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Beautiful Boards:50 Amazing Snack Boards for Any Occasion

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Make mealtimes, special occasions, and holidays extra memorable with these 50 delicious, inspiring, family-friendly, and easy-to-recreate snack boards. 

Visually exciting and deliciously enticing, The BakerMama's snack boards move beyond (and include) classic cheese and charcuterie and are comprised of easy-to-find fresh and prepared foods, arranged in beautiful, artful, and whimsical ways (think a football shape for watching the game and a turkey shape for celebrating Thanksgiving). The variety of foods on each board are great for a group, big or small, and will bring people together through snacking, all while introducing kids to foods they might not normally try. Plus, you can make the boards ahead of time, so you can actually sit down and spend time with your loved ones. In this book, you will find boards for anytime, entertaining and special occasions, seasons and holidays, breakfast and brunch, meals, and desserts.

Impress your family and friends with artful masterpieces, including: After School Board Date Night In Board Birthday Dessert Board Unicorn Board Summer Board Candy Cane Caprese Board Pancake Board Bloody Mary Board Build-Your-Own Taco Board Cobb Salad Board Build-Your-Own Sundae Board
Along with The BakerMama sharing her tips to get you into the board mind-set, every board is accompanied by a gorgeous, large photo and step-by-step instructions to make each one easy to recreate. Beautiful Boards is an entertaining game changer that will have you spending less time in the kitchen and more time having fun.
 

168 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2019

1562 people are currently reading
3862 people want to read

About the author

Maegan Brown

5 books16 followers

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5 stars
908 (50%)
4 stars
513 (28%)
3 stars
263 (14%)
2 stars
71 (3%)
1 star
38 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 92 reviews
Profile Image for Sheri.
1,359 reviews135 followers
June 22, 2020
Wow! These appetizing works of art are truly amazing to behold. The pictures make your own cheese tray or veggie platter seem pathetic by comparison. I loved the creativity exhibited in the many ideas; there are entertaining and holiday boards alongside everyday breakfast, meal, and dessert boards. Check out this visually appealing cookbook and prepare to become the "hostess with the mostest". You're sure to impress yourself and others with your ability to create, arrange, and present such enticing snack boards!
Profile Image for Deborah.
633 reviews105 followers
November 10, 2022
Pretty Amazing

Honestly, I didn’t expect a lot when I chose this but I thought the cover was beautiful. The boards are absolutely amazing! The author gives you all of the items she used on each board. No guessing what something is. Very clever ideas for sports, birthdays, holidays, you name it. There is a section at the end where she included recipes. This is a keeper.
Profile Image for SJ.
489 reviews1 follower
October 29, 2020
This was a letdown. I was really excited that
I was able to borrow this from my local library prior to purchasing. However I found this book to be disappointing. It seems like it was made under the idea of food photography aka Instagram vs being something that’s practical. Also some of the food pairings seemed off base. It was somewhat inspirational and gave me a few ideas but mostly it was just something to flip the pages and look at the pretty pictures.
Profile Image for Aimee.
233 reviews9 followers
February 15, 2020
Gorgeously photographed and everything looks delicious, but some of these ideas just don't make sense. For example, a "Grilled Cheese Board," featuring already cooked - and now rapidly cooling- grilled cheese sandwiches. Nobody wants a lukewarm grilled cheese! They must be eaten straight from the pan!
Some good ideas for what to include on various snack boards, though.
Profile Image for Holly.
1,193 reviews9 followers
February 17, 2020
Lots of yummy ideas, though I disagree in principle with 1) putting foods to be served hot spread out to cool off before eaten and 2) everybody's gross fingers digging in and touching food that is touching other food. It's okay to put things in bowls!
Profile Image for Diane.
48 reviews1 follower
September 28, 2024
This cookbook contains easy-to-prepare recipes for a variety of thematic charcuterie boards. Beautiful photographs provide visual examples to go along with simple instructions. This will be one of my cookbooks I will use often.
Profile Image for Jackie.
4,506 reviews46 followers
December 18, 2019
The BakerMama gives us plenty of delicious, delectable ideas for creating a charcuterie board. The photographs are mouth-watering, the directions are clear and concise, and the array of different holidays and themes is mind-boggling. Such a terrific resource ( I only wish I would have bought this for myself instead of a gift. UGH). Might have to buy another.

