Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars

Lots of great entertaining ideas for tons of boards.

Girl Dinners in a nutshell, this book gives a lot of ideas for different boards and spreads you can put together. Easy to follow and a good variety of ideas and themes

All I can say is YUM! Yasmin Fahr has put her own spin on the boards trend and made it all positively scrumptious and easy to do. Fahr does an excellent job of balancing out creating a visually appealing board or spread with the practicality of everything being edible and not just for decoration. I was particularly taken with the Italian Aperitivo Board! The components for this board appear easy to pull together and delicious, if you see anything that doesn't fit your own tastes you could easily swap it out. If you are a fan of all things spreads, snacking, and charcuterie pick up this book for a new dose of inspiration!

I have since purchased this cookbook and am enjoying the variety of suggestions. I recommend it. It would make a great gift idea.

Wonderful book to browse through for charcuterie board inspiration. I’ve definitely been influenced by the beautiful boards in this book, and am interested in trying out so many ideas. I reviewed this as a PDF, which in terms of nonfiction cooking books, is harder to do. However, that’s simply the nature of reviewing online. it’s no fault of the author or publisher. I look forward to any future publications to follow.

If you like to entertain, this might be a book for you. After a chapter about the kind of boards you can use, which is pretty much everything. The rest of the book is broken into sections. The first is breakfast. We get a jam board and a pancake board, but we also get a bloody Mary board. Then we have the bread boards with the different types of breads that are seen on charcuterie boards. There are boards that don’t require cooking and a pizza board. Then snacking boards, dinner boards, good boards for eating outside. Then the last sections are recipes for dips and add-ons for the boards, like lemony herbs and onions. Caramelized bananas sound so yummy. I like that these boards aren’t just for snacks but could be used for meals.

Loved this board and spread book. Hopefully you enjoy it too. I hope for more like this. Will ge making more good spreads

Many thanks to NetGalley, Clarkson Potter and Yasmin Fahr for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are 100% my own and independent of receiving an advance copy.


Charcuterie boards are all the rage and you can find all kinds of variations online like candy boards or breakfast boards, so I thought I would check out Boards and Spreads. I’m not sure what I was expecting but I was a little disappointed. The pictures are not enticing or comprehensive, which I think is a key component to charcuterie boards. There are some recipes in here which are for the most part simple and easy. You don’t need any fancy kitchen skills for this which is great. I use the term recipes loosely as a lot of it is premade. For example Za’atar flatbread is store bought flatbread with za’atar and olive oil. I don’t need a recipe for that.

I think there are a lot of ideas in this book and from the table of contents looks very comprehensive but as I made my way through the book, I was uninspired. Fahr does leave things open to your interpretation, so that you can take her ideas and do your own variation. I also found the set up of the book not very user friendly. Everything seems squished and not easy to find. There is an index in the back to help you find things, but overall I thought the presentation should have been clearer. I’m not sure realistically, how much I’ll use this book but I’ll keep it for a bit and see if it is more useful than it seems.

The perfect book every person needs to be able to hold a dinner party or just make a snack board for yourself.

I love making a meal out of snacky foods so the charcuterie trend is perfect for me. I considered many of the recipes to be more along the lines of cooking a meal and adding extras. For me a board is piles of snacky bits. If I have to cook a big meal, it defeats the purpose for me. I was more impressed with the one chapter on dips and could have done without the rest.

What a wonderful cookbook is Boards and Spreads by Yasmin Fahr. She made sure there is a board for each and any occassion.

The recipes are easy to follow. And delicious. The images are super bright
. .

Thank you netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review. This was a great read as I had wanted to learn more about the “science” of putting together charcuterie boards and am hoping to entertain more this year! A great gift for housewarming parties!

Who doesn't love a fun charcuterie board to shed with family and friends?! This book has a layout that is easy to use and broken down into a few simple sections:

Boards for Breakfast
Breads on Boards
Snacking Boards
Salad & Veggie Platters
Dinnertime Boards
Take It Outside
Accents, Add-ons
Dips, Spreads
More Fun Things

There's lots of detail about the types of boards and equipment to use, many gorgeous images, and most of the boards are simple to create. With a wealth of of healthy ideas, including many seafood-themed meals, this book is perfect for anyone who loves to entertain.

Review
As an empty nester, and as summer holds on way past fall, cooking, even putting things in an Instant Pot is not always something I want to do at the end of the day. My apartment has been so hot that when I pass the kitchen window to open the front door, I can feel the heat of the day coming out of the apartment. Ugh. This book, however, just gives me other ideas to use for a last minute dinner or long snack session from the refrigerator.

My usual go to is some type of cracker, something sour and salty like olives or pickles, something fresh like cucumber, an interesting mustard or jam, some kind of meat and a couple of cheeses.

