Summer is finally here, which means it's time to fire up the grill and try out some new grilling and BBQ recipes! To make your cooking and carving easier, Cuttingboard.com offers a range of high-quality carving boards with juice grooves to keep your workspace clean and organized. Here are three top grilling recipes to try this summer, along with the perfect cutting board to make your prep and carving a breeze:

1. Grilled Spatchcock Chicken: This juicy and flavorful chicken recipe is a great choice for summer grilling. Try using the John Boos Maple Carver Board for a sturdy, and hygienic space to prepare your chicken. This heavy-duty board measures 24 x18 x 2.25 inches and features handles and a juice groove to keep your workspace clean.

2. Grilled Steak Fajitas: These delicious fajitas are a crowd-pleaser and perfect for outdoor dining. To prep your meat and vegetables, use the John Boos Reversible Walnut Board. This large cutting board measures 24 x 18 x 1.5 inches and features a beautiful walnut wood finish that hides stains and knife marks.

3. Grilled Shrimp Skewers: These easy and flavorful skewers are perfect for summer entertaining. To make your prep and carving easier, try using the Nautical Boards Rectangle Sapele Carving Board. This board measures 16 x 12 x 1.5 inches and features handles, a juice groove, and a beautiful dark sapele wood finish.

All of these cutting boards are made from high-quality materials and are designed to withstand the demands of grilling and BBQ. They also come with a satisfaction guarantee, so you can buy with confidence. So why wait? Upgrade your grilling game with one of these top carving boards from Cuttingboard.com today, and try out these delicious grilling recipes this summer!

Fruits and Sweets Board

The Chirping Moms take the cake when it comes to patriotic charcuterie boards, but this is not your typical charcuterie board. They’ve paired sweets such as macarons, cookies, and gummies. This board is a great balance with the addition of fresh fruits for a refreshing touch. Watermelon and strawberries are great for beating the heat, then you can finish it off with patriotic cookies. This playful and patriotic assortment is sure to be a hit for adults and kids at any 4th of July party. Serve it up on our Nautical Serving Board for plenty of space and a nautical touch.

Mini Yogurt and Fruit Board

For smaller snacks, we love the Montolivo Olive Wood Cutting Board for a red white and blue assortment. Our favorite combination is strawberries, blueberries, and yogurt covered pretzels. This is a great afternoon snack with the perfect nutritious balance. The pretzels bring a great salty sweet addition to this snack board along with the perfect color combination for fourth of July entertaining.

Patriotic Cheese Board

Everyone loves a good piece of brie, but this time we’ve made it patriotic. This super easy board is a great snack to bring into a red white and blue themed party and super delicious. Blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries are great for decorating this board. Next, you need a delicious, warm baguette sliced to perfection and red or blue jam of your choice to pair with the fresh bread. Serve all at once for a delicious gourmet treat at the 4th of July party. One of our favorite cheese boards to use for this appetizer is the Teakhaus Edge Grain Board. This cutting board is super durable, made from ethically sourced teak wood making it just as good for chopping as it is for serving.

American (French) Toast with Fresh Berries

One of our favorite ways to celebrate America’s independence is with a red white and blue brunch. If you love French toast as much as we do, try this “American” toast. We tried this recipe by Natasha’s Kitchen and have deemed it a go-to as far as French toast recipes go. Make this dish American with red and blue fruits plus powdered sugar sprinkled on top. Our favorite berries to add are strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and cherries. Drizzle strawberry or blueberry syrup over the top of your finished toast for the ultimate patriotic brunch dish.

Now that you have a few options for true American entertaining, it’s time to start the party. Check out our many types of cutting boards for the best personalized serving tray to fit your entertaining needs. Need help choosing your favorite? Shoot us an email at help@cuttingboard.com.

1. Fondant Potatoes

Fondant potatoes are a delicious and versatile side dish that can be enjoyed with a variety of main courses. They are also relatively easy to make, making them a great option for home cooks of all skill levels.

People like fondant potatoes because they are crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside, with a rich flavor from the butter, thyme, and chicken broth.Ingredients:

6 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1-inch thick cylinders

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

3 tablespoons butter

4 sprigs thyme

1/2 cup chicken broth

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

Toss potatoes with olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Spread potatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until potatoes are golden brown on the bottom.

Add butter, thyme, and chicken broth to the baking sheet.

Bake for an additional 20 minutes, or until potatoes are tender and the sauce has thickened.

Serve hot.

Tips:

For extra crispy potatoes, you can parboil the potatoes for 5 minutes before baking.

You can also add other herbs to the sauce, such as rosemary, sage, or parsley.

If you don't have chicken broth, you can use vegetable broth or water.

Serve fondant potatoes with your favorite main course, such as steak, chicken, or fish.

Enjoy!

2. Garlic Mashed Potatoes

These mashed potatoes are creamy, flavorful, and perfect for a hearty winter meal. The garlic is cooked until it is soft and fragrant, and then it is added to the mashed potatoes along with butter, milk, and salt.

