The Holidays are coming! I repeat, THE HOLIDAYS ARE COMING! Have people coming over? Need to bring something festive to a party. I got you. Make an appetizer board! I am love with making app boards because they not only look super impressive, but they require little to zero actual cooking. And guests LOVE them. Think of it as an updated cruditès platter, if you will. Its usually a free-form compilation of pickin's that involve endless flavor combos. A choose your own adventure, hors d'oeuvre style. Yes please!

Even though these boards teeter the line of work-of-art and hot-mess, there is a method to my madness, and a few simple guidelines I like to adhere to, to make my vision, er, appetizer board come to life. 

First, choose your vessel. Be it a board, platter, or plate, choose something that you are inspired by. I usually choose a wooden cutting board because I love how casual and rustic they are. 

Second, choose your dips. Whatever dips/spreads you choose will help dictate the direction you're gonna go.. Will it be a do-it-yourself avocado toast board with hummus and spicy mayo? Will it be a sweeter brunch board with my Sweet and Savory Pumpkin Spice Spread and honey? Maybe a combo of crudités and sweeter flavors, like the one I made this morning. 

Get prepped. Wash your grapes, peel your carrots, slice your cucumbers & apples and whatnot. Have all your goodies in front of you as a painter would his colors. When you see it all, its easier to pick and choose what speaks to you.

Now here's where I categorize what's what.

• Primary items are your bigger items, or your focal point items. Begin with a few. Here, I chose hummus, pumpkin spice dip, popcorn, and grapes. I'll place these things first and everything else will work around. If you were doing a cheese board, your cheeses would be your primary items.
• Secondary items are medium sized. Apples, carrots, cucumbers, breads & crackers, tomatoes, potatoes, the list goes on. These items will be placed after primary items, wherever you like, filling the space.
• Filler items are small items that you can pile up. Nuts, small berries, dried fruit, olives, sprouts, herbs, edible flowers, whatever you like. You can fill the remainder of empty space with these fillers.

After I finished this board, I thought it could easily be separated into two boards, one crudités and one sweeter Autumn board.