Family Night In: Fondue Party Fun

When I was a little girl, we had fondue every year for Super Bowl Sunday. Instead of bowls of chips and dip, we sat on the floor around the coffee table and dipped our dinner into a fondue pot. My mom would make an oil fondue with cubes of beef and chicken and lots of sauces to dip it in. After dinner, she would change out the pot, and we would dip everything into velvety melted chocolate for dessert. My brother, sister and I loved how fancy and exotic this meal was.

Many, many, years later, I am now the mom who wants to make things special for my children. I still remember how much I loved when my mom made us that meal that we ate on the living room floor every year, and I want to do the same for my little ones. Instead of waiting for a once-a-year special occasion, why not celebrate something tonight?

My children happen to have a half day of school every single Monday. We use this time to do something fun together, just the four of us. When they came home from school today, they found a fondue party waiting for them. My kids can never say that I didn’t do fun surprises for them can they?

The thing about it is that it really took more effort to find the fondue pot hiding in my kitchen cabinet than it did to put the whole thing together. I had some milk chocolate from another project that I melted and looked in my fridge and pantry for dippers. Within about 10 minutes, the whole thing was set up and I felt like I’d earned the title “Mom of the Year.”

I used pound cake, pretzels, chocolate sandwich cookies, dried apricots, dried kiwi, strawberries, and pineapple. But you could dip just about anything you want in chocolate, don’t you agree?

Want to go the savory route? Make a cheese fondue. I bet that I could get my kids to eat more than the usual amount of veggies if I let them eat it off of a stick and let them dip them into gooey, melted cheese. I know that I would! Broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, peppers, potatoes, bread cubes, tomatoes, all would be great for dipping.

Don’t have a fondue pot? No worries, you can still make fondue. Just melt chocolate and pour into individual cups and let everyone dip. If it starts to harden, microwave it for a few seconds to melt it again. Or try making it in your trusty slow cooker! Take my word for it: A fondue party is a good time for everyone. Fun, festive, delicious, and everyone has a good time.