goat cheese, pumpkin butter, and pecans

This weekend I checked out the Whole Foods store a couple towns over from me. A coworker said it's a big store and beautiful.  The one near work is good, but it's extremely busy. To be fair, all Whole Foods stores are busy, but the one near work seems exceptionally so. There's a second store down the road from that one, but it's smaller and the hot food bar isn't great.

I don't typically go to Whole Foods unless I'm looking for something in particular; they're prices are higher, especially for meat.  I also go when I'm looking to stroll around and soak in some food porn. And food porn is something they have plenty of.

Bob was camping this weekend so I decided to go.  I had breakfast from their hot bar:  scrambled eggs with cheese, sausage, home fries, eggs Benedict with pesto, and eggs Florentine flat bread, which is basically spinach, tons of garlic, cheese, and a fried egg--delicious! Obviously I couldn't eat all this in one shot.  It broke down to about four meals.

I bought a couple beers for Bob--he loves trying different beers.  I bought a few cookies, two items from the cold bar--spaghetti squash with feta and basil, and heirloom tomato Caprese salad--and this goat cheese spread.  Capricho de Cabra with Pumpkin Butter and Caramelized Pecans.  (I'm a sucker for anything goat cheese.)

You can't see it, but there's a nice layer of goat cheese underneath.  The top has a thin layer of pumpkin butter and is topped with caramelized pecans.  I put it on some Ritz crackers.  Not glamorous, but it got the job done. I wanted to by some wine crackers, but I thought the bold flavor of the crackers wouldn't mix well with the pumpkin butter. 

I thought this was a good product, but the combo of pumpkin butter and pecans just isn't for me. I think I would have been happier with a layer of fruit jam.  The cost was OK, but I wouldn't spend it again on this product. It was about $5.00 for 1/3 of a pound, which translates to $15.99 a pound.

I think next time I go there I'm going to try a cheese from their cheese counter.  There are lots of different kinds.  Some look a bit scary, and even fuzzy, but I'm game. I like to try different things.  I remember the best cheese dish I ever had was in Lake Placid, NY. My sister and I went there to visit with my brother. We then went to dinner and I ordered the baked brie.  A wheel of brie was wrapped in a flaky pastry and baked, then drizzled with honey and melted butter, and topped with apples and sliced almonds.  So delicious!

So, what's your favorite cheese or cheese dish?  Are you a plain Jane that likes the old stand-bys, or do you like to try the really funky cheeses?