Hygge? Gemütlichkeit? Fondue!

SO. It's March, that means random snow storms. Pretty little snow storms. But still snow when I'm ready for my spring flowers. 

On Monday, I decided to do something different with my weekend. The darling princess was with her dad and rather than spend the weekend doing something boring like trying to advance in Candy Crush, I decided to have a cocktail party. This was perhaps not the best plan because when you invite people on Monday to come over Saturday, generally people have stuff going on. And I haven't entertained in long enough that people have clearly forgotten how much fun my gatherings are! Well sort of. Most of my friends had really legitimate excuses why they couldn't come. 

As the week wore on, I started to think about the upcoming gathering and the concept of Hygge (as explained in this fun little book that I picked up). The book explained that I should have candles. Not a problem, I have tons of random candles. The book also explained that it would be more Hygge to have a sort of group potluck where the cooking is all done at the same time at someone's house than to have pitchers of cocktails and teeny tiny little hors d'oeuvres. So I called up my friends who were coming and told them I had changed my mind and we would be having fondue! It seemed more Hygge even though it's Swiss and not Danish. And I should probably call it Gemütlichkeit because my heritage is German and not Danish. They sort of mean the same thing although it's more of a cultural thing in Denmark, I guess.

It also should be noted, that I had received an electric fondue pot as a wedding present and I had never taken it out of the box! I also had my mother's fondue pot and a teeny little crockpot called the little dipper. And it made sense to me that if I had 3 possible fondue devices, that I should make three separate fondues. And I did!! I made an unbelievably delicious Toblerone fondue (found here) that my friends and I discovered that pretty much anything dipped into it came out delicious! Grapes, apples, bread, strawberries, Rice Krispy treats, donut holes, pineapples, gluten-free snickerdoodles, giant marshmallows and teeny little skewers of blueberries, just to name some of what got dipped. Unfortunately my first try at making cheese fondue was a total fail. It was definitely stringy and globby. I'm not sure that's a real word, but it's an accurate description of my cheese fondue. Although, it was pretty good reheated on some potatoes for breakfast the next day!

breakfast!

And finally I made a marscapone and Calvados fondue from The Everything Fondue Party Cookbook. Calvados is kind of hard to find and it's a brandy made from apples. I had bought it for some other recipe and had to go all the way to Columbus to get it. The fondue was good. It sort of tasted like eggnog. The good boozy kind.  It was tremendous when we dipped apples in it. But it just wasn't mind blowing enough to compete with the Toblerone fondue.

We enjoyed a delicious chilled Pinot Grigio and a sweet Moscato with our fondues as well as great conversations and hearty laughs.

What I learned: I learned that making a cheese fondue takes a lot of patience and I think some practice. I also learned that I will be making the Toblerone fondue again. I learned that 3 different fondues for 6 people is a ridiculous amount of food. I learned that Walmart sells little Sterno 3-packs under where the tinfoil pans are. And I learned that I think I will either need to go to Goodwill or some garage sales and try to find traditional fondue pots. The electric one and the little dipper worked really good when I could have them plugged in, but the cords are really short and that didn't work so well for me. I might have to go buy a multi plug extension cord.

Trailer Park Beans

OK, I have been terrible at blogging. really really bad. But it's been a bad week overall really. We got the foot of snow that was, for the most part, expected. And they cancelled school. So I decided to check out the new Chinese restaurant in town. Unfortunately, I learned that although the Cadillac is a big heavy car that does well on slippery roads, it does not plow snow. I got the behemoth stuck in the driveway. So I called my friend to pick me up in what can best be described as a monster truck.

While waiting for her to arrive I decided that it would be a good idea to get the car all the way back into the driveway. In order to do that I had to shovel. SO my neighbor came over to help me and the two of us (and his little son) were all shoveling away when WHHHHHHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! I went flying. I should explain here that I have a gravel driveway that we normally don't shovel and so the snow pack under the fresh foot of snow was pretty much ice.

So there I was sitting on my butt in a foot of snow with Wilma the Knee twisted behind me. Wilma the Knee apparently does not like flying and flailing and has been swollen and crunchy ever since. The rest of the day was spent with an ice pack and some electric stim. See if you have 3 knee surgeries they let you have all kinds of fun toys. Fortunately nothing is ripped, because yes, I've seen the doctor. The doctor should be naming a wing of his house after me. Apparently I knocked loose some scar tissue or irritated my arthritis or something like that. He prescribed me some great anti-inflammatory medicine and my knee is slowly starting to recover. Whew.

