Early last month my talented assistant, Emily Bell, sent me a link to a New York Times story about the popularity of butter boards. The Times noted that one food writer, Justine Doiron, had had over 8.4 million views on her TikTok video that featured how to assemble a butter board. She spread softened butter on a wooden board, then sprinkled salt and lemon zest over it. Next, she added edible flowers, red onion, and a drizzle of honey along with slices of warm bread for spreading.
Within minutes my mind was teeming with ideas for butter boards, and so was Emily’s. She sent me suggestions for several while I made a list of my own. I finally decided on a recipe that I think would be perfect for serving during the upcoming Thanksgiving holidays. I seasoned softened butter with honey and cayenne, spread it in a circle on a slab of slate (marble works too), and topped it with minced fresh thyme (from my herb garden) and coarsely chopped toasted almonds. To counter the sweetness of the honey, at serving time, I drizzled some balsamic glaze over the butter.
Along with small slices of artisan bread, I arranged mounds of dried apricots and McIntosh apple wedges around the seasoned butter. I knew my “board” was a success when several young workers who were washing windows at our home while I was testing the recipe asked if they could take a sample, and then returned for seconds and for thirds! They agreed with me that everything tastes better with butter!”
During the early days of the pandemic, when everyone was in lockdown, I learned while cooking three meals a day to make substitutions for ingredients that I didn’t have on hand. Fontina cheese might be replaced with white cheddar, onions might be used instead of leeks, and lime juice stood in for lemon juice in many of my recipes. Such replacements became so routine that gradually I began to realize that I liked the newer versions better than the originals. That is certainly true for the spicy turkey chili Continue reading 