This book takes care of all of that and offers some recipe ideas that I donʻt currently use, bu the recipes are easy enough to make ahead and leave in the refrigerator. I definitely want to try the quick-pickled jalapenos, marinated chickpeas, garlicky white beans and jammy eggs.

The book goes through types of serving boards but it also goes beyond boards to what I usually call a "dinner/lunch bar" For example, Farh offers a Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner board which is basically a sheet-pan chicken thighs + mushrooms + smashed garlic recipe and then you put the accouterments to this sheet-pan dish on another board (jalapeno, cheese, lime wedges, sour cream). Diners then just make their own bowls of dishes, which is why I call it a bar like a salad bar with options rather than the same dish for everyone.

This is a fun, no pressure cookbook with lovely pictures and a wide range of ideas.

From the publisher:
Go beyond cheese with 65 recipes for delicious boards and epic spreads for dinner, appetizers, breakfast, snacks, and more.

In Boards & Spreads, you won’t find cheese boards--instead, you’ll find simple ideas and scrumptious recipes for a variety of meals and snacks to share on platters or boards. From the Top-Your-Own Chili Board to the Crispy Chicken Bites Spread, and from the Charred Salad Platter to the Egg Pita Sandwich Board, you’ll find something for every meal and mood. Even drinks can be served in this fun fashion, whether it's a Bloody Mary Bar at brunch or low-ABV cocktails at an afternoon picnic. There are also plenty of quick recipes for dips, spreads, and other tempting add-ons you'll turn to time and again, like Smashed Olives, Quick-Pickled Shallots and Jalapenos, and Two-Minute Feta Dip.

Whether you’re looking for a snackable spread for two, a grazing board to share when friends come over, or simply looking for easy-to-make recipes you can throw together on a whim, Boards & Spreads shows you how to turn everyday ingredients into festive, low-effort meals.

I adore boards and spreads, they're such a fun way to have a meal. For me it s not just about the fun though. While living in China I really began to appreciate the beauty of properly sharing your food, of sharing dishes and dips and trying out new things that way. So since then boards have been on my mind quite a bit. I even organised them for Christmas the past few years!

One of the things I really liked is that the recipes also focus on when produce is in season! It can be so hard to find certain things at certain times of year, so to have specific boards for specific times of the year is great. In general I found the thematic approach very useful, even if I wouldn't create a spread for breakfast myself. (This might change once I no longer live on my own!) Each board also comes with a photo which made them all look delicious and perfect, even if they're all accessible!

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone with a love for boards and spreads!

I used this one for a few football games I hosted and the recipes and boards were such a hit! I will definitely be purchasing this one to sit on my shelf! Bravo to the author for a hit!

They Key to Life: A good board. Friends, family, book club, coworkers, and whoever else will be swooning over these absolutely beautiful boards and boozes. They even have boards for breakfast! Special shoutout to some of my favorite beautiful boards: the egg pita sandwich board, the pancakes board, the bloody mary bar, the Italian apertivo board, the summer trio platter (tomato salad, charred corn salad, and garlicky blistered green peas), the taco board, the grapefruit sparkler, the paloma twist, and the vermouth sipper.

Not a whole lot here... lots of pre purchased things.. If you are really hurting for ideas.. maybe a good purchase, otherwise.. for someone who likes to actually cook.. not a whole lot of substance

Have you ever seen fancy platters that a selection of cheeses, grapes, crackers and such like on it? The style that you are probably used to seeing is called a Charcuterie Board, which is a selection of meats with foods that compliment the meat. You might have also seen a Cheese Board, which a selection of cheeses with foods that compliment the cheeses. This style of eating is perfect when you are having people around to eat, it means that people are able to pick and choose what they want.

Boards and Spreads is split into 7 different chapters: Boards for Breakfast; Breads on Boards; Snacking Boards + Salad & Veggie Platters; Dinnertime Boards; Take It Outside; Accents + Add-ons; and Dips, Spreads + More Fun Things. Each section contains a selection of more board inspirations that recipes per-say. While certain aspects of each board may include items that include a cooked item, I found that each board is easily adapted to suit your tastes without compromising the intercity of the dish unlike more traditional meals.

Some of the boards included are certainly interesting, but I certainly found myself skimming over a lot of it. Some of the boards are very interesting and I can certainly see myself wanting to try certain aspects of them, but majority of these were just not of particular interest to me.

While a good selection of ideas, I found it to be lacking that certain something that would make this a book that I would reach for regularly.

Boards and spreads for every occasion! We all
Think about meat and cheese for boards, but this book will really open your eyes to the many possibilities! I can’t wait to try some out.