What a great idea! I will definitely be stealing it.

We will be at a round table, and I can use a lazy susan. I will prob make sure we have at least one sharp cheddar and something creamy for starters.

YES. I love trying new cheeses, so think this is a very fun idea.

If you proceed, I hope you’ll share with us what was brought!

Great idea!! (I love cheese).

Brilliant!

I eat cheese in or on things most of the time ... but I would never just eat a piece of cheese by itself or on a cracker (but I'd be polite if invited to your table of 6 though lol!) But I think this idea could work with salsas/guacs or mediterranean dips ... and I am sure other things I am not thinking of right now!

What a fantastic idea! The boat had a delicious pear chutney served with the cheese plates. It was a little sweet and a tiny bit spicy. It complemented all of the cheeses!

P.S. if you have leftover cheeses that are still edible, you can make Frommage Fort. Look up Jacques Pepin’s recipe. So simple and sooooo good.

What a fun idea! I love finding new cheeses and can't wait to hear the different cheeses that are shared at your get together!

If those present are not already turophiles, it might be fun to have a cheese book with descriptions available so a brief introduction is available for each cheese.

Learned a new word today - turophiles! Sounds so much more erudite than ”cheese-lovers.” Apparently, it has the same root as tyrosine, the little crystal clusters well-aged cheeses. I love biting into those!

Ditto what Jilly said. It does sound fun and the number of people will make it just right for a nice sampling.

I am not a big dairy fan but will say this is just a brilliant idea for :

1. satisfying your guests’ desire to contribute to the meal, and

2. devising a low stakes, easy appetizer that you know will appeal to everyone!

I concur~ I think this is a wonderful idea.

(every one can participate, and minimal expectation/pressure at least in my reading).

"it might be fun to have a cheese book with descriptions available so a brief introduction is available for each cheese."

When we were in France last summer our French host would "introduce the cheese" when he served it after dinner. He went to a fromagerie for new selections every day. It was awesome!

Well I am glad none of you think it's weird, and the more I think about it the more I like it.

I think for 6 people it will work very well.

I suppose one could also do like a Potluck Charcuterie. Or, like @Funkyart said, bring your fave dip or spread?

I will serve St Andre and a sharp crystalline cheddar, grapes, a water cracker, a raincoast cracker and maybe a whole grain cracker.

@bbstx that sounds like the best leftovers ever

The boat had a delicious pear chutney served with the cheese plates.

That reminds me ,i impulse-bought some sort of peach preserves with black pepper... WF was giving samples ...will have to look for that.

My menu:

Cheeseboard

Watermelon Gazpacho (optional; this will all be buffet style)

Garlic-Scallion Chicken Sandwiches (NY Times; I will do these open faced in small portions)

Tunafish salad with crostini (yes you read that right)

Strawberry Parfait (with optional Aged Balsamic and basil)

I like to include jam or other fruit spread with my cheeseboards. Fig jam is a safe bet. I have a ginger pear butter that I love with cheese (Small Batch Jam Company).

I have to navigate fanily members who are lactose intolerant or don't like goat cheese.

I just had lunch with one of the cookbook club women. I told her about your ”bring a bit of cheese” idea. She, too, thought it was brilliant. She entertains a lot and is going to use your idea!

<< I am one of those difficult family members ... and other than an issue recently, having a bite or two of cheese wouldnt likely make me sick unless it was super creamy. The issue is, I never developed a taste for cheese because of the lactose intolerance. It isnt a treat for me.

Obviously one has to know one's guest when planning a menu. I always ask, and then push a bit further. Still scarred by the wasted thick-cut milk-fed veal chops that neighbors would not eat on moral grounds.

I had asked then, and always do ... do you have any dietary restrictions or strong dislikes?

The last thing I want to do is serve something people don't want to eat.

I love your menu Mtn. Have you thought about what drinks you would be serving with your lunch. Possibly a cucumber water, or an unsweetened ice tea.

Thank you. The tuna salad is for an attendee who likes things simple!

My DH makes unsweetened iced tea every day, so we will have that with lemon simple syrup. I was at the liquor store picking up Grand Marnier for something else and also impulse bought these sparkling waters:

OMG! I don’t get the aversion to veal. DH wouldn’t eat veal, either. The real sin was letting you fix lovely veal chops and then refusing to eat them.

As to cheeses, I believe current wisdom is that even those who are lactose intolerant can eat hard, aged cheese.

Such a fun idea!

What part of the country eats veal and lamb? Is it a regional thing? I don't eat those, or rabbit, or catfish, or octupus. I guess it is all what you are raised on. I would try any kind of cheese once.

all of those are common to me except rabbit… i dont think that these are regional

Except for octopus, you can buy all of those, including rabbit, at the grocery store where I live … even in the little town I live in.

Its a good time of year to have fresh figs on your cheese board.. i love cheeses and i get a good assortment in my town.

I have a moral aversion to veal, similar to foie gras. But we do eat a lot of lamb and do eat some octopus.

So, admittedly there’s a double standard. I’ve not tried rabbit, but would if the preparation was interesting.

Mtn, please remember to take pictures of the spread!

Not sure if they are still widely used but many years ago we dove by a farm and saw dozens of very small crates for veal calves and that turned me off veal.

To be fair, I'd probably have similar reactions to other processing practices but this is one that I saw up close and personal and couldn't ignore.

Edited to add - If I went to someone's house and someone served veal to me I would eat it and not say a word about my concerns.

Up close contact with any of our animal harvesting systems can be upsetting. I drive the Shenandoah Valley and get very sad when I see trucks loaded with tightly crated chickens, feathers blowing as they hunker down.

What we choose to eat v what we disdain frequently does not make much sense.

I don't judge what people choose to eat or not eat. But if I am having you over for dinner, I ask. Not just restrictions or allergies, but strong dislikes and favorites! So to me this was their fail.

Bbstx, it is the WAY veal is raised in most of the US.

I agree, what others choose to eat is up to them. i do eat meat, but not much and not many varieties. Im with Lady Pat, i dont eat any of those either!!

Nice plan!

The cheese I can never stop nibbling on is aged Gouda - and it has those crystals too 😋

I also don't eat veal because of the way it's raised. I used to and loved it before I knew. But then I ate a lot of meat back then. Now I don't eat red meat.

However, if someone served it to me at their house, I would not refuse to eat it. I think wasting the food and insulting your host is just as morally wrong as eating veal.

I loved smoked gouda. I always eat way too much when that's around. I do not enjoy the taste of the smell of sharp cheeses.

I think this is a great idea. I have a feeling that this doesn't apply to this group, but I have found that while in the past my friends loved making a dish or appy to share, this has shifted in the last 5 years and if people are asked or feel obligated to bring something to a group event, it is usually store bought. I think the cheese allows those who want to bring a little something, to do so easily and is so kind to your guests so they don't have to go thru the bother of wondering, "should i offer to bring something? will she be insulted if I don't or if I do?".

I have a favourite workout shirt that my girls got me that has a tiny line of printing along the hem that reads: Will run for cheese