When I was in Chicago recently, I went to a shop I always make sure to visit: Fox and Obel. It's a lovely gourmet food shop with so many beautiful things! If I didn't have to find a way to get items home on the train, I'd load up shopping bags with all the treats.

But since hauling the bounty home is an issue, I tried to focus on small, lightweight souvenirs. One of these was a pair of grilling planks that are only six inches square. Designed for preparing cheese, I thought they'd be fun to play with.

So I modified a recipe that came with the set, and grilled a small round of Brie until it was warm and creamy. (This can also easily be done with a sheet of foil, if the planks aren't available.) Sprinkled with tart cherries and crunchy almonds, sweetened with beautiful buckwheat honey, it was a delicious and special light snack, "just because."

And since this features beautiful Michigan fruit, it would be perfect to serve on your buffet table for the Cowboys Classic on Saturday night, when our Michigan Wolverines take on the Alabama Crimson Tide!

Grilled Brie with Cherries and Almonds

1 8-ounce round of Brie
1/4 cup dried cherries
1/4 cup sliced almonds, lightly toasted
3 tablespoons honey (I used buckwheat honey)
crackers and/or bread, for serving

Preheat grill to medium-high.

Place a sheet of foil onto the grill, and place Brie onto the foil.  Cook for 10-15 minutes, until cheese is slightly smoky and is softened.  Remove cheese from foil and place it onto a serving platter.  Sprinkle cherries and almonds over the cheese; drizzle with honey.  Serve with crackers and/or bread.

Serves 4 as an appetizer.

Here are some other great tailgating or party recipes for the season opener:

Baked Potato Chips with Green Onion Dip

Runza Bites

Bacon Parmesan Popcorn

Hot Dog Hotdish

Mary Bilyeu writes for AnnArbor.com on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, telling about her adventures in the kitchen - making dinner, celebrating holidays, entering cooking contests, meeting new friends ... whatever strikes her fancy. She is also on a mission to find great deals for her Frugal Floozie Friday posts, seeking fabulous food at restaurants on the limited budget of only $5 per person. Feel free to email her with questions, comments, or suggestions: yentamary@gmail.com.

Go visit Mary's blog — Food Floozie — where she enthuses and effuses over all things food-related; and look for her monthly articles in the Washtenaw Jewish News. "Like" her on Facebook, or send a tweet on Twitter, too.

The phrase "You Should Only Be Happy" (written in Hebrew on the stone pictured in this post) comes from Deuteronomy 16:15 and is a wish for all her readers - when you come to visit here, may you always be happy.