Cheese is one of my favourite things ever and I would literally have a cheese night every night if I could. But as I want my jeans to still fit me, I will have a cheese night every so often as a treat. Because it's one of my favourite things to do, I will share with you my favourite cheeses to have on a cheese board. I will admit, I am not a huge wine connoisseur but I will work on it.
Disclaimer: I am not working with the companies mentioned, I just really love their products.
High end soft cheeses to include on your board
Brillat Savarin - I only discovered this cheese last year. We had it at Maul's cheese and wine bar in Salisbury and bought one from there as it was so amazing. It was pretty expensive, it was a wheel smaller than a camembert but I think it was around £8. However, if you love brie-like cheeses it is definitely worth it as a treat. It's similar to a brie, but instead of being made with milk it's made with full fat cream, so you will only need to eat a little bit at a time anyway. It tastes amazing with honey!
Tunworth - Tunworth is basically the British version of a camembert. We had it cold and it seemed to me creamier and a little softer than a camembert so I'm not sure how it would work if you wanted to melt it. However, I believe this is £8 again in Waitrose so I'd recommend using a camembert to melt as it's a lot cheaper and you don't want to ruin this cheese. Again, great for a treat if you want a high end cheese and tastes amazing if you like brie and camembert.
Lyburn Garlic and Nettle - A flavoured cheese is a must for a cheese board and this one tastes amazing. You can buy this one from Lyburn Farm in the New Forest, so it is pretty local for me. Definitely use your favourite flavoured cheese on your board, they have some in supermarkets, I've had the chive one from Tesco before which is nice.
Budget friendly soft cheeses to include
Brie - Obviously! My favourite is the round Castello brie that they have in Tesco for about £2 but I do love any brie, use your favourite.
Camembert - I feel like a melted camembert is a centrepiece and if you are having a cheese board with lots of other cheeses you might not need it. It's good to have as the main even though, with a couple other bits to go with.
Port Salut - This is good for anyone who doesn't really like strong cheeses, it kind of reminds me of a babybel. This is around £2 I believe, depending on which supermarket you go to.
Smoked Mozzarella - You should definitely choose a smoked cheese to go on your board and this is definitely a good one. It's quite mild so will be good for anyone who doesn't like their cheese too strong.
Boursin - amazing soft garlic cheese to put on bread or biscuits. Always a staple for me!
High end hard cheeses to include
Kirkham's Lancashire - This is a bit like a cheddar but obviously it's made in Lancashire. You can get this from The Fine Cheese Co for £5.80. It's a little more tangy and earthy than a cheddar so it's good if you like cheddar but want to try something with a more unique taste.
Stoney Cross - This is from Lyburn Farm again. It's a little softer than a cheddar and tastes a little more earthy and tangy. Definitely a good one to try if you want to support a local New Forest farm shop.
Budget friendly hard cheeses to include
Cheddar - Everyone's favourite, every cheese board needs a cheddar and you can get lots of different kinds so it's whatever suits you. I do like a classic cathedral city but a lot of local cheese companies will have some form of cheddar if you wanted to support a local supplier.
Red Leicester - I have to admit, I always forget about Red Leicester cheese, but it tastes amazing and is good if you like mild cheese again.
Stilton - You either love it or hate it but every cheese board needs a blue cheese. I haven't really found the right blue cheese for me yet and I don't really like stilton too much, but it's just the easiest option for a budget blue cheese. Replace this with your favourite blue cheese if it's another. I am still on the hunt to find a blue cheese that I like the taste of.
Manchego - I only tried this for the first time recently and really enjoyed it even though it is quite hard an crumbly and I'm more of a soft cheese girl. It's a bit like parmesan but not as strong and you can eat it on it's own easily. I find parmesan too much to eat by itself but I love it on top of pasta!
Pair your cheeses with your favourite wine and charcuterie. I mainly drink prosecco or rose wine but there are lots of reds that go really well with cheese. I like to put different breads, biscuits and meat with my cheese, so just pick your favourite. The best thing about doing your own cheese board is that you can make it personal to you with all of your favourite things on there.
What's your favourite cheese? Let me know in the comments.
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Related Read: 5 Cocktails to Try at Home
Wool of the King
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Wool of the King
Wool of the King
Sangria - 1 Jug (4 Glasses)
You will need:
50ml rum
Spoonful of sugar
Half a lime
50g frozen strawberries
50g fresh strawberries
A blender
How to make
1. Add 50ml of rum to the blender. We used spiced rum but daquiris are usually made with white rum. You can use either or.
