Do you fondue?

When I first heard the word fondue and found out what it was, I laughed. The idea of cooking pieces of meat in a tiny pot with limited heat sounded ridiculous. A waste of my time and effort for the little reward for my appetite. Then as one of our wedding gifts, wouldn't you know it, a fondue set. We happily stored it in our cupboards and decided that we'd use it often and how much fun that would be. Skip ahead, skip ahead...A year and a half later and we decided to host our very own fondue party. Out comes the the pot and as I blew off the dust, my fear of oils and tiny meats started to make me nervous. What was I thinking? Me, fondue?! Was I mad, the full moon out or just crazy enough to believe that I could have a discernible amount of the cooking gene? And, if you know me, you've probably heard of the boiling water incident. Lets just say, my parents had to remove the wallpaper from the kitchen. Trust me, I should not be allowed in any kitchen.

Forgive me, I digress...the friends came over, a testament to their courage and fearlessness. Our guests swooped in to cut up what seemed a mountain of veggies, to prepare oils and cheeses. People, food everywhere and the questions were flying at me about the cooking of this/that and the location of mysterious items like colanders..?!

An hour and a half later we were ready to eat and the food went fast. I think everyone was famished from all the prep work. Steak, chicken, shrimps and all the veggies you could dip, it was good eats. Then the chocolate came out and a trio of girls started to make the sauce. In spite some interesting results (lumps in one of the pots) the chocolate was delicious. And, it is my personal opinion that mini red peppers dipped are the best.

My final thoughts on our fondue get together, an fun night. Lot of prep work, but I think the most important part of the whole experience is getting together with friends. To laugh over the time it takes to cook the meat, at the dripping cheese everywhere and at the things that people will eat if it's drowning in chocolate.