A Cheese Tray

Everybody loves a good cheese tray. That's what makes it a great option to prepare for refreshments at Feast! A cheese tray usually includes lots of options of cheese, crackers, and different little pairings, which means everyone can find something they like.

Here are a few components of a great cheese tray:

Great Cheese

A variety of cheeses makes for an interesting cheese tray! Some good ones are a soft cheese (like brie), a marbled cheese (like blue or gorgonzola), a goat cheese (these often come with herbs or pepper or other things on them- yum) and a hard cheese (like a great aged cheddar, smoked gouda and/or gruyere).

Accompaniments 

Cheese deserves friends.  Some yummy accompaniments include...

Green olives (try them stuffed with garlic)

Small pickles

A fruit spread like apple butter, pear jam or fig compote

A grainy mustard

Honey

Dried fruits like apricots and cranberries

And a meat (like hard salami or prosciutto)

Fresh herbs like dill or basil can add some color to the tray too

Crackers

This cheese tray is looking good, huh?  So now, you need the way of delivering all of that goodness to your mouth.  Enter crackers.  Try some that are seedy and thin, crunchy enough to stand up to the spreading but thin enough to not get in the way of the cheese.  You could also whip up some easy crostini by just slicing a baguette super thin, laying the slices out on a baking sheet, brushing the tops with olive oil and baking at 350 until they're crunchy.  People love that.

If you know that there are people in your community who have certain dietary restrictions or allergies, you can also provide some extra accompaniments, a gluten free option for crackers, etc.

Enjoy!