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An Easy Spring Appetizer You Can Whip Up in a Flash

May 4, 2023

Crudité Board with Green Goddess Dip

For spring and summer dinners, we love to create meals out of yummy, snack-filled platters. We try to make it casual and relaxed, where everyone can help themselves. Read below to see how to create a delicious and beautiful appetizer: a crudité platter with the easiest green goddess dressing (ok, I cheated a little).

Sometimes during the spring and summer months, Derrick and I will just whip up something like this crudité board to graze on. Accompany it with a crusty baguette and a cheese board and voilà, you have yourselves a dinner!

Photography: Zee Wendell

I’ve followed Annie Campbell, an LA-based party planner and event designer (she’s actually from Oregon!) for a while now. I love to see all the beautiful parties she organizes! They’re always gorgeous, colorful, and of course — the food looks delicious. So, when I saw this post on Pinterest, I read her tips and tricks on how to create a pretty board like this, and loved how it was different from your typical vegetable platter!

The Secret to a Beautiful Appetizer

The secret is to gather healthy, organic vegetables such as golden cauliflower. I’ve never tried this before, but its soooo good! It  tastes similar to your tried-and-true white cauliflower, just prettier ?. Choose your favorite greens, and add other pretty veggies like radishes, pea pods and mini carrots. Then just slice and arrange in “layers” starting with one veggie, then layering slices of another veggie on top, and so forth.

As Annie says, “The platter matters”… it’s all about the presentation!” She often uses wood boards to display her goodies, and I just love this idea. A cool, vintage wood board is so versatile — we use ours ALLLLL the time for various things like cheese, small desserts or cookies, or sliced bread and butter. I definitely recommend one.

CLOUZ HOUZ TIP: Buy vegetables with the stems still attached. I found mini carrots with the stems, and then I just cut off the green part almost all the way, but left some on for a really organic and pretty touch.

Green Goddess Dressing

A green goddess dip/dressing is one of my faves for this appetizer meal. I cheated a bit and bought a green goddess dressing from Whole Foods. I added it to sour cream with chopped fresh dill, and it was deeeelish. Not everything has to be homemade to taste good! So, wherever and whenever I can cut corners, I will. It makes our lives easier.

Photography: Zee Wendell

Give this a try and graze till your heart’s content. Pour yourself a glass of Rosé, or mix up the Chill Pill. Then, sit outside to enjoy your evening knowing dinner is ready!

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Atter designing more kitchen renovations than I could ever count (and recently finishing renovating our own kitchen) I can tell you that where you invest matters. Not because every kitchen needs the highest-end everything, but because some decisions have a much bigger impact on how the space functions and feels over time.

When clients are planning a renovation, it’s easy to get pulled toward the finishes. The paint colors, the hardware, the details that photograph well.

But the conversations we spend the most time on are usually about the things that will affect daily life for years to come.

Subscribe to Between the Layers (link in bio) for more renovation insights, items shaping our designs, and the inside scoop of what we are working on!

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Atter designing more kitchen renovations than I could ever count (and recently finishing renovating our own kitchen) I can tell you that where you invest matters. Not because every kitchen needs the highest-end everything, but because some decisions have a much bigger impact on how the space functions and feels over time. When clients are planning a renovation, it’s easy to get pulled toward the finishes. The paint colors, the hardware, the details that photograph well. But the conversations we spend the most time on are usually about the things that will affect daily life for years to come. Subscribe to Between the Layers (link in bio) for more renovation insights, items shaping our designs, and the inside scoop of what we are working on!

I think one of the biggest misconceptions about hiring a designer is that people assume our clients don’t know what they want. In reality, most of them know exactly what they want.

They know they want a kitchen that feels warm and collected.
They know they want a patio they’ll actually use.
They know they want a home that feels finished.

What they don’t know is whether the white oak cabinets work with the soapstone counters they pinned six months ago. Or if the layout they’re considering is going to annoy them every single day once it’s built.

That’s where we come in. Not because you can’t make decisions. Because some decisions are expensive.
And it’s nice to have someone thinking through all the details before you start ordering materials and moving walls.

So, If you’ve ever looked through our portfolio and thought, “I want my house to feel like that, “this service was designed for you! Or you can explore our other offerings on our website and schedule a discovery call to determine which one is the perfect fit for you!

27 1
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I think one of the biggest misconceptions about hiring a designer is that people assume our clients don’t know what they want. In reality, most of them know exactly what they want. They know they want a kitchen that feels warm and collected. They know they want a patio they’ll actually use. They know they want a home that feels finished. What they don’t know is whether the white oak cabinets work with the soapstone counters they pinned six months ago. Or if the layout they’re considering is going to annoy them every single day once it’s built. That’s where we come in. Not because you can’t make decisions. Because some decisions are expensive. And it’s nice to have someone thinking through all the details before you start ordering materials and moving walls. So, If you’ve ever looked through our portfolio and thought, “I want my house to feel like that, “this service was designed for you! Or you can explore our other offerings on our website and schedule a discovery call to determine which one is the perfect fit for you!

I know my routines, what I reach for daily, how I want a space to function for me. That part makes designing for myself feel easy. (But making decisions for myself is where things get tricky LOL).

The difference is, I know what’s a non-negotiable for me. I know what actually matters day to day, not just what looks good.

And that’s really how I approach client work too.
It’s not just about picking beautiful pieces. It’s about asking the right questions, understanding how you live, and reading between the lines a bit. What you say you want... and what you actually need can be two different things.

That’s where we come in. We help make sense of it all so your home doesn’t just look good, it works for you in a way that feels natural.

Click the link in bio to start working with us today!

54 7
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I know my routines, what I reach for daily, how I want a space to function for me. That part makes designing for myself feel easy. (But making decisions for myself is where things get tricky LOL). The difference is, I know what’s a non-negotiable for me. I know what actually matters day to day, not just what looks good. And that’s really how I approach client work too. It’s not just about picking beautiful pieces. It’s about asking the right questions, understanding how you live, and reading between the lines a bit. What you say you want... and what you actually need can be two different things. That’s where we come in. We help make sense of it all so your home doesn’t just look good, it works for you in a way that feels natural. Click the link in bio to start working with us today!
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64654 Cook Ave Suite 3,
Bend, OR 97703, US

Located inside Tumalo Home

(503)422-5682