Tag: Charcuterie

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Frosty The Snow Man Charcuterie Board

I have so much fun creating holiday-themed charcuterie boards! Last year, I made a super fun Bette Midler Hocus Pocus board for Halloween and a cheerful Santa Claus board for Christmas.

This year, my brother Rich asked me to whip up a charcuterie board for his Annual Lighting of the Luminaries party at Lake Davis in Orlando, Florida. I wanted it to be both festive and fun, and I tossed around a couple of ideas: an angel or a snowman.

After checking out Rich’s collection of gorgeous platters, I decided on a large, white one that I thought would be perfect. Rich and I took a quick trip to Publix to gather supplies. I was still on the fence about which design to go for until I spotted some beautiful bags of cranberries. The bright red colors screamed “festive” to me, especially against the white platter!

With the snowman idea cemented in my mind and cranberries in my cart, I raced over to the cheese section. I grabbed some gruyere, cheddar, mozzarella, brie, and goat cheese, picking three different sizes of round cheeses to create the snowman’s body.

Next, I thought I’d need black olives for the buttons and green olives for the eyes. I also wanted a carrot for the nose, so I headed back to the produce section and picked up some peppers.

Initially, I planned to use pretzel sticks for the arms, but they were out of stock, so Rich suggested breadsticks instead—great idea!

Once we got back to his place, I rolled up my sleeves and got to work in Rich’s kitchen. I didn’t second-guess myself, knowing time was short. I dove right into assembling the board, pushing any doubts aside.

I assembled a second charcuterie board with an array of delicious cured meats. I made my salami and pepperoni roses using a shot glass. YouTube offers several tutorial videos . They’re so easy to make and everyone adores them.

When the guests arrived, they absolutely loved the finished boards! It was such a hit and so rewarding to see everyone enjoy it!

The Holidays are full of surprises— especially after Mr. Divabetic gets a new job as the pastry chef at the St. Nicholas Nursing Home nestled in a cozy Christmas Village. Tune in to Divabtic’s Christmas Peril podcast.

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Bette Midler Hocus Pocus Themed Charcuterie Board

Recently, I hosted my Annual Pumpkin Carving party for friends. I made five mystery celebrity charcuterie boards for dinner.

Clever doesn’t cost a thing is my motto for entertaining. There are plenty of items to make your table dazzle available at the Dollar Store. I bought masks, placemats, pineapple lights, and plastic tablecloths. I anticipated the mess we would create from carving pumpkins, so I opted for a plastic tablecloth.

A broken toaster found on the street was my centerpiece. I  transformed it using assorted black and orange flowers. My friends broke out in laughter the moment they saw it.

For dinner, I served Mystery Celebrity Charcuterie Boards.  The items on Mystery Celebrity Charcuterie boards serve as clues to identify specific celebrities. The assortment of cheeses, meats, fruit, vegetables, and dips relates to movies, TV shows, books, celebrity family members, and songs. Once I present the boards and the mystery celebrity’s quote, my guests try to guess their identity.
Mystery Celebrity Charcuterie Boards is a lot of fun and a great icebreaker for people to interact with each other.
We played five rounds of a Halloween edition of Mystery Celebrity Charcuterie Boards on Friday.  All my mystery celebrities are related to Halloween.

Celebrity Charcuterie – Halloween edition #1: Halloween movie quote related to Jamie Lee Curtis: “I wish I had you all alone, just the two of us. I’ll hold you close to me, so close to me, just the two of us.”

Celebrity Charcuterie – Halloween edition #2: Bette Midler quote from Hocus Pocus movie: “Oh, look, another glorious morning. It makes me sick!”

My friend Mark’s favorite Halloween movie is Hocus Pocus. No matter what quote I chose from the movie, I knew Mark would know it, which is why Bette’s Mystery Celebrity Charcuterie was made in her image. I found inspiration in a recent culinary curator’s Instagram post. I held off revealing the board until Mark shouted out the answer. Once Mark said, “Hocus Pocus,” I brought out the charcuterie board.

