted great with the Red Wine Caramelized Onion Dip!

Our Friday night became a real party when I brought out the Movie Night Board full of homemade (!!) Chicago-Style Caramel and (I used White) Cheddar Popcorn and Smoky Sweet Mixed Nuts (along with fresh fruit, cheese, candy, and Chex Mix). We turned on Netflix and unabashedly relished the treats along with a movie. You would have thought by my husband and daughter's reactions that I spent a lot of time cooking and fussing! What I came to realize is that pulling together different components and arranging them in pretty bowls on the board really added such a "wow" factor.

One of the first themes I tried was the Parfait Board with the Granola Two Ways (Sweet Cinnamon Cherry and Ginger Apricot) not because I needed to feed a crowd of people on a weekend morning but I do make parfaits for my daughter and I thought it might be fun to set up their parfait station with all the fixin's. Now that she's 4 she's all about doing things for herself so all of these board set-ups really helped her to feel independent. It's here where all the parents with discerning eaters should take note -- this book is fantastic for creating mealtime harmony. This is a fun way to enjoy a meal but also it gives young eaters a chance to exert some of their personality on their plate so that it's about what they will eat rather than what they won't. Additionally if you're a meal-planner this is also a really easy, low-fuss way to get supper on the table. Almost everything can be made or prepped ahead of time so that you're not facing a week full of kitchen drudgery (and did I mention that this is a really fun way to eat?).

The tagline on the cover of Platters and Boards says it best -- Beautiful, Casual Spreads for Every Occasion. Full of enticing food and creative ideas this is one book that will get a lot of use in my house. Even though I started trying themes for our everyday meals I'm looking at a lot of their ideas and starting to plan some occasions to entertain our friends and to try some of their other board themes!

Please note that this review is an excerpt of one posted to www.shipshapeeatworthy.wordpress.com

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Chronicle Books and Raincoast Books for providing me with a free, review copy of this book. I did not receive monetary compensation for my post, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is straight up food eye candy. Beautiful photographs of "spreads" of various types of snack foods arranged on wooden boards or platters that you'll probably never actually make, but love to look at and dream. If you entertain a lot this could be a useful cookbook, but I think for most people this is just a fantasy cookbook of the type of person you wish you were. The spreads are arranged by time of day and the final section is recipes for some spread "essentials" like crackers, cheese straws, condiments, etc. I did like that for each spread the author included not just a list of items for that spread, but also an actual recipe for something included in that spread. There are a few things I'd like to try to make and while I doubt I'll ever be the person who throws together spreads like this, I could see making the Southern-style board or creating the mini cheeseball spread for a holiday party. Definitely a beautiful cookbook with lots of great party food ideas.

[Beth Cato · Rating 4 out of 5]

First things first: this book is gorgeous. The authors did an amazing job staging the photos to showcase the brilliant colors and textures of the boards. The result is a hardcover book that would be very nice on a coffee table or in an office lobby.

The presentation of information is fun, too. While other similar books are very cheese-centric, this book is more focused on themed approaches based on seasons or occasions, with looser recommendations on cheeses. The boards are generally designed for vegetarians, but meat additions are also suggested for each one. Every board also includes a recipe--everything from cookies to red wine sangria to quick pickled vegetables--but I wouldn't term this as a full recipe book, as that is not the focus at all.

I didn't find the recipes to be especially feasible to my life, as the only one that appealed to me was for cookies, but I do appreciate the themed board ideas.

[Lili · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two factors led to the acquisition of this book for my unreasonable collection of cookbooks: first, it had a really pretty cover; second, it was on sale at the Chronicle Books website. That being said, all I expected from the book was more pretty pictures and a few usable ideas for my various themed dinner parties.

The book definitely exceeded my expectations. Just the introductory matter alone - on choosing ingredients, on picking a board, platter, or tray, on assembling a board or platter, on basic components for a board or platter, on perfect portioning, on serving and storing - was worth the price of admission because it was detailed enough to be useful (and entertaining) but not so detailed to be information overload.

