I love Cowgirl Creamery - the staff there are happy to spend time answering your questions and giving you tastes of cheese till you find what you like. Righteous cheese in Union Market is also very nice. These stores both sell accompaniments as well, though those may be a tad more pricey than at say TJs.

A friend served a goat cheese from Costco last weekend that had some sort of apple stuff mixed in it, I didn't see the packaging but it was delicious--a little bit sweet, but a nice seasonal flavor.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like to follow the "something old, something new, something goat and something blue" advice when it comes to cheese plates.

I would go with an aged cheddar, a Brie, an herbed goat cheese, and a nice Roquefort or Stilton. Along with (as PPs have said) nuts, grapes, dried apricots, fresh figs or fig jam, an assortment of crackers and sliced baguette. And now I'm hungry.

Not OP, but thank you!! This is excellent. I will keep this in mind from now on, as cheese plates are one of my favorite things to make for company but I spend too much time fussing over what I put on them.

You're welcome! I can't recall where I heard that, but it's served me well. A good cheese plate with a nice glass of wine is just about my favorite thing ever

Anonymous wrote:I like to follow the "something old, something new, something goat and something blue" advice when it comes to cheese plates.

I would go with an aged cheddar, a Brie, an herbed goat cheese, and a nice Roquefort or Stilton. Along with (as PPs have said) nuts, grapes, dried apricots, fresh figs or fig jam, an assortment of crackers and sliced baguette. And now I'm hungry.

Not OP, but thank you!! This is excellent. I will keep this in mind from now on, as cheese plates are one of my favorite things to make for company but I spend too much time fussing over what I put on them.

Here's what I would do: look up the menus of some restaurants with good/great cheese plates and descriptions of the accompanying bites/spreads and find inspiration there. If you need help plating, look at google images of cheese plates. Here are some restaurants with good cheeses to get you started:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/best-bets/cheese-plates,81839.html

Shut down your computer and close your eyes. Picture the perfect cheese platter. You see? In your heart you already knew how to assemble your cheeses; you just needed to learn to trust yourself again.

Go to the cheese shop inside Eatern Market, very knowledgeable. Or go to Cowgirl Creamery

I like to follow the "something old, something new, something goat and something blue" advice when it comes to cheese plates.

I would go with an aged cheddar, a Brie, an herbed goat cheese, and a nice Roquefort or Stilton. Along with (as PPs have said) nuts, grapes, dried apricots, fresh figs or fig jam, an assortment of crackers and sliced baguette. And now I'm hungry.

Anonymous wrote:Get yourself to a TJs! I'd get the cheeses you mentioned (brie, gouda, goat, and a sharp cheddar) as well as some meats - salami, proscuitto, etc. TJs has a great hot and sweet mustard that I love including on cheese plates because it goes well with sharp cheeses. They also have several flavors of water crackers and other crisps. I'd also do a lightly toasted baguette cut into thin slices. Onion jam goes great on top of the goat cheese.

The other PPs have some great suggestions - yum! Enjoy

TJs also has delicious Marcona almonds w/ rosemary.

Better yet, get yourself to a fancy cheese store and get their recommendations for a few really good, unusual cheeses. I don't have any recommendations for anything in these parts, but I'm sure there's something out there. Whole foods would probably do the trick - at least the one I used to go to had a great cheese department with a really knowledgeable buyer who would be happy to give suggestions for both cheeses and accompaniments.

My dad does this whenever we visit (he has a great local cheese store) and we have so much fun with it!

Get yourself to a TJs! I'd get the cheeses you mentioned (brie, gouda, goat, and a sharp cheddar) as well as some meats - salami, proscuitto, etc. TJs has a great hot and sweet mustard that I love including on cheese plates because it goes well with sharp cheeses. They also have several flavors of water crackers and other crisps. I'd also do a lightly toasted baguette cut into thin slices. Onion jam goes great on top of the goat cheese.

The other PPs have some great suggestions - yum! Enjoy

I think Barefoot Contessa has some good advice on this. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/cheese-platter-recipe/index.html

1 large plate with:
- a few hard and medium cheeses (parm/reg, smoked gouda, great cheddar, etc...)
- 1 spicy cheese
- grapes of any color
- dried apricots and an artistic sprinkling of dried cranberries
- almonds
- pecan pralines (TJs) has good ones

1 wheel of baked with a delicious chutney or pepper jelly on top (spreadable)

A few kinds of hard crackers like wheat thins, matzah, or water crackers

Sliced baguette

-Apple slices and manchego.

-A fig spread would go great with the goat cheese (especially if the goat cheese is peppered).

-Brie and/or cheddar depending on how many people you will be serving.

Crackers and/or bread, and grapes.

Having guests Friday night and wanted to put together a great cheese plate for everyone to munch on as they arrive - dinner won't be until late. Any suggestions? I'm stuck on Brie/smoked Gouda/some sort of goat cheese, but need more options than that and don't know if those complement or clash. And what else? Grapes? Figs? Lots of different crackers or just one kind of plain ones? Anyone who is good at this, I would love your help. Thanks in advance!