Ingredients:

1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and quartered

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup sour cream

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions:

Place potatoes in a large pot of salted water and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.

Drain potatoes and return them to the pot.

Add milk, butter, sour cream, garlic, salt, and pepper.

Mash potatoes until smooth and creamy.

Serve hot.

3. Potato Pancakes

These potato pancakes are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. They are perfect for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. The potatoes are grated and then mixed with onions, eggs, and flour. The pancakes are then pan-fried until golden brown.

Ingredients:

2 pounds potatoes, peeled and grated

1/2 onion, grated

2 eggs

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Oil for frying

Instructions:

In a large bowl, combine potatoes, onion, eggs, flour, salt, and pepper.

Mix well until all ingredients are combined.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

Drop spoonfuls of batter into the hot oil and cook for 2-3 minutes per side, or until golden brown and cooked through.

Drain pancakes on paper towels and serve immediately.

For even more recipes check out these options.

These are just a few of the many ways you can enjoy potatoes on National Potato Day. So get creative and have fun with it! 

We recommend a generously sized butcher block like this maple board from John Boos. Maple butcher blocks are made from the wood of maple trees, which are known for their strength and durability. Maple butcher blocks are also naturally resistant to moisture and bacteria, making them a safe and sanitary choice for cutting up food.

In addition to being functional, maple butcher blocks are also beautiful. The rich color and grain of maple wood make them a stunning addition to any kitchen. Maple butcher blocks can be customized to fit any size or style of kitchen, and they can be finished with a variety of oils and waxes to protect them from wear and tear.

If you are looking for a beautiful, durable, and functional butcher block for your kitchen, then a maple butcher block is the perfect choice. Maple butcher blocks will make your kitchen look and feel special, and they will last for years to come.

The CuttingBoard.com Kitchen warmly welcomes Chef David Harold as our guest food blogger. David is an accomplished cook that specializes in authentic, latin inspired recipes stemming from his residence in the bustling city of Mexico City.

Being fortunate enough to have someone cook great meals for you as a kid – the kind that often prompted me to ditch my friends on the playground – is a blessing. If it hadn’t been for one extra-special grandmother growing up, I may not have been exposed to quality, home cooked meals until I had already “eaten out of a box” too many times and decided that chicken nuggets were the tastiest treat for a growing boy.

My cooking story begins in the early 80s with that personal influence, and blossomed in my mid-20s when Grandma had passed on and left me hungering for rustic style meals – literally. The on-the-go lifestyle of going to school had slowly but surely led me into the default eating habits of most young men of my age. Eating became more of a necessity in between work tasks than something that was enjoyed. Deep down I missed the nutritious meals I had enjoyed as a kid, but had other priorities that I considered equally as important. When a friend of mine became a franchise owner and asked if I would be interested in working in the restaurant business, I took a job as a 24-hour restaurant manager in South Central Texas (Port Lavaca) and began my cooking career not as a short order cook or dishwasher like so many, but at the top of the proverbial chain. Embarrassed by my lack of skills at the time, it wasn’t too long until I was training new hires on the nuances of chopping onions and how to serve up those perfect sunny-side up breakfast dishes. However, all of our goods were purchased from a big chain food distributor. The menu was preset due to franchising requirements and there was absolutely no room for creativity.

Years later, thousands of miles away from where I grew up, I found myself doing a three week work stint in Costa Rica in which I constantly devoured take out, rubbery proteins, and frozen fried dishes that finally sent me over the edge. When you’ve been exposed to food that has been prepared with time and love, it is easy to identify store bought food no matter how many spices get mixed in with breading before something is unceremoniously dumped into a deep fryer. The run-of-the-mill restaurant depends heavily on pre-cooked sides that are refrigerated and served up to the day of their expiration date (something you can taste immediately with enough experience). Most food distributors that deliver to “California Style” eateries preserve their food to last longer; meaning it must be served piping hot in order to bring out any of the spices (or artificial flavors) that have been added. Proteins served under these conditions usually become extremely tough or bland after spending only a couple of minutes under a heat lamp, and to-go meals generally serve as sustenance rather than actual nutrition. When all is said and done, dining out is a sure-fire way to an unhealthy lifestyle… and my body had begun telling me that it was time to make nutrition a higher priority. It was during my final meal in Costa Rica that consisted of three-day-old chili with stale bread that motivated me to make a change as soon as I got back home.

When I did finally get back to the place I now call home (Mexico City since 1997), I spent the next six months cooking every meal for myself without exception. Sure, there were a few throwaways and failed experiments, but through practice and desire I quickly found that the key to putting “beauty on a plate” (a term used in Mexico to describe well-cooked meals) depended much less on natural skill and much more on one’s willingness to allocate time and love; transforming that into meals similar to what I had grown up with. Those meals were appetizing, delicious and left guests asking when they could return for more home-cooked goodness.

