Dallas, TX-born Kristi is a wife and mother of two girls, two dogs, a rabbit, 20 hens, and a booming small business called Thyme & Tequila.
The idea came to her over a few glasses of wine during those early pandemic days when we were all going a little stir-crazy at home. "I was so tired of crap delivery food and started making boards for our family to snack on as dinner," she recalls. "My husband and I thought other people may enjoy that too - something fun and different. He is a CTO of a networking company and incredibly intelligent, so he said let's set you up a website, social media, and see how it goes." Fast forward to a few short months later and Kristi found herself cranking out the boards! Thyme and Tequila was originally going to be "The Goat and the Pig," but after bouncing some ideas around with friends and family, the former just fit.
"Thyme is my favorite herb and, well, Tequila makes me crazy, but I love it!"
Look her up on Instagram (@thyme.and.tequila) and you'll see what all the fuss is about. Her "graze tables" are delicious works of art and her smaller "graze boxes" are picnic perfection! Also for purchase are her custom wooden boards and craft cocktail mixers that will take your entertaining game to a whole other level. If you're like us and don't live in the gorgeous state of Texas where Kristi slings her boards, the next best thing is buying one of the vessels she serves cheese on. Also, she's recently added shippable DIY charcuterie kits to her offerings, which are perfect for people looking to take the guesswork out of crafting a gorgeous board. Both are available on her website here.
Ultimately, Kristi says the key to a great board is "good ingredients" above all else, with plenty of colorful flowers thrown in for good measure. "You need to have nice, mild crackers, good cheese and nice cured meats," she notes. "It is not complicated at all. You just have to get crafty." There are so many types of cheeseboard styles from the abundant, heaped-high kind to the minimal, so find what works for you and get experimenting! If you're looking to pair cheeses with wine and don't know where to start, Kristi has you covered:
You can also find inspiration on her Instagram, which is where we met Kristi at the start of Covid! She posts graze boxes and boards on the regular, which range from crudités to charcuterie, candy to game-day eats. Whether you're looking to entertain your kids, have a date night at home, or finally entertain guests after a very long year, look to Thyme & Tequila for all the ideas AND the goods, too! When she's not delighting customers with her creations, she's dreaming up her next vacation.
Tuscany comes to mind first, but Kristi also has dreams of eventually retiring with her husband to sail around the world on a catamaran.
She currently lives in Fairview, TX, a small suburb about 30 minutes from Dallas that she adores. Historic McKinney is nearby, where she can often be found popping up at the local wine shop for cheese pairings. She admits she'd also love to live in "the wine country of California, or in the Exuma Islands in the Bahamas." Wherever Kristi's travels take her, we're certain she'll bring her charm and love of cheese with her!
