Yesterday was National Fondue Day! I have GOT to get me one of those cool calendars that tells you all this OH-SO important info! Mine just has boring stuff like full moon and Administrative Professionals Day. (No offense to you administrative professionals out there!)
Anyhow, I was SO happy to hear this, because my sweet momma just bought me my very own olive-green, 1970’s Fondue Set from an auction! WOO HOO! Oh, AND gave me her fake wood and stainless steel one as well. Double blessing!
I hurried home from my grandparents to prep all the food, super excited for this supper.
Hmm.
Now I know why Fondue went out in 1970.
1) They are a TON of work with a whole lot of mess! I didn’t know you had to make everything on the stove and then transfer to your pot! Double dishes. Ugh.
2) It makes supper-prep take longer, and it makes supper take an HOUR longer than normal.
*Note to self: no fondue on a school night!
3) I don’t have a 3, but my OCD wouldn’t leave a list of just two, so I will use number 3 to say thank you to my 4 little Ferguson Facebook friends, Steph and Jordan for their great Fondue suggestions!
A word of warning, I have a new camera, because my old one died and I have NO earthly idea how to work it. These photos are AWFUL, orange and disgusting, but alas, it will just have to do until I can figure out how to shoot with my White Balance set to Tungsten. This is PRECISELY why I take photos outside. Ok, consider yourself warned, NOW we can move on.
So, after that long list of complaints, well, 2 actually…….you’d think I would never want to Fondue again, right?!
WRONG!
It was SO stinkin’ fun!
The kids were very curious as to what I was making, and when I told them it was like a cheese dip party, they could barely contain themselves. THEN, when they found out they were going to be allowed a little bit of dessert fondue as well, they rushed to the play room screaming and jumping up and down. They promptly dressed to come to “Tonya’s Diner” and waited to be seated.
My kids had a BLAST, saying over and over that this was the Best Supper EVER!
Even Pax thought it was finger-lickin’ good!
Speaking of licking, I am embarrassed to tell you this happened, or that Dale and I allowed it, but they LITERALLY licked their plates clean.
Poor Chocolate-deprived souls.
It really was the best chocolate sauce I have ever made! I didn’t lick my plate, but I did lick my fingers! 🙂
Here are the recipes I used tonight, one I combined a few from google, and made up my own. And one, I found in the 1970’s booklet that came with my set.
Smoky Cheese Fondue
7 oz of Smoky Gouda, sliced thin (please remove wax, who knew? lol 🙂 )
5 oz. of cheddar cheese shreds
2 T. flour
1 cup milk (more if it gets too thick)
2 T. finely chopped onion
2 t. Worcestershire sauce
4 garlic cloves, pressed
Pinch of cayenne and a dash of salt
Mix cheeses with flour until well coated. In a sauce pan, heat up milk and onion to not quite boiling. Stir in the cheese a little at a time, stirring until all is melted and smooth. Add Worcestershire sauce and seasonings to taste. Transfer to fondue pot and light burner, keeping warm until serving time. Prep meats, veggies and bread.
We did tender-crisp steamed green beans, cherry tomatoes, black forest ham cubes, grilled steak cubes, and whole wheat bread chunks. Oh, and broccoli which is not pictured because I steamed it too long to dunk, so we ate it on the side. YUM! Smoky and delish!
Now for Dessert, because National Fondue Day is worth breaking rules for!
I halved this, because I didn’t want the kids to have a lot of sweets, and I didn’t want tons of leftover sauce. Now if this had been a caramel fondue, that’s a WHOLE different story. I’d have made a big batch to drink, I mean consume later on in the week.
Mmmm, caramel.
Enough about that, on to chocolate….and how perfect! I had just gotten some amazing strawberries at Aldi’s today before I knew there would be dessert tonight!
Sweet strawberries and creamy chocolate…..A match made in heaven!
Creamy Chocolate Fondue
1 cup cream ( I did a mixture of sour cream and milk, until it was thick and creamy like cream. Works every time!)
1 pound semi-sweet chocolate chips or bits
1/2 cup sugar
2 T. butter
1 tsp real vanilla
Melt butter in double broiler. (or if you are me and have none, a glass bowl over a pot of water) Add chocolate chips, stirring until melted and smooth. Blend in the sugar. Add cream, a bit at a time until all is blended, shiny and smooth! Pull from heat and add vanilla. Transfer to a low heat fondue pot.
Serve with graham crackers, marshmallows, pretzels, cookies, or fruit.