This is my food story.

Recipe: Chicaroon en Salsa Verde (Pork Skin with Green Tomato Sauce)

Growing up in a Southern border state where being bilingual is a coveted asset, the rise in popularity of Tex-Mex dishes comes as no surprise. I definitely had my share of the ground-beef dominant main courses that are smothered in cheese with “meat gravy” and accompanied by rice and beans – a real treat if you’ve never been exposed to such food. However, true Mexican cuisine is not what many people who live in the states say it is. Here in the Central region of the country of Mexico where I’ve lived for over 16 years, the local meal times are vastly different from what we’re used to as Americans, no one takes “siestas” anymore, and proteins are typically used as a food to complete a meal rather than dominate it.

In this article, I’d like to share my recipe for Chicharron en Salsa Verde, otherwise known as Pork Skins in Green Tomato Sauce. For this dish, I’m using the old stand-by of rice and beans and showing how this dish can be enjoyed on its own or as a hearty soup.

To begin with, pork skins are commonly sold in local markets and basically come in two different presentations, con carnitas or sin carnitas (with or without meat on the skin). A good place to find pork skins (usually sold in sheets that are at least 12” x 12”) is in a specialty market located in areas that have large Latin American populations. One of my favorite places to go shopping as a kid was Market Square in San Antonio. When purchasing pork skins that are ready to consume (meaning pre-fried), you’ll notice that the pork skin portion on one side has squares of meaty goodness that are attached while the other does not. When it comes to Latin America, one’s preference for con carnitas or sin carnitas is as highly debated as his or her favorite soccer team. Personally, I prefer the salty taste of having the “meat attached” but typically will mix the two together in order to achieve a balance that fits my palate.

INGREDIENTS (MEAL FOR SIX)

1/2 lb. Fried Pork Skins 
1/2 lb. SMALL Green Tomatoes (called “tomatillos” in Spanish) 
1 Cup Fresh Cilantro 
3 Serrano Chiles 
1 Garlic Clove 
1/4 Onion 
2 Cups Water 
1 Cup Chicken Stock 
1/2 lb. Corn Tortillas

Note: Salt should not be added as an ingredient due to the high salt content of the pork skins.

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Step 1: Grilling the green tomatoes, chiles, garlic (last two minutes) and onion. In Mexico, the proper way of grilling vegetables is with a shallow pan called a “Comal.” If you don’t have a Comal handy, don’t fret, a non-stick frying pan will work as a substitute. Do not put any oil into the pan – as we’re aiming for a slightly blackened end result. This process shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes as long as your cooking surface is adequately hot. Feel free to rotate your produce when one side begins to blacken. In this step, we’re looking to add a flavor profile to our “chile sauce” that will be used to soften the pork skins in. Remember that your garlic should only be added at the very end so it doesn’t burn.

Step 2: Begin heating up an appropriately sized sauce pot. Take chiles, garlic, onion, and raw cilantro. Blend all four together with 1 cup of water. Place liquefied produce in the sauce pot on medium heat. Since we’re cooking a sauce with high water content on moderate to low heat and subsequently adding the pre-fried, oily pork skins, it isn’t necessary to add any oil.

Step 3: Blend Green Tomatoes with 1 Cup of Water. When mixture is liquefied, strain out the seeds using a wire mesh colander and then pour into the sauce pot (from Step 2) together with the other mixture. Add 1 Cup of Chicken Stock. Cook at soft boil for 10 minutes.

Step 4: Place pork skins in the sauce. Cook for 10-15 minutes, or until pork skins have the desired texture (I prefer mine slightly crunchy – that way the meat part of the pork skin is slightly crunchy and naturally very salty while the base of the pork skins is extremely soft).

Step 5: Once finished, plate (in this case I cooked rice and beans to accompany). Warm the corn tortillas up on the come and then serve in taco form or simply use the tortillas as you dine.

From start to finish, this meal took 30 minutes to cook and plate. I served six people (myself and my neighbors) and the spice was extremely mild… milder than I had anticipated since I put in three Serrano peppers. Of course, you can adjust the ingredients to your liking. The feedback on the meal was overwhelmingly positive, but when I prodded for more information and critique, I was told that I should have used more chiles. I would still recommend using three or less Serrano chiles if your palette is not accustomed to the spicy heat produced from grilled chiles.

Observations

Refried beans likely won’t be a good fit for this dish because of the textures involved, but you can easily serve the whole beans along with the pork skins in a bowl with the rice on the side for a more “hearty” experience – just remember to include broth from both the beans and chicharron.

Traditionally speaking, spice is an integral part of Mexican dishes (we can cover the different variations of chile in a later article). My preference is for a mild spice profile but there are other popular preparations such as mole that may not be particularly spicy but have so many other combinations of spices that it can be harsh on an untrained stomach.

