Sitting at work yesterday, I decided I was in the mood for a simple, but high-class night at home. At 4:30, I left work, paid a visit to my local <a href=”http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/” target=”_blank”>Whole Foods</a>, grabbed the ingredients, head home, laid down in bed with a glass of port, my fancy-shamncy headphones and iPod, and took some time off from the real world. Ten minute before Caitlin’s arrival, I got up, and prepared the meal.<br/><br/><span style=”font-weight: bold;”>Ingredients<br/></span><a href=”http://cheeseunderground.blogspot.com/2006/05/sid-cook-master-o-cheese.html” target=”_blank”>Mammoth Cheddar</a><br/>Generic <a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gouda_%28cheese%29″ target=”_self”>Gouda</a><br/><a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jarlsberg_cheese” target=”_blank”>Jarlsberg</a><br/>Soft one<br/>Hard one<br/><a href=”http://www.wineloverspage.com/wines/tn.phtml?id=496″ target=”_self”>Six Grapes Reserve Port</a><br/>Water crackers<br/>Organic Grapes<br/>Bartlett Pears<br/>Locally grown Apples<br/>Cashews<br/>Almonds (we didn’t have these)<br/>Walnuts (we didn’t have these)<br/><br/><span style=”font-weight: bold;”>Prep</span><br/>1. Slice apple and pear, place in small bowl<br/>2. Wash grapes, place in small bowl<br/>3. Place cheeses, with labels, on cutting board<br/>4. Place cheese knives next to each cheese<br/>5. Pour half a glass of port per person<br/>6. Lay out crackers<br/><br/>Simple and delicious. I tried to have two glasses of port over the course of the night, but it just wasn’t happening. I love it, but you simply can’t have much of it. The hard cheese was absolutely to die for, the soft cheese was also great, the Jarlsberg was very good, the Gouda just alright and the Cheddar also just alright.<br/><br/>Total time: 15 minutes<br/>Cost: $6/ea assuming you get ripped off on grapes<br/><br/><span style=”font-weight: bold;”>8.1/10</span> – Need to work out some cheese tastes, but the time this meal took and the pretentiousness of it were major plusses.<br/>