Charcuterie & Cheese Pairings

Jars that round out a board

A good board does not need many rules, but it does need balance. Something rich, something bright, and something gently sweet. The jars in our Charcuterie & Cheese Pairings collection are chosen with that balance in mind. We cook fruit into spreads, pack vegetables into brine, and stir mustards until they feel steady, then jar everything on the farm. Amish and family partners often think about their own gatherings while they work, asking whether a pickle or spread feels like it could earn a place beside sliced meats and cheese.

Many of these jars share roots with the recipes in our Cheese Board Pairings collection. Fruit spreads and butters bring a soft, rounded sweetness that sits well next to sharp cheddar, blue cheese, or goat cheese. A small spoonful under or beside a slice changes the bite without turning it into dessert. Because the ingredient lists stay straightforward fruit, a fair amount of sugar where it belongs, and simple spices the flavors feel familiar rather than showy.

Pickles handle the heavier lifting. Jars drawn from our wider Pickled Vegetables selection cut cleanly through salty meats and richer cheeses. Bread and butter slices tuck onto crackers with ham, while snappier spears and pickled beets sit in small bowls for anyone who needs a bright break between bites. The brines are built from vegetables, vinegar, salt, and spices you might already have at home, which helps them fit easily into both weeknight plates and slower weekend spreads.

Spreads from Spreads & Butters round out the set. Apple, pear, or pumpkin style butters work with rustic breads, crisp crackers, and cheeses that benefit from a little softness around the edges. A dab of fruit butter beside a slice of smoked sausage or cured meat gives people a chance to build the kind of bite they like best. Nothing is meant to be staged. The jars should feel like they belong in a working Ohio kitchen that happened to put everything on one board for the evening.

Underneath, this collection still carries the spirit of our Great Lakes Favorites. Tomatoes, apples, peppers, cucumbers, and other familiar crops from around the region show up again here, just arranged to suit talking and grazing rather than a single plated meal. Leftover bits move naturally into sandwiches and lunch plates the next day. A pickle that sat beside salami at night can land in a roast beef sandwich at noon. A spoonful of fruit spread that paired with cheese can end up on toast or stirred into yogurt.

For gifting, several of these jars reappear in our Giftable Duos, where two companions are boxed together for easy giving. One might lean more savory, the other more sweet, so the person on the receiving end can decide how to use them. In homes around Ohio that enjoy lingering over small bites with friends or family, these pairings quietly hold much of the flavor. They do the work of keeping the board interesting while everyone else focuses on the talking.

All along, the cooking stays small batch and the ingredients stay clean. Vegetables or fruit from Ohio and Great Lakes farms, modest sugar, honest vinegar, salt, and spices you can name. The jars are meant to slide from pantry shelf to board to sandwich plate without changing their character, supporting the kind of easy, lingering evenings that do not need much more than good company and something to nibble.