For my version of chicharron, the best method is medium to medium-low heat in a medium-sized sauce pan. This will give you a reasonable amount of control over the blending of spices while allowing you to taste whether or not the spice is too strong. I purposely made the rice and beans a little “blander” that I normally would since I knew I would be blending the three into taco form. I also had a nice wedge of homemade queso panela enchilado (panela cheese with chile flakes) that I decided to grab at the last minute to give the taco a different overall flavor profile as well as a little extra salt.

Some of our readers may not be fans of dairy products, but I find that balancing out a nice spicy dish with fresh milk does wonders – to each his/her own.

That’s it for this recipe and write-up. I hope you’ve enjoyed learning about a very popular, traditional Mexican dish and I look forward to providing more of my insight and recipes in the future. Feel free to leave a comment any time and be sure to let me know your version of Chicharron en Salsa Verde.

Whether you choose to make a hot cocoa board, load it up with Holiday sweets, meat and cheeses, or simply add some fruits and crackers…there are so many varieties that can be thrown together in no time!

Using my Montolivo Olive Wood Paddle Board from CuttingBoard.Com, I can change up the theme, variety, and everyone always raves about how stunning the board is! Plus, with it being thick and solid, I can carry my board around and place it where needed, without worrying it will fall/break!

For my most recent board, I kept things simple and added some grapes, apple slices, cheese assortments, and crackers. People were able to grab some crackers, load it up with cheeses, and also add some sweetness with the fresh fruit. Within minutes, the board was cleared and I was refilling with different goodies!

Since CuttingBoard.Com offers a variety of sizes, shapes, colors, and more on their boards, you can pick your favorite look and have a piece that will last forever! Use it as a cutting board, charcuterie board, or even as a statement piece in your kitchen leaned against your backsplash.

I love to collect several shapes and sizes of boards and store them behind my stovetop. Not only does it add great character to my kitchen, but it keeps things quick and handy when I am ready to throw a charcuterie together!

If you want to add a festive touch, perhaps add a string of lights around your board, maybe a few Christmas decorations, or fresh cranberries throughout. You can arrange your fruits and veggies to form a Christmas tree or snowman and have fun with it!

This Holiday season, grab yourself a beautiful board from CuttingBoard.Com or even purchase one as a gift! You’ll have a timeless piece that will serve multiple uses and be the talk of the party!

Wishing you all a wonderful Holiday season!

~Kristin (www.thecookinchicks.com)

If visiting a cheese shop is a regular and normal occurrence in your week, then offering your curated delicacies on the best cheese board is a must. Picking the right cheese board can mean the difference between a ho-hum appetizer platter and a wow-factor party pleaser that guests won’t soon forget. That means not forgetting your finest Stiltons and Leicesters by letting them sit unattended on a simple wood platter. A real cheese flight deserves to be highlighted with all the right accouterments such as dried fruits, crackers, jams and served on a sturdy and properly chosen cheese board. 

The Cheese Matters

Cheese comes in a myriad of flavors, shapes, consistencies and colors that traverse the world in their origin. Your cheese selection can be culled from one animal source (all goat, or all sheep’s milk), or can cross-represent different species. A well selected cheese board will narrate a story of it's own, solely based on the types of cheeses you proffer to your guests. A good host knows that unless you are throwing a gala for your local monger's club, a good board will showcase both soft and hard varieties and pungent and mild options, as to please all manner of palates. 

But, we don't need to educate you more since you’re already a cheese snob, let’s get down to the business of selecting a proper serving board. There are several variables when deciding on a material, with only a few options standing up to the class and elegance of a fine ripened cheese selection. Below we explore some important points.

Wood Boards

The most common choice for serving cheese. Reliable, easy to clean and economical, a wooden cheese or serving board can be anything from a sectioned wood burl to an appropriated cutting board. What makes the real difference in the character of the wood and how it emphasizes the story of the cheese. For example, serving a wheel of  casu marzu (a Sardinian sheep's cheese) on a rustic olive wood slab from Tuscany will evoke a true sense of exotic dining, whereas displaying this famous "worm's cheese" on a ratty cutting board with plastic spoons may turn your guests' stomachs. Presentation matters just as much as the provenance of said cheese.

In addition to aesthetics, a wooden cheese board makes for easy cutting of cheese. Rounds can be cut into wedges and harder cheeses like Parmesan or Pecorino can be brought down to reasonable blocks for your guests to shave and slice. Speaking of which, you do have a cheese knife set to go with your cheese board, right?  Just incase your snobbery needs a reminder, here are the crucial must-haves:

• Spreader Knife: For soft cheese, made for putting on crackers or breads
• Cheese Plane: For hard and semi-firm cheeses, such as pecorino or parmesan. Doubles as server.
• Spade Knife: For hard cheeses
• Wide / Flat Knife / Server: For semi-hard cheese and to serve after slicing
• Fork: To serve cheese after cutting

Most knives serve two purposes, so it's possible to get by with two or one in a pinch, but like the cheese snob you are, you know that cutting and serving with the same utensils is certainly frowned upon. After all, you don't want your knife to turn into the Brie-Blue-Gruyere-Gouda mystery mobile that looks like a melted crayon.

