Although we all love Thanksgiving, it can be a major stress-fest. Luckily, writers like Betty Hallock at the LA Times have some advice for those of us in the kitchen. Here's an article on the perfect Thanksgiving cheese plate:

There's an art to the cheese course, and some forethought ought to be applied. What kinds of cheeses? How many cheeses? How much to serve as an appetizer? (Serving cheese as an appetizer instead of as an after-dinner course is copacetic -- especially when people are crying out for pie even before their turkey-dinner plates have been cleared.) How best to serve them? With what kind of accompaniments?

Because Thanksgiving is a North American holiday, it seems only logical to focus on North American cheeses. American cheese makers are producing farmhouse or artisanal blue cheese, cheddar, triple-crème, Alpine-style, goat, sheep's milk, soft-ripened, super-aged. . . . Even the category of soft, washed-rind cheeses has expanded recently; these are the smelly (in a good way) cheeses whose rinds have been rubbed or brushed with brine, wine, spirits or beer to promote desirable mold.

Read the full article at latimes.com