New Year’s Fondue

If you’ve never had fondue before, you must try it!  It is so much fun sitting around the pot, cooking and chatting, dipping and laughing…

For me, if you’re making fondue, you might just as well invite some people over because it’s going to be a party anyway!  It would make a great, DIY, generally appealing, family friendly optional New Year’s Eve Party. 

Start with a basic meat fondue, like the one at …and the eggs

 

(and don’t forget to make some scrumptious dipping sauces!)

 

Then, supplement with a versatile cheese fondue, like this one at Simply Recipes

or like this one at  101 Cookbooks.  The options they have listed for dipping items are endless: 

Fruits: sliced bananas, apples, pears, peaches, or pineapples, or dried fruit, orange sections, strawberries, cherries, raspberries, blackberries, or grapes. Whatever is seasonal.

Breads: mixed-grain and whole wheat breads, crusty French or Italian bread, pita wedges, fresh tortillas, tortilla chips, croissants, bread sticks, naan, focaccia, or baked polenta cubes. In my book, I include recipes for variations like chipotle or spicy bean fondue which go nicely with the fresh tortillas, etc.

Blanched vegetables: broccoli, asparagus, green beans, snow peas, or snap peas. Blanch in a pot of lightly salted boiling water for a minute or two to soften them up just a bit. Drain them well before putting them out on a serving tray.

Raw or roasted vegetables: brussels sprouts, cherry tomatoes, red bell pepper slices, celery sticks, roasted potato wedges, roasted sweet potatoes, parsnips or roasted mushrooms.

Cakes and sweet things: angel food cake cubes, graham crackers, marshmallows, tiny brownies, tiny cookies, ladyfingers, shortbread, amaretti, biscotti, crystallized ginger chunks, or meringues.

If you’re feeling adventurous, you could try something different, like Andrea’s Recipes’ chicken pesto fondue.

…or you could try a Chinese fondue, as outlined by Off The Broiler!

 

And don’t forget the dessert!  Of course, you can never fail with a simple chocolate fondue:

 

But, you might like to try something different here, too, like yumsugar’s  caramel fondue.

 

 

It’s so easy to make a fondue party family friendly (just keep little hands away from those hot pots!)…most kids love the autonomy of skewering their own choices and trying out different dips, etc.  To make it extra special, though, or to let the kids have their own party table, they could even enjoy this fun pizza fondue from A Year of Slow Cooking, sans open flame!

Go make some fondue fun!