Cheese that gets your goat -- in a good way

Maybe it's because my dad kept goats.

I've always had a yen for goat's cheese with its soft texture and tangy, assertive flavors.

Now, New Holland, Pa.-based Alouette Reserve has come out with a premium line of cheeses that blends cow and goat milk -- and that appeals to the sophisticated palates of consumers who view good cheese as an integral element of a great meal or the ideal mate for wine.

I've tried Alouette's reserve vidalia onion spreadable cheese, as well as the reserve baby brie. Before serving either, I recommend taking the cheeses out of the fridge a good half hour before to bring the cheese to its height of flavor.

The slightly sweet, pleasantly fluffy spreadable cheese is compatible with the dry, crispy canvas of a water cracker. I enjoy the rich, gooey baby brie with lush, ripe fruit -- as in velvety mangos, heavy strawberries, raspberries just about to collapse at their peak of sweetness.

You don't have to dash to the cheeserie to complete your spread. Alouette products are widely available at mainstream groceries.

Psst! You need not tell the goats.