New Wood Cutting Boards Are Here – Great for Butter Boards or Charcuterie Platters

Wood Cutting Boards – Ready for those Holiday Feasts?

A great wood cutting board should be a staple in every kitchen.

Wooden cutting or serving boards are preferred by both professional chefs and home cooks alike because they require very little effort to keep clean and are easy on expensive knife blades.

Which is why Mountain Made is happy to introduce a new line of decorative cutting boards and cheese serving boards by artisan woodworker Scott Reed from the Sloth and Crow studio.

Scott offers a variety of cutting board styles – from single-serving “paddle” boards, just perfect for snacking while standing around a fall bonfire to wonderful rectangular or square cheese boards done in a variety of woods, just right for a charcuterie or a “butter board”.

What is a Butter Board?

Butter boards are in! They are newest food trend overtaking the Internet. But first of all … What is it? “Butter Boards” are not to be confused with a charcuterie board.

Now a charcuterie board or as it’s more down home cousin is called, the “cheese and cracker party platter”, is all about piling on the meats and cheeses along with selected fruit, nuts and crackers to create an easy and quick hors d’oeuvre plate for entertaining.

A butter board on the other hand, is exactly what it sound like … it is soften butter (or cream cheese) spread out on a communal serving board topped with a variety of tasty toppings artfully arranged for display.

The professional foodies claim it is more about showy techniques than it a real “recipe” but here is a simple yet delicious butter board “formula” we found online:

A FAILPROOF BUTTER BOARD FORMULA

The key to a good butter board is the flavor profile. You want build it out, layer by layer, carefully so make sure all the flavors are balanced yet everything still looks amazing.

The Butter: Start with a high-quality unsalted butter. Spread it out so it about 1/8 inch thick. Use a butter knife or wooden spreader to swirl the butter into pretty patterns of your choosing.

The Salt: Add salt with some crunch to it like kosher or flaky sea salt.

The Toppings: Now you can start layering edible flowers, fresh herbs and veggies on top of the butter in just about any design or layout you want. “This is essentially [just] a glorified stick of butter,” said Justine Doiron, a New York recipe developer. https://justinesnacks.com/how-to-make-a-butter-board/

Spice: Next you can add black pepper, cinnamon, smoked paprika or a drizzle with a good quality honey to finish.

Serve with warm, rustic bread and your favorite adult beverage. You can encouraged to scoop up the butter with a swipe of bread.

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The next time you are in the downtown Asheville area, we invite you to come by and check our wonderful selection of wood cutting boards and unique serving boards here at the gallery > Directions to Mountain Made Art Gallery.

Meet the Writers – Our Autumn Book Signing

Local Women Writers’ Book Signing, Saturday November 5, 2022

Celia Miles (left), Nancy Dillingham (right)

NOV 5, 2022 – Meet the Writers: Mountain Made Gallery will be hosting a book signing for some of our most popular women writers: Victoria Lyall, Nancy Dillingham and Celia Miles from 12PM til 3PM.

The books from these wonderful women writers range from fun, “who-done-it” cozy mysteries, to contemporary poetry; to gripping cutting edge novels. (more…)

Shadow Paper Cutting – a Timeless Craft by a Contemporary Artist

“Art Nouveau Peacock”

Shadow Paper Cutting by Daniel Frisbee

As school children most of us remember gleefully cutting out snowflakes and Halloween pumpkins from folded paper.

But did you know that the art of cutting shapes out paper has its origins in ancient China?

This simple craft of cutting out designs in paper spread from China to other countries in Asia and Europe.

The craft of “Scherenschnitte”, which means “scissor cuts” is derived from the technique of cutting out one piece of paper in a continuous design.

This style of paper cutting is still a popular folk artform found in many German-speaking countries such as Austria, Belgium, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Switzerland.

It is a believed that this love of paper cutouts way brought to America with the Pennsylvania Dutch, a cultural group that was actually formed of German immigrants (not from the Netherlands) who settled in and around the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Artist Daniel Frisbee

However, now this wonderful craft is undergoing a renaissance and modern artists like Daniel Frisbee are creating amazing art pieces of astonishing intricacy and complexity using little more than paper, a blade and raw talent.

Daniel refers to his style of paper cutting as “Shadow Paper Cutting”. Shadow paper cutting is a modern technique based on silhouettes.

But instead of using the more traditional theme of using solid blacks on a white background, Daniel highlights his subject matter by using hundreds of lace-like cutouts placed on a shimmering gold backdrop.

Daniel Frisbee will be demonstrating his wonderful imagery this Saturday, inside Mountain Made from 12PM to 3PM.

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Mountain Made’s 20th Anniversary Party – THANKS EVERYONE!

FROM MELINDA & CHARLIE KNIES … THANK YOU!

We just want to give a shout-out to all the local artists for the all of the contributions they have made in making our little company successful. And for those who have made the last 20 years just a joy!

Just a gallery of snapshots during the party…

Watercolor Paintings – by Asheville artist Sharyn Fogel

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I have quite an eye for finding that beauty in some bizarre places,” says watercolor painter Sharyn Fogel.

She goes on to say,

“I was born in the mountains of Western North Carolina.

Eventually I will die here (not anytime soon, I hope.)

In the meantime I intend to paint everything about this area that I love.

That includes mountains, trees, old chairs, white squirrels, barns, houses and anything else that catches my eye.

WNC is my home.

I have no plans to leave…but I do plan to paint anything that’s not moving.”

Sharyn Fogel is an award-winning artist who creates watercolor landscapes that vividly capture the natural beauty of the Great Smoky Mountains and the surrounding Western North Carolina (WNC) countryside.

She has been painting professionally since 1977. Her watercolors will draw you into a wonderful world full of vibrant colors and soothing scenic vistas.

Her artwork is so engaging that some have said that her paintings are like having a “colorful window into the outdoors”.

We invite you to come by the Mountain Made gallery, in downtown Asheville, this Saturday afternoon from 12 to 3, and watch her live art demo.

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