Tea with Tolkien

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Shire-cuterie: Our Hobbiton Themed Charcuterie Board

When my wonderful friend Katie invited my husband and I to a charcuterie party at her home this weekend, naturally I knew I had to make something The Lord of the Rings-themed. And because today marks the twentieth anniversary of The Fellowship of the Ring’s US release date, I wanted to share the final results with you here! Presenting: Shire-Cuterie!

Step-By-Step

  1. I began by making a cheese-ball and shaping it out to look like a hill. Mine is made with cream cheese, Parmesan, and everything bagel seasoning but you could do any combo for this part. I also hid an upside down bowl underneath so I didn’t have to use so much cheese.

  2. Using food coloring, I dyed a few packages of cream cheese green and then using a piping bag + frosting tip to cover the hill with grass.

  3. For the door, I used a circular slice of smoked Gouda.

  4. After this came all of the little details: cobblestones made of cheese, stepping stones of meat, etc. Get creative and have fun with it!

  5. For the finishing touches, I used yellow dyed cream cheese to add a doorknob and Gandalf’s infamous mark from The Hobbit. I also sprinkled bread crumbs over the whole thing to kind of look like snow? or sand? I also added a little fence border of salami!

Tips

  • I took several breaks to put the cheese board back into the refrigerator so that the cheese would stay firm and wouldn’t spoil. After the entire thing was done, I let it chill for like two hours. I was so afraid it would become melty but it worked out just fine!

  • If I were to make this again, I would make it on a much smaller scale because there was simply too much cheese for everyone to eat! However, it was beautiful.

  • Most of the tools I used were cake-decorating tools: metal frosting spatulas, piping bags and tips, etc. It was like making a cake but with cheese!

I hope you liked seeing my Hobbit-inspired Cheese Board! It was so much fun to make and I’m so happy with how it turned out. If you end up creating something similar, please let me know — I’d love to see! Also, if you have any questions, please let me know.