014. 2024 Ins and Outs

NYE Ideas + 2024 Trend Predictions

Hello from the holiday haze! We’re kicking off this week’s newsletter with my favorite recurring meme that always accurately describes how I feel this time of year:

It was so nice to take a little break and spend time with my family this week. I only made one cheese plate (shocker) with a tasty selection of cheeses from France and Switzerland and salumi from Italy. I’ve been playing around with more of a ~minimalist~ style lately and I’m liking how it looks! With this technique, you set your attention on unique and practical cheese pairings, versus trying to fill up every gap with items just for aesthetics. To be clear, there’s no right and wrong way to cheese plate, but it’s fun to experiment in different ways!

From Top Clockwise: Gruyère, Mimolette, Pont-l'Évêque, Camembert

Speaking of experimenting, let’s dive into some 2024 cheese trend predictions. Now that I’ve been in the world of cheese social media for 10 years, I’ve noticed a fair share of trends rise and fall.

First, let’s recap on some viral cheese trends of 2023.

• Girl Dinner - Not only did this trend have a catchy song, but it was essentially all about the cheese plate! The term “Girl Dinner” was coined by Olivia Maher. In short, it’s a combination of snacks around the house. You can include a selection of cheese, charcuterie, fresh fruit and veggies, or add some sweet treats like dark chocolate. Maybe add some turkey roll ups with pickles to spice things up! The key is that you do not need to cook anything, the only effort is to unwrap from the fridge, maybe slice a few items, and enjoy. I’ve been practicing girl dinner my whole life and I’m so happy we finally have a term for it.

• Cottage Cheese - Some may have never saw this one coming, but 2023 was the year of cottage cheese. Tiktok was full of cottage cheese toasts, cottage cheese ice cream and let’s not forget, cottage cheese and mustard.

• Pasta Salad - It was truly a pasta salad summer this year and I’d like to say I might have helped kick things off with my viral grinder pasta salad from April. I compiled all of my pasta salad recipes on my website here!

• Interactive Dinner Parties - We definitely saw a rise in dinner parties this year, but with a focus on an activity. Whether that was a candle painting night or a “build your own cheese board” experience, these in-person gatherings added an extra element to the food itself.

Now on to 2024! Obviously we can never truly predict what will take place over the next year, but these are my personal opinions based on what I’ve seen on social media recently.

• The Rise of the 70’s - As all trends have a cycle, I do feel like the 70’s dinner party aesthetic is making a comeback in a new way. Maybe not so much with the savory jello molds, but more in the way we present our food. This holiday season the “shrimpmas” tree went viral, and I saw a rise in classic fondue dishes.

• Unique Food Centerpieces - Floral centerpieces aren’t going anywhere, but I have seen a uptick in edible centerpieces. I love this “gilda cobra,” which consists of small bites on toothpicks stuck into a wavy baguette. I’m also a fan of this tablescape, which utilizes tiered platters and a grape centerpiece.

• The Deconstructed Cheese Plate - As I mentioned earlier with my minimalist experimentation, I do feel like we’ll start to see more blank space on cheese plates vs the abundant, overflowing look. Or if you continue with the abundance, there’s more of an emphasis on pairings. The world is starting to feel very oversaturated in overconsumption, so I think that the push for intentional cheese versus purely aesthetics will see a rise.

• Curated Bites - Similar to the above, I think that there will be more emphasis on curated appetizers and small bites in 2024. I’ve seen this on many European accounts that I follow and it’s a tasteful way to serve appetizers! See here for an example.

• Funky Snack Plates - I said this last year, but I think the wooden board has been overdone. It’s time to switch it up with unique ceramic pieces, shallow bowls, mismatched plates, etc! I’m a big fan of Frank Ceramics and always love looking at Plant Romance’s dishes.

  

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New Year’s Eve Recipes

The last celebration of 2023 is upon us! NYE is such a fun way to celebrate with all of the glitter and glam. Here are some recipe ideas that pair well with a crisp glass of champagne. As always, I have a themed music playlist below: