Cheese Plates!

One of my favorite things to do at home is to put together a cheese plate. With my recent obsession with grocery store chain Lucky's - this has become even easier to do. In Lucky's refrigerated cheese section, they do something interesting that other local grocery stores do not. They sell blocks of cheese like everyone else, but they have a basket with way smaller pieces of different cheeses, and each one is less than $3. This is a great way to sample four or five different kinds of cheeses (brie, gouda, cheddar, etc) without spending $10 on a hunk of cheese that you might not even like after!

Another great thing about Lucky's is their wide ranging bulk foods section. Like Whole Foods, you can get different kinds of rice, dry beans and flour, but what I am more interested in is the aisle where you can get different kinds of spiced nuts, dried fruit and chocolates! I usually go for craisins, salted pepitas (pumpkin seeds), spicy cashews, dried figs and dark chocolate covered espresso beans.

This was a fun cheese plate my friend made one night when she had a few of us over for drinks. I love the addition of the deviled eggs - a rich, and lovely accompaniment to the meats and cheeses - and I particularly love that she makes hers with mayonnaise only (no mustard!)

Olive and fig crackers from Trader Joe's along with salted pistachios are another great way to spice up a cheese plate.

My husband loves blue cheese (not me) and one of his favorites is called Point Reyes, which can be found at Lucky's!

Delicious baked brie from Costco!