This is a job that has been driving me crazy for way too long and I tackled the other day. 

You see I have this really pretty tray.

Looks great doesn’t it?

I wanted a heavy coating and didn’t care how long it took to dry so I just poured it on.

A day later I got a nicely redone piece for literally nothing.

And last night I was able to use it as a pretty, swank cheese tray.

I’m going to cheat today and put two posts into one.

I was asked not to long ago to give a quickie ‘class’ on what makes a good cheese tray.

Here’s the basics with some bias in there of what we like.

Rules of thumb:

1)  Something semi-soft: Brie, camenbert, cambanzola…

2)  Something creamy:  Chevre, flavoured cream cheese or a creamy blue

3)  Something hard: parmesan or an aged cheddar

4)  Something salty: spiced nuts, seeds (sunflower are nice), olives…

5)  Something sweet:  red pepper jelly or a fruit paste or a sweet nut is great

6)  Something crunchy:  crackers, crostini…

What do I have on mine?

1)  Brie:  take it out of the fridge a good hour before you want to eat it to let it reach room temperature and be deliciously gooey

2) Chevre: I formed mine into balls and rolled them in chopped dill.  Also really nice? Chopped chives, poppy seeds, sesame seeds or crushed nuts.

3)  Three year old cheddar:  not a fan of strong cheese?  Put the type you like best.

4)  Quince paste: Amazing sliced and on chunks of cheese.  Not easy to find so grab it when you see it-it lasts forever.

5)  Salted nuts

6)  Rosemary Crackers

(oh. and maybe a bit of chocolate ‘fell in’)

Bread on the side since everybody in this house is a carb fiend these days.

Looks pretty, tastes even better and is less of a recipe than a compilation.