Cheeses...

Here's another cheese I like to use a lot: Goat Cheese or chevre. French for goat, chevre is a pure white goat's milk cheese with a delightfully tart flavor that easily distinguishes it from other cheeses. "Pur Chevre" on the label ensures that the cheese is made entirely from goat's milk, while others may have the addition of cow's milk. Chevres can range in texture from moist and creamy to dry and semi firm. It also comes in a variety of shapes including cylinders, discs, cones and pyramids which can often be coated with herbs or peppers.

Cheeses...

Brie! Brie is another one of the cheeses we always use in our cheese platters. I LOVE Brie! I can never seem to get enough. Brie is considered one of the world's great cheeses and characterized by an edible, downy white rind and a cream colored, buttery soft interior that should "ooze" when at the peak of ripeness. Although several countries make this popular cheese, French Brie is considered the best. Because Brie must be perfectly ripe for the best flavor, select one that is plump and resilient to the touch; the rind might show some pale brown edges. Once ripe, Brie has a short life and should be used within a few days.

Cheese Platter

So every so often someone emails or asks me what cheeses were used for the picture on our website. Although we do like to change things up every now and then, the cheeses used for that platter are some of my favorite. Over the next few days I will try to write a little more about them.

Cheeses

The first cheese I'll talk about is Colby Cheese, the white and yellow marbled cheese. It is a mild, whole milk, cheddar cheese that has a softer, more open texture than regular cheddar. Because it's a high moisture cheese, it doesn't keep as well as other cheddars. It is popular for eating out of hand and in sandwiches.

Cheeses...

A Mexican cheese called Queso Fresco, also called Queso Blanco in some markets, is a white, slightly salty, fresh cheese with a texture similar to that of farmer cheese. It is available in cheese blocks (perfect for cutting into cubes) and in cottage cheese style tubs.

Eggs

How do you know if your eggs are fresh?

Place an egg at the bottom of a glass full of water and watch what happens:
If the egg lies at the bottom on its side, it's fresh.
If the egg sinks, but with one end up, it's getting old but is still edible.
If the egg floats at all, you should buy some fresh ones.

*Always check the expiration date on the side of the carton...I bought eggs at Trader Joe's once and they were to expire that day! So check, check, check! Especially if you are shopping at Trader Joe's...it's not the first time I have encountered expired product on their shelves!