Beautiful Boards: 50 Amazing Snack Boards for Any Occasion is just that....Amazing!
Profile Image for Claire.
162 reviews12 followers
February 28, 2020
I think this is where we got the term “food porn” from. Plus, I now feel like I need all the boards, ramekins, and serving trinkets that exist. I am in love.
Seriously though, this book has practical and simple advice on everything from building to serving fun and, did I mention GORGEOUS, boards. I love her easy approach - just use whatever you have! I will definitely be referring to this in the future.
Profile Image for Molly.
14 reviews1 follower
September 12, 2023
I loved this book and immediately bought it to have on hand. We are big fans of charcuterie and can’t wait to try some of (ALL of) these “recipes” for our next brunch, game night or book club. Thank you for including such great photos and tips!
Profile Image for Jenna Hetmansperger.
107 reviews15 followers
November 20, 2019
Not only was this book beautiful, but it was also realistic. I feel like I could do these and it would be fun!
Profile Image for Sherri.
1,620 reviews
September 7, 2021
Delicious pages! You'll wow your guests from a brunch, holiday, movie night, game day to whatever you can think.

Wonderful ideas, photos and recipes.
Profile Image for Kristin .
105 reviews6 followers
July 31, 2023
I actually bought this book as decoration for my kitchen but I am sooooo glad I stumbled across this. I love boards. They make cooking, parties, snacks, all things entertaining that much more fun and this book gives great ideas. It also gives you a step by step ingredient list to make her super cute boards in the book. Also a great bonus are the recopies in the back if you don't want to use store bought product. Love this!
Profile Image for Andrew.
155 reviews
August 4, 2024
Good inspiration

Hopefully we will make some of the boards described in this book. They look fun to make and seem delicious to eat.
Profile Image for Debra.
646 reviews19 followers
Read
January 1, 2025
Even though the "put it on a board" fad may be waning and you can get all the inspiration you need from Instagram, I still love a good hard-backed book with pictures and options to compare. Beautiful Boards was published in 2019.

While the opening/intro of Beautiful Boards was nothing remarkable (boards are cool, boards help kids explore options, boards are communal), it was the creativity and photos that kept me exploring the book.

They typical measurements are repeated here: 1 oz. of cheese per offering per person if it's an appetizer, 1 1/2 oz. if it's a meal board; 2-3 oz. of meat per person for an app, 3-5 oz. for a meal. Brown covers the textures and combos that make a great charcuterie and cheese board. Really nothing new if you've been around for the last ten years.

I did like how she listed everything one would need to get started (besides the board): medium serving bowls, small ramekins, mini bowls, small jars, knives of different varieties, spreaders, small spoons, honey dipper, toothpicks, etc. These things could all be gathered up with a nice large board for a fantastic gift.

Brown does include "recipes" for vegan boards and gluten free boards. This book is not all about the charcuterie and cheese so there's options for a lot of fruit and veggie boards.

Like a lot of people, I think about boards during the holidays (meaning November through January), but Brown explores other holidays like St. Paddy's Day with a Rainbow Board (43) with colorful fresh fruits and veggies arranged in a rainbow with gold-wrapped Rolo candies as the pot o' gold. Her Springtime Board (69) builds flowers with orange slices, strawberry slices and baby carrots around bowls of ranch dressing, spreadable herb cheese, and vanilla yogurt. The Summer Fun Board (71) is probably the most inventive. It's laden with fruit but I LOVED the Teddy Grahams in Life Saver candies floating down a blueberry river surrounded by shark gummies. How cute is that? I will mimic her Fall Feast Board (73) with it's pumpkin shaped cheese ball using a green pepper stem and Cutie oranges peeled as mini-pumpkins.

There are a lot of offerings for dessert boards. (In fact, there may be more sweet boards than savory ones. The Birthday Board (47) is full of homemade pink candy-dipped pretzels, vanilla-candy dipped donut holes, dipped strawberries, sandwich cookies, tiny cupcakes, caramel popcorn, small rice Krispie treats with a small birthday cake in the center. The Unicorn Board (49) would be perfect for a kid's party. It includes instructions for building the unicorn (white frosting spread on a small plate with a piped-icing face, a sugar ice cream corn for the horn, and pastel twisted marshmallow strands for the mane). The Movie Night Board (63) uses a rimmed wooden serving tray and packs it with all sorts of typical movie candies and treats in a very artful way.

Some boards I thought were just so-so. The Winter Wonderland Board (75) was basically three rounds of decreasing-sized brie placed on top of each other to build a snowman. That's a lot of brie! The Valentine's Day Board (79) was just a lot of red (strawberries, pom seeds, raspberries, beet crackers, and red M&Ms). Same with the Easter Candy Board (85). It was just different pastel candies layered in the shape of an egg. The rest of the holiday boards followed suite with items placed to look like a flag (87), a Jack 'o Lantern (89), a turkey (91), a Menorah (93), and Santa (95). Sorry, but kind of ho-hum.

