Simplicity in a late night snack

I love cheese.  The importance of this statement cannot be underestimated.

Such is this love that cheese plates and cheese counters immediately draw my attention wherever I go where good cheese is available and respected.  So, when I tell you that one of the most exciting things about the class that I recently took two hours away from my home was the campus' proximity to Trader Joe's, Wegmans and Whole Foods (far superior in cheese provision than my local Giant and Weis), you will understand that this is in no way an insult to the class, but rather a tribute to the cheese.

My favorite way to snack on goat cheese is ...

1. Smear a good soft goat cheese on a high quality water cracker (I like Carr's, and TJs makes good ones too).
2. Top with dried cranberries.

That's it.  The addition of step 2 recently really put it over the top as a favorite 'recipe.'

The fact that I can even recognize this simple combination as an actual culinary creation is a tribute to my progress in recognizing and embracing simplicity.  A dash of salt, a drizzle of honey, a whipping of the goat cheese - all of these are tempting, gourmet-sounding steps to me.  But I think the essence would begin to degrade when anything is added over the foundational cracker, the smooth, tangy, rich cheese, and the sweet tangy cranberry accent.  Just in the way that a well-crafted set of questions can say more than a chapter's worth of statements, some of the best food is about enjoying the simplicity of good ingredients.  And I'll leave it at that.