Bright lights weigh heavily on my shoulders. Some concerto plays aggressively in the distance. A man argues on the phone, and a peach in his basket is seconds away from fermenting. It’s all I can smell. I wrinkle my nose, almost say something, and instead I’m cut off by: “Produce, you have a call on line two.”

The man walks off. I’m left alone in front of the cheese display, free from one of the many attacks on my senses the grocery store decided to toss at me today. I focus my attention on the options in front of me: at least six different kinds of brie, a ripe collection of goat cheese, and a few almost-unique finds. The typical affair for a grocery store soft-cheese assortment. Maybe today I’ll try something new.

Peach juice meets my nose. The man comes back, still arguing on his phone.

I grab the Saint Angel and walk off.

Two weeks prior, my husband and I swung by Stella’s (a local grocery chain with an attached cafe that makes the best Americanos in RVA—I dare you to change my mind) after visiting a farmers market, where we’d picked up some delicious tomatoes from my brother’s stall. We perused the aisles full of niche good and prepared meals. I grabbed a slice of tiramisu, he went with tres leches. A perfect Sunday.

As we waited for our coffee, not-so-coincidentally next to the cheese selection, I said to him, “I haven’t made a charcuterie board in a while.”

He grabbed a box of edible flower crackers from the shelf. I snatched a hot pepper jelly. A deal was made.

Pretty good, huh? Not all my boards have themes, but after seeing that beautiful tomato at the store, I knew this one had to. Any guesses what the theme was?

Here’s a list of all the things I bought specifically for the theme, maybe that’ll give it away:

• Tomatoes (Hanover, Heirloom)
• Pimento cheese
• Sheep’s cheese from Galax, VA
• Watermelon
• Floral crackers
• Local red pepper jelly, local peach preserves
• Cherries

First thing on my mind when I build a board is theme (if I have one). Second thing is cheese. You’ll always find Saint Angel (or a brie) and a fun cheddar on my boards. Usually there’s a goat and something I can cut into wedges. For this board, I started with the Saint Angel, an herby chévre, and this pimento cheese dip I got at Kroger. Listen—it was fine. Nothing like homemade stuff, but it did the job.

The reason I think of cheese first is because it’s my favorite part. I love mixing flavors and textures. I love trying new cheeses. The other reason I think cheese first is because it’s the first thing that goes on the board.

Wait. That’s not cheese. That’s grapes?

Okay, okay, yes. That’s grapes. I’ll admit I did grapes first. Look, these could barely stay on the stem. I need to get them down.

Composing a board starts with putting your cheese down, plus any vessels (the little white bowls). How you slice the cheese is determined by its shape and ability to hold form. Really soft cheeses need a vessel (see: the goat and pimento). Cheese like Saint Angel are best placed directly on the board. Cheddars can be crumbled (like the Red Dragon on the left) or sliced, but I like them crumbled.

Harder cheeses get sliced. The sheep’s milk cheese from Galax (top right) was an in-between firmness, so it suited small wedges best. The Sartori always handles large wedges (bottom right). Some other shapes I didn’t go for this time include long rectangles, short rectangles, circles, shapes you cut with a cookie cutter, and rosettes.

I also added some a beautiful heirloom tomato. Store-bought. The ones we got from my brother’s farm were gone already, used for the the best salad I’ve ever eaten. Here, I’ll include that picture, too.

Okay, cheese in place. What’s next?

Meat! And some other stuff.

I made a mistake this time around. Usually, I’ll have a long river of salami. I like how it cuts through a board. But, uh, guess who forgot to buy salami? Absolutely right. It was me. The only salami I had was the small amount that came with my assorted other meats, so I ran with it. Now it’s more like a salami brook in the center of the board.

The other meats are prosciutto and bresaola. (The salami, specifically, is calabrese, for those inclined to know.)

This is also where I added the crackers, spreads, and a sliced up Hanover tomato. A local favorite, and a damn good snack. Our spreads this time around were a spicy pepper jam and a “drunk” peach preserve (made with bourbon).

At this point the bones are all in place. The rest is all filling in the gaps. Cherries, olives, watermelon balls, puffed corn, and pair of lemon curd cupcakes. Add them all together and you get a delicious cheese plate that fed my husband and I for three nights and a few lunches. Makes the price tag for all that cheese worth it.

Let’s hear it again for the board.

After every board, I always ask my husband, or the guests we shared it with, what they thought of the components. Especially the cheese. We talk about it like it’s a book club. How did the cheese make you feel? What was your favorite part? Favorite pairing? This, I’ve discovered, is the best way to get “better” at making boards. You learn the flavors and textures that work. You learn who it best works for. And next time you feed them, it’s even better than the last.

Some takeaways from this go around:

• Lemon & garlic soaked olives are divine. Even my husband, an olive skeptic, wanted another jar.
• Supporting local is awesome—the local sheep’s milk cheese… not so much. It was a weird mix of funk and dirt that we didn’t end up caring for, but definitely something I’d recommend to fans of earthy & stinky cheeses.
• Mustard-infused cheddar (the Red Dragon) mixed with salty cured meat and a smear of red pepper jelly was by far the winning pairing of the night.
• Sartori has some bangers. The “pizza inspired” cheese was good, but not as good as their others.
• Tomatoes should always be present on a board. Well, when they’re in season, at least.
• Triple crème wins. Every time.

Oh, and the theme was Virginia summers. My second favorite time of year.