Within the book, the instructions for each board and platter (still not sure what the distinction is) are arranged chronologically - a set for morning, a set for afternoon, a set for evening, and a set for anytime. Each set of instructions starts with a lovely full color photo of the board, although sometimes the photo doesn’t match the ingredients list perfectly. The instructions page offers a general strategy, a drink pairing, and a meat suggestion before providing the ingredients list and preparation steps. Each board features a homemade component - as simple as quick pickled vegetables or as complex as rose pistachio shortbread - so each set of instructions was accompanied by a legitimate recipe. At the end of the book were about a dozen recipes that were used by a variety of the boards in the book.

Reading the book cover to cover, I noticed a few quirks. The introductory material clearly discloses that the boards are designed to be vegetarian, hence the importance of the meat suggestion in the board instructions. But these suggestions weren’t all that creative, and were limited to only one suggestion. For example, for the Build Your Own Crostini Board, the suggestion was cappocollo or copa. I was hopeful that such a varied board would be accompanied by equally varied meat suggestions, rather than just that one. The author definitely had certain stand-by ingredients that appeared on many of the boards. Honey or honeycomb was one of them; it appeared on almost every board centered around cheese. I’ve honestly never heard of drizzling honey on cheese to be a thing, but I’m fairly sheltered. Finally, the author and I differ on the definition of “generous.” The most absurd example was the S’mores Platter, which assembled 12 marshmallows, 12 graham crackers, and assorted chocolates and other toppings. My first problem was that there weren’t enough graham crackers to close the sandwiches. Odd to have open faced s’mores but I could see how that could be a thing. My second problem was the this platter was recommended to serve twelve people! My math skills aren’t the best, but that’s one open faced s’more per person. Personally, I would think the minimum for twelve people should be 18 marshmallows and graham crackers, to reasonably allow for burned mistakes and limited seconds. Of course, at my house, I’d probably declare the instructions to serve four people and scale up from there, with the addition of extra graham crackers so guests would have the option of going closed faced. And I’d definitely put a can of sterno in the middle of the platter (and be certain to keep it away from my drapery!)

Overall, the book did an excellent job of going beyond my usual two types of cheese, two types of crackers, and maybe a small bowl of nuts, without being totally outrageous and unsourceable. For example, I loved the idea of a three tier cheese layer cake as a more elegant way of serving a variety of cheeses to a crowd. And the addition of beet juice to a standard hummus recipe in order to turn it pink was a nifty idea. I’m really attracted to the Carrot Curry Shooters for the Winter Solstice Platter. I would have never thought to include soup shooters on a platter, and the recipe seemed like it would turn out very well.

I would definitely recommend this book to any host who is looking for inspiration on how to fill an appetizer table or to provide a happy hour nosh. It would also make a great host gift if you’d like to break from the traditional three (wine, chocolates, flowers). Once the window for entertaining opens again, I’ll be sure to consult this book for ideas on how to kick things off.

[Tucker Jaroll · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book makes me want to eat every meal from a platter or board. 😋

[Sentimentsbydenise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great ideas for entertaining! Also several great recipes I can't wait to try. Lots of little details - such a fun resource!

[Donna Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful and inspiring.

[Yasmeen Youssef · Rating 4 out of 5]

had many options with photos

[Lillie Scribner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful pictures. A handful of new/inventive recipes. Maybe I’m not the target audience but I don’t think it’s that difficult to put together a charcuterie board… Glad I borrowed it but I wouldn’t buy it.

[Rachael Terry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great ideas for various gatherings.

[tiasreads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really practical suggestions, tips, and recipes for entertaining. (And those who love to nosh.) I particularly like the "portioning grid", that helps you scale the ideas up or down, based on how many you plan on serving. The section that gives you suggestions on which boards, platters, etc. to serve based on occasion, large or small, is also helpful. There were also simple boards, etc. for things like Movie Night or Date Night.

This book is much more accessible than similar books that I've read. Others have been somewhat pretentious, expecting that you have gourmet, artisan shops on every corner of your town. (Apparently, we're all supposed to be Ina Garten's neighbors.) Platters and Boards didn't seem that way at all to me; while encouraging you to buy locally, it was totally do-able. They even mentioned the name of a cheese maker in my area. (Sweet Grass Dairy, ftw!) This was a fun take on snacking and I highly recommend it.

