•A recent survey found that people trying to trim fat from their diets say
that cheese is the most difficult food to eliminate. •For a simple yet elegant
finale to a company dinner, serve a dessert cheese and fruit tray: Place a
wedge of blue cheese to the side and bank with green grapes and small round
crackers. At the front of the tray, arrange an assortment of cheddar cheese
slices and brick cheese sticks. Complete the cheese arrangement with a whole,
red-waxed gouda and half-moon slices of provolone cheese. Round out the fruit
selection with slices of pear, grapes and apple. •When arranging a cheese
board, allow about 1/4 pound of cheese for each person. Offer 3 to 5 types of
cheeses that vary in flavor, size, texture, shape and color.
•To enjoy the full flavor of cheese, serve at room temperature. Remove full-
flavored cheese from the refrigerator an hour before serving. Milder cheese
can be taken out one half hour in advance.
•Hard cheeses, including cheddar and colby, keep about two months, either in
the original wrapping or tightly wrapped in the refrigerator. To keep a brick
of cheese from molding after it's been opened, wrap the cheese tightly in
plastic wrap to minimize its exposure to air. Better yet, tightly wrap a small
part of the block that you'll use in a day or two and freeze the remaining
cheese in small sections. Wrap tightly and seal in moisture-vapor-proof wrap
and freeze. Thaw in the refrigerator so the cheese doesn't crumble. Both
natural cheeses and process cheese products can be frozen up to four months.