When choosing a wooden cheese board, it's important to pick a species that will not absorb flavors easily. Cheese is by nature, rich in fats and oils, which have a propensity to go rancid once the fat oxidizes. While this is a part of natural aging process of cheese, most of the "pleasant" cheesey aroma is caused by the bacteria and yeast from the fermentation of the milk. Rancid fats create the same smell such as sour milk, which is sharp and generally unpleasant. 

Woods to avoid that tend to pick up flavors are oak and most softwoods (fir, cedar, pine, larch, cypress). Oak in particular is famous for it's transference, as one look at a wine barrel and you'll immediately realize wine makers use oak because it easily absorbs and imparts flavors due to it's porous nature. 

So when picking out a wood, a non-porous species is generally best to keep your wood from imparting any unwanted flavors. Some hardwoods that fall into this category include  olive wood, birch, American cherry, hard maple and teak.

Porous woods include walnut and mahogony, so best to avoid these species. Do note though Brazilian walnut (Ipe), as seen in  this paddle board, is not affected as Ipe is not a true walnut species.

If you must have one of the aforementioned woods ( larch for example, makes for a beautiful presentation), it is highly recommended to use both food safe oil and wax on a regular basis to season and seal in the wood to prevent imparting of flavors and smells.

Lastly, one careful point when picking out a cheese board is to ensure that it does not have any lacquer finish or varnish. Most of these finishes are not food safe and can chip when cut on, which will then make their way into your food. 

Stone and Marble Boards

Stone boards, made from marble, granite or natural stone make excellent cheese presentation platters due to both their form and function. A marble board, in particular, offers a beautiful and cool surface on which to store cheese and will not absorb smells as easily as wood, though marble is still porous and requires care.

Marble or stone cheese boards will provide the best temperature zone for your cheese platter. These are dense materials and retain a large amount of thermal mass for their size. In English, this means that they are able to absorb heat faster than other materials and will transfer that heat away from your cheese, helping them to keep cool and not melt. For this reason, pastry chefs and candy makers overwhelmingly use marble in their professions, as it prevents dough from sticking and will set the chocolate faster and more evenly. 

Thus, if you're planning on an outdoor event or your cheese platter will be sitting out on a hot day, you will want to choose marble, granite or stone to help preserve the cheese. Even better, a clear dome or letting your cheese board sit in an ice bath beforehand will gain approving nods from fellow cheese heads. Note that it is correct to serve cheese at room temperature, so don't go overboard and ice the cheese itself, as a Frenchman seeing this act will summarily pour out all your wine and mutter something about roast beef. Ok, we kid, but the taste of cheese is closely linked with the fermentation and umami flavor, which is highlighted with a bit of warmth. 

As we are CuttingBoard.com, we always make it a point to state that hard stone surfaces and knives do not mix. That said, assuming you aren't cutting your cheeses with a ceramic knife or your carbon steel Shun, you shouldn't worry too much about dulling your dedicated cheese knives. Only a few hard cheeses require some effort to cut and for those varieties, is usually requires a mandolin or cheese plane.

While stone and marble appear like the top choice, there is still a maintenance issue to be aware of. Marble is porous, as are some types of granite, so it is very possible for your beloved cheese board to emit foul odors if not properly taken care of. A food safe sealer or cleaner is highly recommended, as most typical sealers are not made for marble that will not be touching food.

But Wait, There's Slate!

Slate is a relatively new material in the kitchen world, but has becoming rapidly popular for use as servers and ... you guessed it, cheese boards. Why?  For one, kitchen slate is non-porous and does not absorb flavors or smells from the surrounding environment. Unlike marble, which is prone to etching from acids (wine, tomato sauce), slate is not as reactive as less prone to discoloration.

That said, slate comes in a huge amount of varieties, so not all slate is equal!  Colored slate, which often comes from overseas, is porous and has a tendency to flake and chip. Luckily the only slate we've seen of this variety is only found in tiling and home improvement stores. Kitchen slate (that which is used for food service) is almost always predominantly black slate, which is not porous and the least prone to flaking. 

Non-porous slate is easy to maintain, since it doesn't absorb fats or bacterial from food or cheese on it's surface. A standard rub and scrub is all that is needed, while a few dabs of  food safe mineral oil will help bring out a nice shine and lustre to slate. 

As an added benefit, slate is priced very reasonably, which makes it tempting to amass a collection of slate ware just for future get togethers. Did we mention it can also be used as a trivet in a pinch?

The only drawback to slate is that it does tend to scratch easily, so scuffs and marks might start showing for your more popular cheese plates.