[Fiore · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't seriously considered putting together spreads like those featured in this book before. But after reading through it I'm feeling motivated by how surprisingly easy putting it all together would be. Mostly about getting the proportions right and choosing harmonious flavors. And the presentation! I'm inspired by all the different ways to assemble the different platters in the lovely photographs.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

More than just visually appealing, Platters and Boards: Beautiful, Casual Spreads for Every Occasion is a veritable wealth of knowledge, imagery, and hints to get your party started with the trendy charcuterie boards. So many good ideas incorporated with both the vegetarian and meat-loving people in mind. A great reference to keep close by for those planned and impromptu gatherings.

[Amy Grundy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book filled with so many wonderful photographs. There is a platter or board for any occasion you can think of, and the ideas given in the book lead to new inspiration. I was surprised that every recipe is vegetarian, although I shouldn't have been, as the author also writes for the blog Vegetarian Ventures. Anyway, amazing book. I'm so glad I bought it.

[John’aLee · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️’s! Loved this book! It’s a new take on making finger food in a fun and celebratory way! Great for entertaining, game nights, social gatherings or just simple but nutritional dinners. I love discovering a book that tweaks my thinking in a new way and inspires me to get out of my comfort zone.

[Kerri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is beautiful! The images are lovely, the ideas unique and totally doable. This is perfect if you need inspiration for something other than meat, cheese, crackers, olives. It would also be a great hostess gift. The "cheese cake" is my favorite. See if you can find it...

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of great ideas for entertaining (or entertaining yourself), along with basic guidelines for setting up any kind of board. There are sweet and savory boards, along with hot cocoa, smores, and movie night themes.

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

A “cookbook” for people who want to expand their horizon beyond the pre-packaged veggie platter at Costco. Do we really need to have recipes on how to put three different types of cheese, some store bought crackers, nuts and grapes on a board? 🙄 Only for the very kitchen adverse.

[Ariste Egan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a lovely book! Very informative and creative, with board suggestions for everything from warm and cold weather, every holiday imaginable, date night or movie night, and even breakfast or dessert boards. Love the recipes and the organized layout.

[Jenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Digging this! Love all the recipes and board ideas. On my to-buy list for sure! Gorgeous. I also like the boards are all vegetarian with meat options. Excellent.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of inspiration

Love the pairing suggestions and different style platters. Looking forward to hosting a wine country movie night with the California board!!

[Debi Blanton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Book

We tried a few of these so far...all have been excellent! Loved the pickled beet deviled egg plater...also the compounded blueberry butter was delish ❤️

[JC Cornell · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nice ideas but was expecting more

[Clwseattle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Platters and Boards: Beautiful, Casual Spreads for Every Occasion pays homage to the latest gathering fad, platters and boards.

Platters and Boards has pictures of forty different platters and boards, all in bright, gorgeous photos with each element easily recognizable and the ONE recipe associated with it clearly marked. The "every occasion" is broken down by morning, afternoon, evening and anytime to have a get-together.

I found but a few recipes that interested me, but for those with regular gatherings I can see that this book would be a joy and a savior for those who'd like to offer something different with new, often unusual recipes.

4 Stars for Platters and Boards: Beautiful, Casual Spreads for Every Occasion.

[Juli Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a neat idea, and overall I think the cookbook pulls it off. I particularly appreciate that the authors give extensive information about scaling these spreads for crowds of different sizes. However, there aren't very many actual recipes in this book, and only a handful of them are actually appealing to me.

[Laur · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so rad! I picked it up because platters and boards are magic. Then, flipping through it and reading the recipes, I couldn't handle my excitement. I am adding so many of these recipes to my Christmas food list.

[Kate Wall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful book. I love to just look at the board displays! Fun recipes and great pairings for any occasion. Holidays, seasons, special events - you name it! There’s a board for you. My go to for ideas for my biweekly book club/game nights. Love this one!

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this at the library and I love it! I want a copy for myself as I want to prepare some of these spreads for family and friends. Lots of great ideas that I never thought you could do with a platter!