Life hasn't returned to normal though because shortly before seeing the doctor I must have been sneezed on by a high school kid and I have come down with the worst cold ever. The congestion is truly amazing. I'm starting to sound like Fran Drescher even.

Fortunately I made these beans. Yes, the only thing I've cooked all week. These beans are killer spicy. And delicious. And really you should try them. But you may want to cut down on the pickled jalapenos! They were originally called Drunken Beans and the recipe called for a dark Mexican beer. But I'm not fancy like that and all I had were Bud Light and Tequila. Which makes me feel less than upscale with my beans....

And the winners of the Big Blog Giveaway Part Deux are....

The cupcake towels, napkins and spatula go to teresa!

The finger spatula, band aids, and bookmarks go to Standing Still!

and the apron goes to Siri!

So ladies, email me (at the bottom right) your address and I will get them sent out! By the way, I've been asked where I found the band aids. I found them at Borders.

Drunk Beans

adapted from epicurious

1/2 pound bacon chopped

1 large white onion chopped

1 Tbsp oregano

1 garlic clove, minced

1 pound pinto beans that have soaked in water for 6 hours

1 1/2 cups water

1/2 cup sliced jarred pickled jalapenos

12 ounce can of Bud Light

2 shots of Tequila

1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)

2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350.

In a frying pan, cook bacon, onion, oregano, and garlic over medium high heat until onion is browned slightly. Scrape the bacon mixture into a bean pot (or Dutch oven) and add beans, water, jalapeno, beer, and tequila. Stir to combine. Bake mixture in covered bean pot for 2 hours or until beans are soft. Stir in salt and brown sugar and bake for 10 minutes more without the lid.

Margarita Sorbet

I have an aunt who used to drink heavily when she went to go visit her mother in a nursing home. My uncle started buying these margarita mixes that come in freezable pails. All he had to do was add a bottle of tequila and stick it in the freezer. He then would give the bucket to my aunt with a spoon. He said it slowed her down a little bit.

This sorbet makes me think of that. Partly because I was again having trouble waiting for it to freeze firm. What I ended up with is a damnass good sorbet that tastes remarkably like a very very good margarita. I could totally see serving this in a glass with a salted rim (except I like my margaritas without salt). And I completely have my husband to thank for this delicious scoop of frozen dessert. I promised him when I made the ice cream that I would make him some sorbet that didn't have any milk in it. And I'm submitting this one to Mike at Mike's Table for that ice cream event. I LOVE this event!

All it took was 7 limes and a frantic search for tequila that wasn't Patron (Patron in a sorbet is just ridiculous extravagant). We found two bottles of triple sec and a big litre bottle of Jose. It was a learning experience for our marriage. We have a HUMONGOUS stockpile of alcohol. We are a little bit short on the bourbon, but we have a crazy amount of pretty much everything else. I think it's part of being older when we got married. We not only combined 2200 square feet of stuff into a 700 square foot house, we combined bars. It's a little stunning. I think there may be more liquor in the garage too. As the Brain said, "we need to start drinking more." Maybe I'll just make more sorbet and go visit my mother. hee hee hee.

Margarita Sorbet

adapted from The Ultimate Ice Cream Book by Bruce Weinstein

1 1/4 cup sugar

2 cups water

1 large egg white

2/3 cup fresh lime juice (from 7-8 limes)

zest of 2 limes

1/4 cup tequila

1/4 cup triple sec

Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan and place over low heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves completely. Raise the heat and boil the syrup 1 minute. Remove from heat.

In a medium mixing bowl, lightly beat the egg white with an electric mixer until foamy. about 10 seconds. Slowly beat in the hot sugar syrup. Continue to beat until the mixture cools down slightly. Add the lime juice, triple sec, tequila, and zest. Cover and refrigerate until cold or overnight. The mixture will have foam on top, but will incorporate into the sorbet when it freezes.

Stir the chilled mixture, then freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. When finished, the sorbet will be soft but ready to eat. For firmer sorbet, transfer to a freezer safe container and freeze at least 2 hours.