Glass Boards

Last but not least, are glass cheese boards. Glass is almost a perfect material for cheese, because it is non-porous, dishwasher safe (and thus, easy to clean), requires no maintenance and can make for a clean presentation piece. Glass doesn't have the thermal mass of marble, so it won't help cool cheese down on a warm day however (think about how fast a hot cup of coffee will get in a glass cup).

Plus, another benefit that glass has over all other cheese boards is that glass is nearly impervious to cuts and scratches from typical kitchen and cheese knives. This means your glass serving board will likely remain in the same tip top condition for years to come. 

If there's only one thing to not like about glass, is that it can have a tendency to be loud when cutting or prone to the occasional cringe-inducing knife on glass sound; also known as the  worst sound in the world. For this reason, we recommend pairing soft or semi-soft cheeses with glass boards to avoid surprising jarring noises.

It All Comes Down to Proper Cleaning

No matter what cheese board you choose, be it wood, marble or slate, the only real "secret" of the ultimate cheese snob is proper care and maintenance.

After using, your cheese boards should be scrubbed with hot soap and water and then wiped immediately dry. Wood boards should be oiled and waxed and marble boards should be sealed each month. If your cheese board even begins to have a whiff of stink, bacteria has begin to take hold, which means you need to disinfect and sanitize your board. 

You can use this safe cleaning solution below to rid your board of those pesky germs:

Lemon Scrub for Wood and Honed (non-polished marble)

1-tablespoon kosher salt

½ lemon

Cut a lemon in half. Apply salt in mound to affected area. Using the inner side of the lemon, rub the salt into the wood, scrubbing in circles. Rinse with warm water after you’re done, and dry immediately.

For polished marble, do not use the formula above (as well as any commercial solutions that use acidic compounds such as vinegar or lemon juice) as it will etch your marble and take away the polish. Instead, use hydrogen peroxide, which will be safe on a polished surface. But, if you are using black marble, do not use hydrogen peroxide as it may discolor dark marble. We know, marble is high maintenance!

Whether you pick stone, glass or wood, a good quality cheeseboard will become a kitchen heirloom, showcasing your top market picks, and preserving their unique tastes as they’re meant to be savored.

Bloody Vampire Doughnuts

Channel your inner vampire with these fun and easy Bloody Vampire Doughnuts. Don’t worry, this blood is sweet and delicious and these vampires won’t bite. Follow along with our recipe for a spooky treat good enough to eat! (No vampires were harmed in the making of these doughnuts.)

Ingredients:

• 1 bag cinnamon mini doughnuts
• 1 bag of mini marshmallows
• Hard candy eyes
• Red gel icing

Instructions:

• Take out your desired amount of cinnamon sugar mini doughnuts
• Cut mini marshmallows in half, lengthwise
• Stick marshmallows on the lower half of the doughnut to make the teeth
• Drip red gel icing down from the end teeth to make the blood.

We love to serve these mini treats on our Teakhaus Paddle Board. The paddle handle allows for easy handling to ensure safe transport of your DIY Halloween Goodies.

Spider Web Sugar Cookies

Recipe inspired by Southern Living

Put aside your fear of spiders this Halloween and indulge in yummy, melt in your mouth spider web sugar cookies. You’ll feel like a true culinary artist when making these cookies. Don’t worry, no real spiders are involved.

Ingredients

• Sugar Cookie Dough
• One Tub of White Icing
• 2 squeeze tubes of black icing

Instructions:

• Bake sugar cookies and let cool
• Load half of the white icing into a piping bag, both outfitted with small round tips
• Ice top of each cookie with a layer of white icing
• Immediately use black icing to pipe three concentric circles radiating out from the center of the cookie.
• Use a toothpick to drag 8 lines out from the center of the cookie, creating a webbed effect
• Let dry for 30 minutes

Shop our Montolivo Olive Wood Cutting Board for a beautiful board to serve these cute cookies on. Each of these olive boards is hand-crafted and one of a kind, making it beautiful centerpiece for any occasion.

Powdered Sugar Doughnut MummiesWe can’t forget about the household staple- powdered doughnuts! These may be slightly messier than the other desserts but they are sure to melt in your mouth. Made of easy ingredients, our powdered sugar doughnut mummies are easy peasy halloween desserts and can be eaten immediately after you make them. No scaries here!

Ingredients:

• 1 bag of powdered doughnuts
• Candy googly eyes
• 1 tub of white icing
• 1 Piping bag for icing

Instructions

• Take out desired amount of powdered doughnuts and place on parchment paper
• Fill piping bag with icing halfway with a ⅛ inch hole cut at the end
• Pipe white icing in a horizontal zigzag pattern across one side of the doughnut
• Place two googly eyes on the doughnuts
• Serve and eat!

Once done, serve these treats on the Teakhaus 405 Cutting Board. This board allows for a big assortment perfect for presenting all of your Halloween creations and light enough for easy movement!

