An at home version of The Melting Pot

So it's Friday and we don't have any special weekend plans. Well other than not cooking tonite but that's not really a special plan. That's more like a standing order. I never cook on Friday nights, house rule. I think it's been in place since 1984. It's been in place long enough that if my husband comes home to find me cooking on a Friday night he is disappointed. He loves my cooking but he enjoys going out to dinner too, especially on Friday nights. This quality always goes onto my mental list of things I love about my husband whenever I feel the need to make a mental list of such things. If you know what I mean.

On Fridays we generally go someplace low key, maybe our local Italian restaurant or more often our local pub. Did I tell you we have a pub in our little town? It isn't exactly like our favorite pubs in the UK but there are similarities which we love. For one thing it's old. The building is on the list of National Historic Landmarks and was built I think in 1927. It has wood beams and a low ceiling and the tables are just a teensy bit crowded together. And they are friendly and already know us which is nice. The food is pub like too....no steak and kidney pie but they do hamburgers and fish and chips and a few more substantial dishes. It's fun, kinda like a hangout.

Anyway, back to my not cooking. Last Friday night I made an exception and actually we all cooked...we made fondue and it was scrumptious. The daughters bought the dad two fondue sets for Christmas...one is strictly for chocolate. He loved the gift because when we eat fondue we all think of happy ski trips to Austria and France. When it comes to cheese and chocolate France gets an A+. Lets see...how many times have I mentioned French cheese on my blog in the course of a year? I'm thinking more than a few. It's highly deserving though so I'll probably bring it up a few hundred more times before we're through.

Fondue is a fun family thing...it's casual and relaxed and we had such a nice time talking and laughing and remembering and of course tasting. We started with cheese fondue using the recipe found here.

We cut a loaf of French bread into cubes for dipping and we also sliced some Granny Smith apples which tasted really good in the cheese. We had some champagne too because I'm pretty sure when you eat French food you need champagne. We ate a lot of cheese and afterwards we all felt the need to play a little Wii and pretend to burn calories with some pretend sports. Incidentally, can you throw your shoulder out fake bowling because I totally did something to my shoulder that night? After our 'workout' we were ready for the dessert fondue. It was chocolate and it was heavenly. We used the Ghiradelli Ultimate Chocolate Fondue recipe which you can find here. You're welcome.

We cut a buttery pound cake into cubes for dipping along with bananas, strawberries and pineapple. The fruit was good but the cake was my favorite. Big surprise I know.

It all felt very celebratory and I think if someone mentions fondue now I'll not only think France...I'll think New Jersey too.

And I'll think about my family happy and relaxed at our kitchen table...sharing fondue, talking and laughing and making new memories in our new home in a brand new year.

Enjoy your weekend!