There are some days where you have every intention of working out with a friend, and that plan devolves into drinking wine and eating cheese and making pasta and you are both secretly very happy about it. Those are actually kind of the best days. This cheese board was born from one of those scenarios - and the spontaneous change in plans meant I only had a few hours to pull it together. My golden rule for a cheese board is: 3 cheeses, 3 meats, 3 accoutrements (condiments, fruit, nuts, etc) and of course the carb to carry it all home. And always, always serve it with wine. For this one we had:

• Comté (my spirit cheese, made from cow’s milk in the Jura region of France)

• Fromager de affinois (a super, super creamy brie-style cheese made from cow’s milk in France)

• Cypress Grove Purple Haze (goat cheese with lavender and other herbs from Northern California)

• La Quercia prosciutto

• A dried peppered sausage

• Duck liver mousse (forever one of my favorites, vegans please don’t come for me)

• Marcona almonds

• Dates

• Local honey

And for wine? Two Shepherd’s Trousseau Gris, a favorite around here: it’s a skin-contact wine so it’s got a beautiful acidity and a bit of a bite to it that pairs perfectly with a creamy, fatty cheese board.