Kalmar Home is a brand we decided to partner with because they offer stunning and practical serve ware. Their products can be used for celebrations year round, even if you’re only commemorating the end of a long week with some binge watching. For now, we want to look at how this durable acacia serve ware can elevate your spring celebrations

Picture-Perfect Easter Treats

For Easter Brunch, replace your usual platter with the Kalmar Home Acacia & Ceramic Charcuterie Serving Tray. The natural, handcrafted wood warms the table, while the ceramic dishes keep your spread organized and visually delightful. Check out the side groove, too. It’s the perfect size to hold crackers, chips, or any utensils you may need.

Beyond the go-to meat and cheese, some bolder selections might include a variety of pickled vegetables and fruit (think watermelon rind, grapes and peaches) or a well chosen selection of olives. Here is an inventive idea to transform a classic spring fruit into a savory delight from Well and Full. Kids of all ages, no matter how many decades old, love a build-your-own dessert bar! S’mores, sundaes or a cupcake decoration station are all messy classics. Share the love from the Easter Bunny and spread out some jelly beans and chocolate candies. Open your possibilities even more and try the Acacia & Ceramic Condiment Set as a perfect complement to the charcuterie serving tray.

Spoil Mom in Style

Mother's Day is all about celebrating the special woman in your life. Show her how much you care with a beautiful bedside table scape featuring the Kalmar Home Square Serving Tray. The convenient handles make it easy to bring the entire spread to her. It also serves as a convenient companion to any room in the house. Use it as a catchall for books and reading glasses or a distinguished office desk organizer. Acacia wood travels well everywhere. She may just enjoy this tray more than breakfast in bed!

Arrange an assortment of her favorite treats – think delicate pastries, fresh fruits, and maybe even a few wildflowers in a small vase or bottle. We found a fun recipe kids can help out with that is sure to impress mom. Try this Triple Berry French Toast Bake from That Bread Lady. Mom will be so proud!

Beyond the Platter:

Kalmar Home isn't just about trays! The Ribbed Salad Bowl Set is the ideal vessel for serving a refreshing spring salad at any of your gatherings. The included utensils make tossing and serving effortless, while the ribbed texture adds a touch of elegance to your table. We definitely recommend the optional individual bowls.

Celebrate the season with the best it has to offer such as asparagus, peas, radishes and fresh herbs. Spring gardens have a way of bringing freshness of the season into the home, but if you’re not a green thumb, a local market might offer an easier way to collect this earthy goodness. We found out how to create spring in a bowl with this recipe for a Bright Spring Salad from Love & Lemons.

Effortless Entertaining:

Kalmar Home serve ware requires only minimal, easy care. Crafted from durable acacia wood, each piece requires just a simple handwashing with mild soap. This means a quick cleaning and it's ready for the next celebration.

Invite Kalmar into your home this spring. You’ll love it.

A chef has many tools, but one stands out above the rest: a knife. Correct that, a sharp knife.

A properly honed blade makes prep work easier, results in cleaner cuts and is actually much safer to use. Contrary to popular belief, a dull knife is actually dangerous to use, because it requires much more force to get the same job done as a sharp knife. Keeping a knife sharp is thus of utmost importance, which is why we often are asked which cutting board is best for knives.

The first thing to understand is how knives actually become dull. The two main reasons a knife becomes dull is either a rolled edge or an edge that has become rounded. To understand both, you need to consider that while the knife edge may look uniform to the naked eye, the actual edge is quite thin and jagged at the microscopic level. 

A rolled edge is when the edge becomes bent or rolled over to one side and is caused by physical pressure to the edge of the blade. If you can imagine pressing a fork into a brick, the bending of the fork is exactly what happens to the edge of the knife on the microscopic level. This is most common reason that knives become dull, which is why nearly all knife sets include a  honing steel (often referred to as a “sharpening steel” although technically incorrect). The honing steel works by physically forcing your knife edge back into place, as opposed to grinding away bits of your knife with a true sharper.

Image Credits: Brod & Taylor

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A rounded edge is when actual material is removed from the blade due to friction, tearing or abrasion. In English, this is normal wear and tear on your knife from slicing food, chopping against your cutting board or even from corrosive effects due to the acids in your foods (tomatoes are notorious for this). When your knife edge becomes rounded, this is when your knife requires actual sharpening by grinding down the edge.

Now that you understand these two methods of dulling, let’s talk about how the cutting board material factors in. If you have a board made from a hard material, it will cause your knife edge to roll because there is less give. If you have a board that resists scoring, that will cause your edge to round because it creates greater abrasion on the knife. In most cases, these two factors go hand in hand, but there are a few exceptions because density doesn’t always equate to cut resistance.

Since we are talking about the interaction of two materials, we also need to address the hardness of the knife. The top selling knives are made with stainless steel, which has varying Rockwell hardness ratings from 55 to 59. Specialty knives, such as carbon steel knives or Japanese VG steels, are harder with Rockwell ratings 60+, but have the drawback of being more brittle and prone to chipping.

