Bombay Tray

This square wooden tray is hand-painted with designs like the ones the Warli tribes north of Bombay paint on their homes with rice paste. Use it to serve snacks or sweets for India’s festival of lights, Diwali, which takes place Oct. 30. It’s designed to hang on the wall when the party’s over.

Square Tray No. 15N-03, $18, available by mail order from Marketplace, (800) 726-8905.

Small Matters

Little dishes turn out to be quite useful when entertaining; they hold everything from sauce and sushi to nuts and even ice cream.

$4.50 to $15 at Windows, Pasadena.

Our Own Goat

Redwood Hill Farm, which dominated the goat cheese division at the recent American Cheese Society competition, has strong Southern California ties. Husband-and-wife team Steven Schack and Jennifer Bice are Southland natives, and his parents, Maggie and David Schack, still sell the cheese from a stand at the Wednesday Santa Monica growers market.

Redwood Hill Farm took firsts for its goat milk Cheddar and its California Crottin and seconds for its goat milk feta, chevre and Camellia, a rind-ripened goat cheese that resembles a Camembert.

Schack, who graduated from L.A.’s Hamilton High in 1967, bought two goats as soon as he moved to Sonoma in 1969. He and Bice now have more than 500 Alpine, La Mancha, Nubian, Saanen and Toggenburg goats and run two dairies to keep up with the demand for their cheeses and yogurts.

Redwood Hill products are available at La Brea Bakery in Los Angeles, Southern California Wild Oats Markets and Whole Foods Markets, Co-Opportunity in Santa Monica and at the Wednesday Santa Monica Farmers Market.