Brown peaked my interest again with the Breakfast and Brunch Board section. I thought the Pancake Board (107) was pretty inventive (including sliced bananas artfully arranged on top of their peels, raspberries and strawberries, whipped cream, peanut butter and hazelnut spread, and of course, syrups). I also liked the Build-Your-Own Parfait Board (109) and the Bagel Board (111). The Bloody Mary Board (113) was a triumph! What a great idea. Brown suggests putting small bottles of red and green hot sauces so guests can get the right amount of heat. There are the regular garnishes but Brown goes up and beyond with other pickled veggies, a variety of cheese cubes, blue cheese, peppered bacon, cocktail shrimp, shishito peppers, Everything Bagel spice and red pepper flakes. Skewers are included! She mimics this idea with the Mimosa Board (117) with all sorts of berry and fruit garnishes.

The Meal Board section tended to be just buffets jammed on a board: Pizza Lovers Board (121), Taco Board (123), Mezze (125), Grilled Cheese Board (129), Sandwich Board (133), and BBQ Board (135). The Cobb Salad Board was the most inventive (131).

Besides the aforementioned dessert-like boards, Brown includes a separate section specifically for more of them. The S'mores Board (139) was cute but I'm not sure how practical it was with the marshmallows being already broiled in a small skillet. It would be great if you were around a campfire roasting your own. Decorate-Your-Own Cupcake Board (141) would be cool for a kid's party. I've seen the Chocolate Fondue (143) and the Sundae Board (145) before but her ingredient suggestions are good and plentiful.

While a lot of the recipes call for premade items, she does include a few recipes in the back of the book for things like cookie bites, snack mixes, cheese-stuffed jalapenos, Pigs in a Blanket (!?!?!), that pumpkin cheese ball, assorted dips, toasts/croutons, and sandwiches.

I actually bought this book for a Christmas present. This friend entertains a lot and I think she will utilize it. and I wish I had put these useful board items together with it though for a complete gift. Depending on your gift-giving budget, you could include the board or not. You could also include a guide like Building Boards.

Would I buy this book for myself? Probably not. I do think it will be used but I will probably stick with Instagram. I did get a lot of ideas and I do (again) love the list of "must haves."
15 reviews
November 5, 2023
I was disappointed in this book. I had high expectations because of reviews and word of mouth but this book does not meet the hype. So many juvenile boards and odd food parings. I would be embarrassed to serve most of these at any adult party or get together. I wonder who is going to pick up one blueberry from a Hanukkah board? …and then eat it with a small piece of cheese string and a latke. There are so many better “boards” books out there to buy.
Profile Image for Emily.
111 reviews
December 23, 2019
I am not on Pinterest.
I am totally function over form.
Tablescape? Be glad if you have a napkin! :)

That said, I really enjoyed this book and thought it provided great party ideas. I picked up a giant cutting board at Ikea last year and love to put it out, covered in snacks, when company arrives. This provides excellent creative ideas to expand upon.
Profile Image for Kelly Whitt.
1,008 reviews10 followers
April 10, 2020
Such a gorgeous book with fabulous party tray ideas. Too bad it will probably no longer be considered an appropriate way to share food in groups. But you can still make them for your immediate family or quarantine roomies!
Profile Image for Amy Noe.
250 reviews12 followers
December 25, 2019
Beautiful photos and tons of great inspiration!
24 reviews
January 24, 2020
This is such a fantastic, fun book! I love the pictures and it makes making a board look totally doable by anyone.
2,061 reviews7 followers
January 29, 2020
This book is full of interesting boards full of tasty food for almost any occasion - from a family breakfast to a full on party layout.
Profile Image for Ashley.
54 reviews
March 10, 2020
Fantastic book about creating snack displays on cutting boards. A must for any host!
Profile Image for JoyReaderGirl1.
764 reviews13 followers
August 24, 2021
DYI Party & Meal Planning Made Easy for All Possible Occasions--In her latest book,“Spectacular Spreads,” Maegan Brown presents more than 250 scrumptious looking and sounding recipes; suggests hundreds of foods and ingredients to pair; and offers unlimited ideas for preparation and presentation to make hosting fabulous buffet meals daily for the family, as well as for special occasions, parties and holidays throughout the year.

This is a beautifully designed and well thought-through cookbook, hostessing guide and party-planning reference that is a feast for the eyes and senses. Photos of numerous charcuterie boards, buffets, cookouts, party-theme spreads and cocktail bar set-ups are colorfully and enticingly photographed and presented.

The entire family will enjoy reading and referencing “Spectacular Spreads” because there are ideas for everyone and almost every possible occasion. Brown has thought of so many ideas and details, and most are simple and easy to execute. This book is well done, and is categorized into chapters by occasion and event.
The kids should especially enjoy the “make your own” pizza party ideas, as well as the Halloween and Valentine’s Day DIY buffet spreads. And the princess in every little and big girl alike will adore Brown’s suggestions for an elegant high tea with cream scones and cucumber finger sandwiches.