So, the true answer for what is the best cutting board for your knife is not black and white, because the answer is it really depends! Here is a table that we’ve put together to give you a good idea of the pros and cons of each cutting board and knife combination:

As a few definitions, we refer to a knife material as "Rigid" if it is made of a steel that generally doesn't bend (Rockwell 60+) or is a ceramic blade. A "Good" rating for Knife Chipping means that there is a low chance of chipping.

To start with an easy villain, one of the worst boards for your knives is glass (or any stone). Glass cutting boards are very hard (almost as hard as steel) and will not score, which is why these boards are notorious for dulling even the best of knives. On the other hand, plastic HDPE and softwood cutting boards are given good scores on maintenance and chip risk, which are great for your knives, but come at the expense of the durability of your cutting board.

Composite fiber cutting boards are often seen in commercial kitchens and are made from layered phenolic resins, often called Bakelite or Richlite. Though these composite boards claim that they are “knife friendly”, this material is incredibly strong and does not score easily – which is why we gave it poor or fair scores for knife usage.

The conclusion to draw from this chart is that you can either have a low maintenance cutting board or a low maintenance knife, but not both. If you’re a gambler, you could try using that $300 Shun VG-MAX on a composite board and possibly have the best of both worlds, but you’re also playing with fire and hoping you don’t chip your edge.

*Note that we listed a softwood cutting board as having poor board life with a rigid knife, although we are not factoring in knife skills or the type of knife. If you are a sushi chef with a straight Shun knife vs a home cook chopping away with a $10 ceramic knife, your mileage will vary of course. 

We will say that the one contender that is potentially low maintenance for knives and long lasting are plastic HDPE boards. These are most often used in commercial kitchens as well and have the benefit of being able to toss in a dish washer. The drawback is that they are not the prettiest boards and are more prone to harboring bacteria than wood cutting boards.

Since wood cutting boards are our most popular item, the question that we know is coming is “Which woods are considered a hardwood and which are considered a softwood?” While there is a technical definition, what we’ve done is listed the most common cutting board woods based on the  Janka scale. This rating is used to rate the durability and hardness of wood, based on the pounds of pressure required to dent the wood with a metal ball.

Thanks to the Wood Database for many of these Janka ratings

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A high Janka rating generally means that the wood will be more resistant to scoring, though a woodworker will tell you this is not always the case due to the grain and wood fibers. Some woods, such as cherry wood for example, are lower on the Janka scale, but can be difficult at times to work with. In regards to knives, a wood grain that is straight will often be better for your knives because there will be more consistent pressure along the edge of the blade when slicing and especially with chopping. A prime culprit are some types of bamboo boards which have a straight consistent grain, but also have intermittent nodes. These nodes are incredibly dense compared to the rest of the grain, which is the metaphorical equivalent of exposing your knife to a pillow fight... except some pillows have books inside of them. It's a bad surprise.

Of the woods listed,  larch wood and hinoki are considered softwoods while the rest are considered hardwoods. There are, of course, many other common softwoods such as fir and pine, but these are not commonly used to make cutting boards, due to their porous nature. You can read more about this on our article  Why some woods are better than others in the kitchen. Brazillian Walnut (Ipe) and Brazillian Cherry are not commonly used for cutting boards either, but we listed them to show the upper bound of Janka ratings, as Ipe is one of the hardest woods available.

An interesting thing to note is that  maple and bamboo are almost identical in their Janka rating and these are both the most commonly used material for natural cutting boards. Given that most consumers are more interested in the longevity of their cutting board than the sharpness of their knife, this gives a good indicator of what material density is holding up in the kitchen.

However, if you do have quality knives, our opinion is that it makes much more sense to pick a softer wood, such as  teak or walnut, which is at the lower end of the density range. Walnut is known to have a high workability (and thus, easy to score) and teak has an abundance of side benefits, not the least of which is superior maintenance.

So which cutting board are best for your knives? The answer is that there is no definitive "best" board out there, because it depends on your willingness to compromise between a sharp edge and a cutting surface that scores. Plus, unless you are a commercial chef, looks almost always plays a part in which cutting board people purchase. If you are a knife aficionado, it would make sense to invest in a softwood cutting board or even just go with a basic plastic board. If you're looking for a middle ground, any hardwood board (except the very dense boards) will likely do just fine. Most importantly, utilizing proper knife care and knowing how or where to sharpen your knives will always be the main factor in keeping a sharp edge. 

As always, from us at CuttingBoard.com, chop responsibly!

In addition to our wide selection of cutting boards, we are excited to be able to offer Henckels knives and accessories on CuttingBoard.com as well. We currently carry the classic JA Zwilling line as well as the modern Miyabi knives. Since we personally use these knives in our own homes, we are happy to be able to offer a high quality brand in addition to our beautiful cutting boards. 

Be on the lookout for our Facebook and Google+ pages as well, where we will be featuring recipes and stunning food photography curated from the food community.