This charcuterie wreath, perfect for holiday entertaining, is a simple arrangement of skewered antipasto bites.

The year of the charcuterie board is coming to an end, but you can send it out with a bang.

Charcuterie presentations — from simple cheese and meat trays to baller boards to entire tablescapes groaning with savory nibbles — have filled culinary-minded social media posts in 2021. This holiday season even welcomed the arrival of the charcuterie gingerbread house.

However it’s displayed, the meat/cheese/nuts/antipasti trend has been a welcome, tasty diversion as home entertaining continues to be tested by the ongoing pandemic. Pent-up creative frustrations have resulted in next-level charcuterie displays.

In the final rush of holiday entertaining through New Year’s Eve, you can always count on a good charcuterie board to make guests happy. Fashioning edible bites in the shape of a wreath is especially festive.

And simple. Spurred by charcuterie wreaths I saw on Pinterest and Instagram, I decided to try my hand. I ordered disposable round bamboo trays and bamboo skewers on Amazon, then went grocery shopping.

I decided to make three different edible wreaths: meats and cheeses; winter and dried fruits; and cheese, crackers and nuts. All were easy to assemble.

This wreath arrangement is a platter of cheese, crackers and nuts. Simple to make, it's perfect for holiday entertaining.

The first simply involved skewering mozzarella balls, cherry tomatoes, olives and deli meats (intersperse with artichoke hearts, pickled pepperoncini and jarred cherry peppers). You can’t go wrong any way you fashion this wreath. Put as much as you want on your skewer and arrange in a wreath pattern shot through with fresh basil leaves.

The winter and dried fruits wreath makes good use of seasonal produce and dried fruit available year-round. I alternated fresh pears (small Forelle and Seckel), pomegranate, clementines, grapes, figs and kiwi with dried fruits, including apricots, dates, mango and papaya. Garnished with rosemary sprigs and bay leaves, the wreath celebrated the flavors of the season.

The final wreath was a cinch, too: nice cheeses, good crackers and flavorful nuts (pistachios, candied pecans, marcona almonds) with sprigs of sage tucked in for color. A wedge of brie, a wheel of Boursin and cubes of snacking cheeses — they’re all available in the supermarket; simply unwrap and arrange. Ditto for the crackers. Your favorite nuts will do just fine.

There’s really no recipe for the charcuterie or any other edible holiday wreath board. Let your favorite foods and your own creativity guide construction. Take them as a hostess gift or serve them at your own holiday get-together; uncork the wine and pop the champagne and you have an instant party.

I’m eager to see where the charcuterie trend takes us in the new year.

This wreath arrangement of winter and dried fruits is simple to make and perfect for holiday entertaining.

Greg Morago was a features editor and reporter for The Hartford Courant for 25 years before joining the Houston Chronicle as food editor in 2009. He writes about food, restaurants, spirits, travel, fashion and beauty. He is a native Arizonan and member of the Pima tribe of the Gila River Indian Community.

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