(Remember, I halved this and we still had PLENTY leftover! Use your judgment based on crowd size and sweet tooth.)
Happy Day After National Fondue Day!
~T
4 little Fergusons 
Oh wow yummy goodness for dinner!
Those Strawberries look so red and delicious I might have had to lick my plate to ( when no one was looking of course 🙂
Looks good and fun, worth the mess I’m sure. I’ll have to try this soon!
Good luck with the new camera, what kind did you get?
60D and it is too big for my britches! I don’t know how to shoot manual yet and really don’t deserve such a fabulous camera with my lack of knowledge. The photographer/camera repair man we talked to said if I don’t get a 60D, I’ll just burn through another Rebel xs in a year and a half and might as well spend that money more wisely. I am overwhelmed!
Awesome, I’ve been thinking about upgrading my back up camera, you’ll have to let me know how your 60D works for you… and if you ever want to get together, I’d be happy to share what I know shooting in Manual.
Oh my, that is so sweet, I am SO honored! Your work is just BREATH-TAKING!!!!! Yes, I need all the help I can get! It’s all so confusing, bigger is less, smaller is more. Ugh. I tried to shoot with wb set to tungesten last night for kitchen lights, but the shutter was so slow it took a good minute to release. I didn’t even know how to change the settings on this camera, let alone what I’d have changed them to! {Hangs head in shame}
You’re so funny….I’ve been there and I’d love to help. Email me and maybe I can come out one day after work. Looks like you have a beautiful backdrop for pictures right in your backyard. Not to mention some super cute models/subjects! joy@joylbaker.com
Perfect!
I have such fond memories of fondue. In the late 60’s we went to my aunt and uncle’s home for dinner. My aunt was always trying something new. We had cheese and chocolate fondue like yours but she also made one where we fried little pieces of meat andput it on bread. I wish I could ask her how she did that now but she has alzheimer’s and unable to remember me currently. But, I remember my dad’s reaction to fondue! Dad was a big man about 6’4″ and went about 250 working on the farm he thought it was the stupiest meal he ever had and he talked about it that way until he died! But I loved it! Your’s looks fantastic!!!
What a funny story! I love it! Big hungry men don’t have time to dunk tiny pieces of meat! 🙂 I wanted to do the oil kind, like we did growing up, but I remember it splattering and decided we’d wait until the kiddos are bigger.
Yum! Love fondue!! It is our Christmas Eve tradition to have a big fondue meals with oil and/or broth to cook steak, chicken and shrimp. We also dunk hotdog pieces in bisquick batter and fry in the oil for homemade corn dogs. SO good! Yes, it is a TON of work, but so fun!!!! Thanks for sharing your fondue recipes! 🙂
Ooo, homemade corn dogs! I LOVE that idea!
Tonya you’re such a fun mama!
I want to fondue too, looks delicious.
I’m glad the extra time and work was worth it! I love that your kids were so enthusiastic about it. =) Makes me want to have a big fondue night . . .
It took much longer than you thougt but the results seemed to have been much appreicated. The photo’s were lovely. thank you for sharing
Looks like it was worth all the work…your kids are soo fun and funny too. Tonya – if ONLY I could get my photos to look as good as these do! I have never liked the ‘learning’ part, but I’m sure you’ll catch on soon and will be WOWing us with more fabulous pix. Hang in there and have a great rest of the week.
This brought back warm memories from college (1970-4). Almost every dorm party involved fondue! We got 2 pots as wedding gifts (one looks like your olive green one, but it’s orange!). I think it’s about time to haul them out and create some fondue memories with the grandchildren 🙂
First, I love this idea and it’s clear your kiddos did too! What fun pictures of their chocolate noses. 🙂 That smoky gouda fondue is so calling to me.
Second, I had to lol about #3 on your list because I did the exact same thing in a recent email to a friend, starting a list and then filling in with something random on number 3 because I had nothing else to list.
Third (and I really do have a third–lol), I’m visitng from Jenna’s blog to invite you to her virtual baby shower! Please email me at vraklis@yahoo.com for all the details, and be sure to include the link to your blog in the email so that can keep track of everyone I’ve reached. Thanks!
Ohhhhhh this all looks SO good! I’ve never made fondue, but it does look like a lot of work (and I am not a fan of huge cleanup), but how fun nonetheless! Chocolate-dipped fruit is one of my favorite things to eat EVER. We looked into having a chocolate fountain at our wedding reception, but it was prohibitively expensive. 😦