While hosting a dinner can be full of excitement, it can also be an arduous task to take on, particularly if you're planning to serve multiple courses and appetizers. A cheese board is a classic appetizer choice, but celebrity chef Ina Garten actually recommends serving a cheese platter not before the main meal, but after.

On her show “Barefoot Contessa,” Garten says that she loves serving cheese platters to guests because no cooking is required, yet it still has an elegant presentation. It's also good to serve cheese after the main course and before the dessert so your guests aren't filled up on many different appetizers before the main course arrives.

To create the perfect cheese board, Garten arranges large fig leaves on the platter for effortless visual appeal, then adds a generous portion of grapes in the center. She then adds cheese, crackers, fruit, and other accouterments, explaining that she likes to use a mixture of hard and soft cheeses and always lets any rinds face outward.