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.

Guacamole!

After an eventful night of side effects of this delicious, yet dangerous gratin, I found myself in need of serious comfort food. I was first introduced to avocados in the late 70s when my mom used to throw fabulous dinner parties. Now, I think I've mentioned about my mom and cooking, how she really isn't very good at it. But, there is the great big exception of when she would throw dinner parties. She would carefully pay attention to how the recipe was written and serve her guests beautiful and lovely things. Deep fried sweet and sour pork. Chicken cordon bleu. Vanilla ice cream drizzled with creme de menthe. Dad would get out the ice crusher and mom would get out multiple card tables and put out the fine china and tablecloths. Mom would always put on some beautiful dress that was silky or halter topped in gold or vibrant purple or bright green. She was a very stylish lady.

At one of these dinner parties, Mom made guacamole. I might have been 7. maybe. And as I stood there peering at the counter and the fancy ingredients, Mom told me about how much she loved avocados. It seemed a little weird to me at the time as avocados are fairly slimy and bright green, but now every time I eat an avocado I think of my mom. And all the glamour and stylishness that original avocado captured for me.

The good news is that avocados are really good for you. They're full of those heart healthy fats. They also are full of Vitamins K and B6, iron, folate and fiber. And they are higher in potassium than a medium banana. Interestingly, if you have a latex allergy you may want to steer clear of avocados. It has something to do with the chemicals in avocados and the chemicals in latex.

Anyhow, it seems silly to take such a deliciously healthy food and mess it up with bad for you foods, so here's a simple and delicious guacamole recipe adapted from Vegetables Every Day by Jack Bishop.

Guacamole

adapted from Vegetables Every Day

1 Tbsp minced onion

1 small garlic clove, minced

1 small jalapeno chile, stemmed, seeded and minced

2 Tbsp minced fresh cilantro leaves

2 medium ripe Haas avocados

1 Tbsp lemon juice

Salt

Place the onion, garlic, chile, and cilantro in a medium bowl. Cut around the ends of the avocados and twist to separate the halves. Remove the pit and discard. Slide a rubber spatula between the skin and flesh to pop out the flesh. Add the flesh to the bowl with the seasonings.

Sprinkle the lemon juice over the avocado and seasonings. Mash with a large fork until the mixture forms a chunky puree. (Guacamole should not be smooth). Add salt to taste and serve immediately.

Ahh delicious!