Pears, grapes or apples usually go quite nicely with cheeses. And quince paste is simply the best ever - especially with a brie or camembert.

I think the best advice I ever read about cheese platters was not to over clutter them. Three, maybe four, really good quality cheeeses (a hard cheese like parmesan or manchego, a blue cheese like gorgonzola or roquefort, and a soft cheese like a chevre, a brie or a camembert, and maybe a cheese like a cheddar or wensleydale), with an equally simple selection of biscuits - water crackers, maybe oatcakes, butter biscuits.

That way you should keep everyone happy without having to spend half an hour going through the cheeseboard with each of your guests!

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I agree with the above comment and also like to add nuts or olives. Also in addition to crackers, try some thinly sliced baguette (sourdough or multigrain).

It's also fun to put little flags in the cheese to let everyone know what kind it is. Tape small piece of paper to a toothpick!

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This link might help!
I do like apples and pears with my cheese...and a good baguette instead of crackers.
http://www.wikihow.com/Put-Together-a-Cheese-Plate

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First, since you've only done basic platters in the past, I'm not sure how open your family is to more fancy/strong tasting cheeses.

Here's a basic suggestion:
-A "fancy" chedar (white or blackdiamon?)
-Smoked Gouda
-Dill Havarti
-Stilton (with apriocots/fruit perhaps?)

Add some combination of grapes, apples slices, and pear slices. (Toss the slices with lemon juice to prevent browning.)
A few walnut pieces is a nice touch. Can add salami slices as well.

Serve with crackers -- get some "water crackers", some whole grain, and possibly some that are like toasted baguette slices.

Slightly more fancy:
-Cubes of Feta (with tooth picks),
-Smoked, marinated, or fresh motzerella
-Goats milk gouda (or a hard goat cheese)
-Tub of Boursin or herbed flavored cheese.

You could serve Serve with walnuts, variety of olives (kalamata, spanish), artichoke hearts. Grapes are nice,dried appricots, and pommegranate chunks go well if people would eat them. A tub of hummus would go well here too.

Crackers mentioned above, but toasted pita wedges would be a nice touch.

A more "classic" tray
-Wedge of Brie or camembert
-Double gloucester
-Danish blue
-Soft (fresh) goatcheese

Apples, pear, grapes of course. Strawberries (though out of season). A pate works well here.

Water crackers, whole grain crackers, black pepper crackers, fresh baguette slices.

Another option is just to go to a store with a good cheese selection (Trader Joes, Wild Oats, Cheese Chalet for instance) and ask them to help you. They usually have someone working who know cheese.

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I've had some real fun bringing cheese courses to friends' houses. Here's how I plan mine.

Quality: Not Kraft. If you have a great cheese shop locally, try them. If not, try your local Whole Foods or other high end grocery store. The good ones will make recommendations, let you sample before you buy, and cut the size piece you want.

Variety: You want variety in two areas (three, if you have an appreciative audience) - consistency, flavor and sharpness, and (optionally) type of milk.

First, consistency. When I say consistency, I mean spreadable cheeses (like the Alouette brand) vs. soft cheeses (like brie) vs. harder cheeses (like cheddar) vs. really hard cheese (like parmesan). For a really easy platter, only vary consistency and get a crock of Alouette, a brie, a medium-sharp cheddar, and some parmesan. Add both butter crackers and flavored crackers and you'll have a basic cheese platter that will please a lot of people.

Second, flavor and sharpness. I like to have a mild soft cheese, a very sharp cheddar, a blue cheese, and a medium sharpness cheese. Add a sweet cheese for a larger platter. Ask for advice or consult a cheese book/web site.

Third, type of milk. For the adventurous, try to add a goat's milk or sheep's milk cheese to your list. Slightly different flavors, and a sense of adventure without being too "out there" for people.

Accompaniments: Crackers, obviously. At a minimum, get plain buttery ones and some flavored ones (like sesame, whole grain, cracked pepper). Maybe some sliced bread. Here comes the real secret to the best cheese platters, though - you were on the right track with fruit. It's all the little additions that make the platter luxurious. Here's my list:

Fruit: I like to do fruit jams and jellies rather than actual fruit; my preferences are for fig or apricot jams. A savory jam or jelly is a nice change of pace as well. Stonewall Farms makes nice stuff. Go for all fruit when possible.

Nuts: Vary from peanuts and cashews. Hazelnuts are great with a cheese platter. Butter toffee almonds or maple-glazed pecans are a nice sweet addition to the other flavors on the plate.

Honey: This is always an unexpected addition on a cheese platter, and eyed suspiciously, but it's amazing, especially on sharp blue cheeses like Stilton.