Celebrity Charcuterie – Halloween edition #3: Michael Jackson about the making of Thriller: “I have felt touched by something sacred. In those moments, I felt my spirit soar and become one with everything that exists.”

Celebrity Charcuterie – Halloween edition #4: Bela Lugosi from an interview: “Horror means something revolting. Anybody can show you a pailful of innards. But the object of the roles I played is not to turn your stomach – but merely to make your hair stand on end.”

Celebrity Charcuterie – Halloween edition#5: Boris Karloff from an interview: “I guess I’m pretty much of a lone wolf.”

We’re sharing excerpts of interviews from our favorite Divabetic podcasts over the years. This excerpt is from our Prediabetes and Type 2 Diabetes Diagnosis Turnaround podcast with Jill Weisenberger, MS, RDN, CDCES, CHWC, FAND, and gospel singer Pat Lacy.

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Easy To Make Celebrity-Inspired Charcuterie Plates!

Entertaining with diabetes doesn’t have to be bland. Learn to entertain like a Divabetic and turn your everyday meals into occasions.

Make your next gathering more memorable by focusing on ‘fun’ rather than the ‘food’ aspect of entertaining.

One way to host a fun night is by serving celebrity-inspired Charcuterie Boards.

The word “charcuterie” is a French term for a line of cooking devoted to prepared meat products. But today, charcuterie has become synonymous with wooden boards filled with meats, cheese, produce, crackers, artisan bread, and dips.

The key to making a healthy charcuterie board is to use all kinds of fresh produce for your bite-sized goodies. Choose meats that are preferably free of nitrates and minimally processed. Celery and carrots are always a great stand-by option. So are cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, roasted peppers, hot peppers, cucumber slices, cauliflower, and broccoli. Try to use a variety of textures, colors, and flavors that everyone will enjoy.

Recently, I made five different Celebrity-inspired Charcuterie Plates. My guests had to correctly identify my celebrity inspirations by the items on my Charcuterie Plates. When they needed extra help, I also allowed them to ask me ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions about each celebrity inspiration. 

Here’s how I created my Sophia Loren-inspired Charcuterie Plate.

I purchased five mini-brownie tin pans at a nearby Dollar Store. Each tin was $1.99. Then, I lined each tin with waxed paper before placing various food items on them.

My Sophia Loren-inspired Charcuterie plate featured black olives, Parmesan cheese, prosciutto-wrapped sundried tomatoes, and Italian bread. Seconds after putting the Charcuterie Plate down in front of them, my friends correctly guessed Sophia Loren! 

We had a lot of fun talking about Sophia Loren’s career, other Italian celebrities, and additional food items.

My celebrity inspiration, Sophia Loren, was born on September 20, 1934, in Rome, Italy. She rose above her poverty-stricken origins in postwar Naples to become one of Italy’s most famous movie stars. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as Cesira in the film Two Women (1961), directed by Vittorio De Sica.

Sophia Loren was the first actor to win an Oscar for a non-English-language performance.

Later she earned an Academy Honorary Award in 1991.

Looking for a fun way to socialize without putting your diabetes wellness at risk? Do you need a little help staying on track with your diabetes self-care?

Join the happy healthcare host, Mr. Divabetic, hosts this free, fun Virtual Mother’s Day-themed Baking Party with special guests, Stacey Harris, aka The Diabetic Pastry Chef and Divabetic Image & Style Advisor Catherine Schuller, on Thursday, April 28, 2022, 7 – 8:30 PM, EST on Zoom.

Win gifts courtesy of Arthel Neville Design FABULOUS East/West Tote, Dr.’s Remedy Enriched Nail Care gift set, Best-Selling Author Tonya Kappes‘s Camper Cozy Mystery, Walden Farms Zero Calories, Zero Net Carbs Salad Dressings, and Peak 10 Skin’s Save My Sole Foot Rescue Cream during Mr. Divabetic’s random drawings. You must be present at our Baking Party to enter our gift drawings to win.

Over 150 people registered for our last Divabetic Baking Party on Zoom, so don’t miss out!

REGISTER NOW – FREE REGISTRATION

 

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