Cheese Platter Hack

Going to a party or hosting a small gathering at home and need a fast way to make a cheese platter, we have got the trick for you!

Awhile back now we were browsing the aisles of Costco (like we frequently like to do haha!) and stumbled upon a pre-assembled fruit and cheese platter in the deli section. Being huge cheese fans we bought it to try. It completely exceeded our expectations and was so good and makes it way into our snack rotation frequently now.

We thought how great this Costco fruit and cheese platter would be for a gathering! The price point on this tray is fantastic! One could easily spend 2-3x the amount on individual cheeses at the grocery store. So here comes the trick if you have a gathering and are short on time, or just want an easy appetizer. Purchase a Costco fruit and cheese tray and assemble on a nice platter. You can use everything that comes in the kit or you can add a few extras. Everything photographed came in the kit, but you could definitely add extra nuts, spreads, meats, fruit and crackers.

Merry Christmas!

We wish everyone a very merry and blessed Christmas!

Shirt // Blouse

Merry Christmas,

Rachel and Jake

#Christmas #Jcrew #Plaid

Christmas Sugar Cookies

Christmas sugar cookie cutouts have always been one of my favorite Christmas cookies to bake. I love how beautiful (and tasty) they look decorated. Over the years my family has tried many sugar cookie recipes and we finally have one that we have modified over the years that is perfect!

Ingredients:

1 Cup Sugar

1 Cup Powdered sugar

2 Cups butter (soft to melted)

1 Tsp vanilla

3 Eggs

1 Tsp Baking Soda

1 Tsp Salt

1 Tsp Cream of tarter

4 1/2 Cup Flour

Instructions:

Mix in order listed

Chill dough several hours or overnight- this is important! Otherwise dough will be sticky and difficult to roll out.

Bake at 350 Degrees for 8-10 minutes

I typically use two types of frosting: cream cheese frosting and royal icing. Some of my family members prefer the taste the cream cheese frosting, but I love the look of the royal icing. For my cream cheese frosting I use this recipe here.

Gnome cutouts with cream cheese frosting

To make my royal icing I don’t really use a recipe. I typically start with around 4 cups of powdered sugar and add about 2 teaspoons of vanilla then I add water and corn syrup until I get a consistency that I like. When I make my tree cut outs I love a marbled look. To do this I pour my icing into a shallow bowl than add a few drops of food coloring. Then I take a toothpick and swirl the coloring around. After that I place my cookie on top of the icing then gently pick it up and let the excess icing drip off and repeat the process with the other cookies. I add food coloring as needed to get the desired color and look. I then lay all of my cookies on parchment paper until the icing dries.

#Christmas #Cookies