What Friday night is complete without a cheese tasting with homemade pickles, yummy bread, and a bourbon-laced beverage? Thanks to Stephanie of The Rhined, I was more than set to have a great evening with my cheese-loving fam.

There are no words for how delicious her house-made pimento cheese was on this awesome Blue Oven Bakery bread. No. Words.

Check out the gorgeous flowers on the Alp flower cheese from Austria.

And this goat cheese called the Wabash Cannonball (from Indiana) was fabulous. I had to stop my daughter from licking the cheese off of the knife before I had finished with the photos! We paired everything with some almonds (both smoked and blanched) and made up some totally amazing tartines with our family's favorite savory-sweet pickles piled all on top.

Quick Cucumber Pickles with Shallot

Adapted from Rachael Ray

Yields one medium jar of pickles

1 cucumber, preferably English

1 shallot

½ cup of apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon of salt

2 teaspoons of honey

¼ teaspoon of dried dill

pinch of red pepper flake

Slice the cucumber and shallot very thinly, preferably on a mandolin slicer, and place in a heat-proof jar or container. Add the apple cider vinegar, honey, salt, dill, and red pepper flake to a pan and bring to a gentle simmer. Remove from heat and pour over the cucumbers and shallots. Let steep for several minutes and then refrigerate or serve. These never last the night in our house!

To make the tartines, tear off some deliciously crusty bread. Spread with pimento cheese, goat cheese, or any cheese of your choice. Add your quick pickles and top with almonds. Enjoy.