I like cheese & crackers. I am on a quest to make the perfect serving pieces for one of my favorite edibles.
I started, of course, making very basic cheese boards, which are still rather OK for their intended purpose, IMHO. Nothing wrong with cheese boards like these for small presentations:
Cheese Board 16 – 001. Black Walnut, Purpleheart, Jarrah, Jatoba, Cherry & Hard Maple. 9″ x 11″ x 3/4″.
And I know those are OK, as I had a lady that wanted to buy 2 of them on Sunday … but, unfortunately, the 2nd was already gone. So, she special ordered a similar piece.
But that’s just one approach.
Way back when, I made a rather unique set of Cheese & Cracker servers … made 5, and their like has not been seen since. There’s a clue there that I didn’t love making the pieces, though I thought they were very nice in the end.
Cherry server, Black Walnut end grain cutting board insert.
I also took another approach, making small routed bowls to hold the crackers, olives & such as companion pieces for my cheese & cracker servers. I made one batch of these bowls, and to my knowledge, not one was purchased with a cracker intent. Haven’t made one since. I am a spiteful maker of bowls, apparently.
Finally, I’ve made several of the pieces that I call Cheese & Cracker servers, but the world insists on calling them surfboards. I call them large surfboards (since I also make true surfboard shapes that are called small & medium), and they are rather fabulous for cheese & cracker eating, if I may say so myself.
Surfboard # 15 – 37. Yellowheart, Canarywood, Cherry, Hard Maple & Black Walnut. 12″ x 19″ x 1-1/4″.
All of which brings me to the latest attempt to make a perfect cheese & cracker server. Two of these were made, and one sold at its first event. Perhaps there’s a lesson there … should I make more?
The cheese boards are really beautiful and practical. You don’t have to worry about the crackers sliding off the board as you carry it. Very clever idea! I understand your frustration about the bowls. I would continue to make them, share your intentions and then let the consumer decide. Perhaps you can set up a little display using fake olives, cheese, crackers, etc.
We’ve talked about using faux fruit in the display, but I just can’t go there. Keepin’ it real, don’chaknow.
People certainly use what I make the way they want, not the way I intend. That’s totally fine … but with the bowls, I was disappointed they didn’t find the audience I’d hoped. And, since they were not that easy to make, it’s easy to keep them down on my to do list. Way down.
Well, for what it’s worth, I think those 2 cheese & cracker boards are fabulous! Beautiful AND so very practical! Bet they’ll sell well!
Make more! I want one!