The holidays are a time when excess is not only accepted, it is celebrated.

Maybe it’s not surprising then that your holiday cheese plate begs for bling!

When creating your holiday cheese plate your first step is to decide between:

1. Decking out a modest cheese plate with all the fruit, nuts, preserves, Funyuns, and cool condiments and sides you can get your hands on. See my post on Rush Creek.

2. Or, embracing decadence to 11 and serve cheese with bling already included.

How to build a glam holiday cheese plate out of pre-adorned cheese.

Unlike when I was growing up and cheesemakers only “flavored” their cheese when their milk was sub-par, now there is an abundance of wheels with tasty things already included in them. Building a holiday cheese plate that sparkles out is easier than ever.

Here is how to do it.

1. Go for color! See that Roelli Red Rock above? It is a farmhouse cheddar doused with crazy amounts of annatto. So pretty. And though it’s damn good, even just its color will command a cheese plate. That said, if you put a bright and delicious cheese like that on the board, make sure you include other wheels that can bring it, too.

2. Like Alta Langa’s Il Canet. Does it look orange on the outside, too? It does! It is rubbed with annatto as well. But more importantly, because it is a washed rind, it has some strength and can hold its own. And it’s also a cute shape. Go bold with flavor, shape, and textures.

3. Try a gouda with stuff in it. My favorite American made one is by Marieke in Thorpe, Wisconsin, but you can find them all over the place, like the one in the third photo from Ballinrostig in Cork, Ireland. If you can’t find a gouda studded with stuff, just get one that’s at least one year-old. The aged ones look dreamy whittled into chunks on a cheese board.

4. Buy a winter cheese or a cheese inspired by the winter cheeses of the Alps. They’ll be wrapped in bark. I love Upland’s Rush Creek Reserve, Firefly Farm’s, and Jasper Hill’s wheels. They’re gorgeous. Her'e’s how to eat them with Funyuns.

5. Get ashy. Ash does lots of things for a cheese, but most importantly for holiday plates, it makes cheeses look pretty. Nettle Meadow’s Sappy Ewe (also has stuff in it!) is a great example, as are Vermont Creamery’s and Stepladder Creamery’s, but there are many, many more. Check them out.

6. Go for the truffle. The winter holidays are the time to go with fungus. You can find all sorts of amazing truffle cheeses out there, but heads up, you can also find some really bad, overly strong ones, too! Ask your cheesemonger for a taste before buying. A delicate one I especially like is Truf 3 Latti.

Make a solo plate with one of these, or a combo or 3 or 5 (because, odd numbers) and you’ll be golden. Just remember, have fun with it!

Enjoy the bling and your holidays!