Of the terrific tips in Maegan Brown’s, “Spectacular Spreads,” a few of my favorites include: her recommendations for complimentary cheeses, fruits, nuts and olives/pickles that work well on a charcuterie board; suggestions on quantities to prepare per portion per person for appetizers and meals; and thoughts that on a buffet, use butter instead of mayo on sandwiches to precent fillings from making the bread soggy.


The Book Maven’s Journal—Reviews for Word Connoisseurs

REVIEWER: J.Hunt
STAR RATING ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️


“Spectacular Spreads”
by Maegan Brown
Genre: Non-Fiction | Cooking, Food & Wine
Publication Date: 27 September 2021
Publisher: Quarto Publishing Group – Rock Point

With Sincerest Appreciation to NetGalley, Author Maegan Brown, and Quarto Publishing Group – Rock Point for Providing this Advance Reader’s Copy for Review.

This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Nhà Cái NEW88.
1 review
June 28, 2024
Profile Image for Susan Molloy.
Author 149 books88 followers
November 25, 2022
🖊 My review: “[An appetizer] board is usually the star of a party, whether it is for the appetizer, main course, or dessert.”

This is a good reference book to get ideas for creating your own canapé and hors d’oeurves platters.

🔻 Genre: Entertaining.
🖋 The writing style: Happy-pappy.
🗝 What I learned: One “builds a board” rather than “create and put together the serving platter.” Who knew?
💫 What I like best: The photographs gave me ideas for my own hors d’oeurves platters.
📌 Would I read this again? Only for reference.
🤔 My rating 🌟🌟🌟
◼️ Fun fact: There are so many ways to create hors d’oeurves platters.
🏮 Media form: Kindle Unlimited version.
🔲 Excerpts :
As for me, I prefer glass and silver for my presentation platters:
🔸 I like boards that are made of hardwoods, such as acacia, maple, oak, and cherry. Acacia is a great option if you don’t want to spend a fortune on a board.
🔸 The more choices you offer on the board, the smaller the individual portion should be for each item, because most people will want to try at least one or some of everything on the board.
🔸 If entertaining and making an appetizer board, it’s best to have the board out when your guests arrive so you can immediately greet them and start mingling without having to be in the kitchen still building it.

Profile Image for Lindsay.
321 reviews42 followers
May 11, 2021
This is a beautiful 'Pinterest-like' book about serving food for several on 1 board. I really like the concept of putting all the food in one place so people can grab what they like. It looks very pretty too!

While visually very inspiring, it did lack some more depth. No tricks on combining foods or taste, or kitchen techniques. Lots of the foods are store-bought, like a specific brand of colored pretzels, a ready made snack mix, candy melts,... let's say several things/brands can't be found outside USA, half of the boards will probably keep you up all night because they are stuffed with sugar. While the book does contain a few recipes for salsa and hummus I kinda hoped to see more of that and less -opening 4 different kinds of colored tortilla chips and arrange them-.

Another thing which comes to mind is serving the hot food. A board full of pancakes, grilled cheese or dim sum won't be hot by the time you heated the whole batch. The first pancake will be cold by the time you made the last one.

And a board full of tiny things (nuts, m&m's) means people will literally have to put them in their mouth again and again.... very unsanitary. A beautiful board can be a big succes if done right, but some do not keep basic etiquette in mind.

So to spark some ideas this was a good book to start with, but not one to follow step-by-step.
Profile Image for Jamie.
968 reviews84 followers
December 10, 2020
One of my friends sent this book to me in the mail as an early Christmas gift because she knows I love all things boards! This book details how to choose the right board, how to care & clean your boards, how to arrange everything from the most spectacular and elaborate cheese & charcuterie board to the more everyday and simple build-your-own pancake board for a lazy Saturday morning. I love how the author tackles the topic that *any* meal, snack, or occasion is the perfect time for a board... even a weeknight dinner where she lays out fixins for Cobb Salad or Taco Bar on a rotating lazy susan and pops it in the center of the table so everyone can help themselves. Gives a new and updated meaning to "family style!"
I really enjoyed reading her philosophy on boards and how it fits into her daily and weekly life plus her ideas and photography were great! I can see myself referring back to this time and time again.
Profile Image for Brenda.
1,104 reviews
December 27, 2025
I've been making (charcuterie) boards since before they had a fancy name and it's one of my favorite ways of entertaining! I would say this is an excellent Book for a beginning "boarder" with some good tips and hints for starting out, but for anyone with a bit more experience it may be a little bit of a let down. Five stars for beautiful photographs! I did find some inspiration in this book for some new ideas for my boards but, a lot of them were ideas I've already done. I do love that they also included a few recipes in the back of the book. I'd recommend this book for more of a beginning boarder. 3.5 ⭐s overall.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 92 reviews

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