They feature meats, cheeses, savory offerings, sweet accompaniments, home-grown contributions, seasonal treats and crackers – and they’re currently all the rage.
Charcuterie boards have grown in popularity in recent years, and Montz resident Monica Carruth is one face behind many local boards.
Carruth started Bluebird Boards in 2021, and ever since her Facebook page has been filled with colorful pictures of her culinary creations.
“It’s been almost a year now,” she said of when she started creating boards. “I really just started making them for friends and family, but as I started bringing them to different gatherings and events people kept telling me, ‘You should make these and sell them.’”
Carruth said the name behind the boards is simple.
“I’ve just always loved birds,” she said laughing. “Especially bluebirds, which we don’t really see around here. We recently bought a place in northern Mississippi and when I was looking out the kitchen window one morning, a bluebird landed right outside the window. I’d been thinking about whether or not to kick off the board business, and it just seemed right at that moment. Kind of cheesy I know … but it’s totally true.”
As her boards gained more attention online, Carruth said a steady stream of orders were generated by word of mouth. Already a full-time employee, Carruth said the opportunity to create the boards serves a purpose other than employment.
“I love doing it … it doesn’t feel like work or like a job,” she said. “It’s totally a creative outlet for me.”
Many of her boards feature things Carruth pulls straight from her gardens – including both herbs and edible flowers.
“I love food and I love flowers,” she said. “I love being in my kitchen and in my garden, so it’s a combination of my favorite things. I grow the edible flowers and the herbs outside. It’s so much fun for me to do.”
Carruth said she draws inspiration for her boards from seasonal fruits, blooming flowers and local flavors, as well as the people around her. Last Father’s Day her offering of a Cajun-inspired meat board was a big hit.
“I have to give credit to my husband for that,” she said. “Every time I made a board he would be like, ‘Where’s the meat? You need a board that would be something guys would be in to.’ For that one he definitely inspired me.”
Carruth said the fixings for the Father’s Day boards, as well as many of the other products she likes to keep on hand, are found from local vendors across the River Parishes.
“They really inspire people to try different flavors and they can spark conversation,” she said of charcuterie boards. “And now at every family gathering I’m expected to bring one.”
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