2. Next, add your spoonful of sugar and squeeze the juice from half a lime into the mix.
3. Add your frozen and fresh strawberries then blend! The frozen strawberries are to make it ice cold without actually using ice.
4. To make it look more insta-worthy, you wedge a strawberry onto the side of the glass too. We also used a lime here too.
Aperol Spritz - 1 Glass
You will need:
50ml Aperol
100ml Prosecco
Ice
Soda Water
Slice of orange (optional)
How to make
1. Firstly, add 50ml of Aperol into your wine glass.
2. Then add 100ml of prosecco, followed by ice.
3. Top up the rest of the glass with soda water and then stir!
4. Add your slice of orange if you have it.
Limoncello Spritz - 1 Glass
You will need:
50ml Limoncello
100ml Prosecco
Soda Water
Ice
Slice of Lemon (optional)
How to make
1. Add 50ml of Limoncello to your wine glass.
2. Then, add 100ml of prosecco into the mix, followed by ice and your slice of lemon if you have it.
3. Finally, fill the rest of the glass with soda water and stir!
Bramble - 1 Glass
You will need:
50ml of gin
25ml lemon juice
Ice
25ml Chambord
Any fruit you would like to garnish the bramble with (optional)
How to make:
1. If you have a cocktail shaker, add 50ml of gin into the shaker. If not, just use your glass and add the ice first.
2. Add 25ml of Chambord to the mix, followed by 25ml of lemon juice.
3. Shake in the cocktail shaker if you have one.
4. If you used a shaker then add ice to your glass (crushed if possible, or just regular ice cubes) and pour the mix into your glass over the ice.
5. Add any fruit to the side of the glass to garnish your bramble if you wish.
If you liked the look of one of these cocktails or more and would like to recreate them then please tag me on social media! Let me know if you liked this post and I will make a part 2 with some more cocktails as I had so much fun making this one. Also, let me know what your favourite cocktails are and any you'd like to see in a possible part 2.
Also a huge shout out to my mum for helping me make and drink the cocktails!
Happy cocktail making. Cheers!
Find out what else I've been up to in What I've Been Doing During the Lockdown.
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Wool of the King
Salisbury, WILTSHIRE
If you didn't already know, Salisbury is my hometown. People who aren't from Salisbury, I bet you are thinking where is that? Stonehenge? The place that was in the news for a Novichok attack by the Russians? It may be more familiar now. Because a lot of people don't know about anything else in Salisbury, I have decided to post my favourite places to eat here in case anyone were to visit. I would also like to disclose that this is not sponsored I am just sharing some of my favourite places with you.
The Wheatsheaf - Lower Woodford, Salisbury
Gastropub in the quiet countryside, allows dogs and does amazing pub food.
The Cosy Club is all over the UK but the Salisbury one is my favourite. It has a really nice interior with an outside area. It's just very... cosy, and they also have amazing food.
Zizzi in Salisbury was actually closed for a long time due to the Novichok poisoning so you're getting a bit of history as well as enjoying very good Italian food. (They also do generous student discount, I love being a student).
Best pasties of your life! They also have a Wiltshire pasty. When in Rome! (although I'm not really sure of the difference between a Wiltshire pasty and a Cornish pasty).
Surprise, another Italian. This is Amesbury's newest Italian restaurant and I love it, they do a very good pizza!
This is pub food meets fine dining. It's very busy here because of how good it is so make sure you book in advance. They have Italian, Mexican, Chinese and Thai food as well as classic pub food. The portions are huge which can be a blessing or a curse.
Perfect for brunch, afternoon tea and they also do a Sunday dinner. Rosebourne is also a garden centre/food shop with crafts and homeware so you can browse before or after you eat.
The best hangover food ever! KFC eat your heart out. They also do pizza. There are lots of good takeaway places in Amesbury, although it is still in the Stone Age (Stonehenge), King Chicken is available to order on Just Eat.
Amazing selection of wine and cheese, I wish I could eat here every day. Although, make sure you are not 10/10 level hungry when you go here because it is slightly pricey and not so filling. However, it is so good to indulge in cheese and wine as a treat. I went here as a post-birthday treat with my parents. One of the cheeses was so good we had to buy one and take it home.
I have linked all of the restaurants websites, all you have to do is click on the name of the restaurant. Please note that I am a very fussy eater which I may blog about soon, and there are lots of other nice food places in Salisbury that serve lots of exotic food, these are just my favourite places.
Let me know in the comments what your favourite places to eat around Salisbury or your home town are.
In the meantime, if you are a blogger or an aspiring blogger from the Salisbury/Wiltshire area, please get in touch via the comments or social media as I am looking connect with local bloggers.
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Wool of the King
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