A Simple & Stunning “Shmear Board” for Your Next Chanukah Gathering

Sponsored by Old Williamsburg

Cream Cheese Board

Chanukah parties and get togethers are around the corner, and I always look for ways to keep hosting simple and stress-free. Having a beautiful cream cheese board surrounded with crackers is a simple and impressive way to serve something delicious with relative ease. This board was inspired by a classic everything bagel with cream cheese and lox.

It’s the Old Williamsburg smashed olives that add a punch with their briny flavor– they truly take things up a notch. Pile up the dill because it adds flavor and the perfect pop of color.

Happy Chanukah.

Shmear Board Recipe

Makes enough for 1 medium-sized board

Ingredients:

1 container cream cheese

5-6 Old Williamsburg olives (any flavor), smashed and cut in half

4-5 pieces Old Williamsburg lox, cut into small pieces

4-5 slices red onion

1 scallion, thinly sliced

1 teaspoon everything but the bagel seasoning

Gal Gal crackers, for serving

Directions:

1. Dollop a spoonful of cream cheese and, using the back of a spoon, smear the cream cheese downwards. Continue until the board is covered.

2. Top with olives, lox, red onion, and scallions.

3. Sprinkle with bagel seasoning.

4. Serve chilled with Gal Gal crackers.

About the author

Sina Mizrahi

19 articles • 209 recipes

Sina Mizrahi is a published photographer, recipe developer, and the blogger behind thekosherspoon.com, whose recipes are featured in Binah Magazine. She believes recipes should be simple and beautiful, and food to be a point of connection, a vehicle that gathers and sustains. She draws inspiration from modern cooking, her deep Sephardic background, and fresh, seasonal produce. She loves nothing more than being clustered around a dining table with friends and family and the blessings of good food. She currently lives in Jerusalem with her husband and many little ones who keep her days full and her heart fuller.

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