Whew! Now I'm hungry. :) To summarize, go for 4 or 5 cheeses that vary in consistency, sharpness, and type of milk. Buy plain and flavored crackers as well as bread. Add one sweet and one savory jam. Add two different types of nuts, one plain, one candied, neither of them peanuts. Finally, add a small container of honey with its own drizzle utensil.

Here's my favorite plate:
Cheeses
-Soft and mild: Saint Andre
-Medium and slightly sharp: Campo de Montalban or Robusto
-Harder and very sharp: an aged cheddar, the older the better
-Blue: nothing beats a good Stilton
-Sweet: Gjetost, a Scandinavian cheese

Other stuff:
-Carr's plain water crackers and Kashi's TLC in Original 7 grain flavor
-Fig jam (from whoever) and onion and marmalade jam from Stonewall Kitchen
-Butter toffee almonds or maple bourbon pecans and plain hazelnuts
-a local unflavored honey with a little wood beehive drizzler

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Pears (if you can, get the Royal Pears from Harry and David's) and a good Stilton Blue.

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If you can find Armenian String cheese, it would make an interesting addition. The taste and consistency is similar to mozzarella, with seeds added for a little flavor, and it sort of looks like a piece of knotted up rope. Tastes a lot better than it sounds, I promise!

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We usually do an assortment of cheeses...like cheddar jack, asiago, a strong, sharp cheddar, provolone and boccacini (little buffalo mozzarella balls), I also try to have a separate plate with two or three blocks of soft cheese, such as gouda, brie or gruyere. As for crackers...I love triscuits! Also try something different--like a cracked black pepper cracker, or an olive oil and rosemary one. We also include a selection of meats--prosciutto wrapped breadsticks, pepperoni, soppressata. And don't forget the fresh grapes!

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all of the above postings have awesome info---do any of you cater? This is the BEST FOOD BLOG!!

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I've been making little "cheesecakes" to serve with crackers and fruit lately...my basic sweet cheesecake ratios with out sugar (2 blocks cream cheese, about 1 cup other cheese, 2-3 eggs, 1/4 cup cream, plus herbs, salt, pepper for a 6" "cake") and subbing different cheeses for one third to one half of the cream cheese. Favorites so far: Parmesan with Porcini mushrooms and chives, cheddar with bacon, goat cheese with a tangy Red Onion marmalade on top. I want to try a gorgonzola with walnuts and honey next...chefccsr@aol.com.

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You could also go with a theme. Like Cheeses from Vermont, California, or Wisconsin or France or Spain. Definitely shop somewhere that has a cheese monger. Taste before you buy and go with no more than 5. I usually serve apples, pears, pecan, walnuts, spicy olives and peppers, cherry tomatoes, and a good baguette. My cheese plates this year will have Pleasant Ridge Reserve, Rogue River Blue, Hudson Valley Camembert, a truffled Tartufo, and Langa Brunet. I'll serve two at a time for comparing and contrasting. I always serve champagne. I love cheese!

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Savory "cheese" cakes are nice .but a little time consuming to make. For a WOW factor nothing beats baked Brie and it's SO easy. Frozen puff pastry thawed and rolled out. Place the wheel of Brie in the center top with a dollop of fruit preserves or cranberry sauce and walnuts pull the pastry up around the brie,twist, brush with egg white and bake at 350 for 25 mins ...awesome with crackers or bread

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A cheese I like to use is morbier. It's cow's milk cheese separated by a thin, flavorless layer of ash. It tastes good, unusual, and it's a conversation piece. ...Also, in regard to a previous comment, while I like armenian string cheese, take into account the fact that it's very salty; maybe throw a few strawberries or grapes next to it as a refresher. Otherwise, in my opinion, you can't really go wrong if you find a few unique cheeses that you have the opportunity to try (and like) and pair them with seasonal fruits, fresh bread, and crackers.

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You gotta have Triscuits. I love em. No cheese required.

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Lots of excellent ideas everyone, thanks. This will definitely help.

Happy Holidays!

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Caciocavallo: Trust me. There's nothing I can say that will do anything other than detract from it.

It has quite an interesting taste, but it's still mild enough that it's very likely to appeal to a broad range of snackers.

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you could always take a cue from Amy Sedaris and make a "beefcake"
take concentric rounds of styrofoam, cover with saranwrap stack up (I used two discs per layer)
then using toothpicks pin on the coldcuts in a esthetically pleasing pattern.
of course if you really want to go all out, use spraycheese from a can for the icing and add roses from radishes, pickles, etc.

oh and if you do make it please take a photo and post it.

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Piave- best cheese ever!

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