My favorite holidays have to be Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's
Eve. I hope that you had a wonderful Christmas. Ours was different this year
because our niece decided to host the celebration in her new home. Her new
home was 45 minutes away from us, or as we say "out in the
boondocks". Far enough from Chicago that the sky was almost black on a
starry night. The area is so remote that I was unable to get her address
on my GPS. When we arrived we discovered a relatively new subdivision of town
homes. I am a traditional guy and I was about to experience a rite of passage,
like my brothers and sisters did when hosting Christmas instead of our
parents. What was I expecting you might ask? Tradition!
We forgot the stuffed celery |
In our family it was rare for us to have a sit down meal for Christmas
Eve. It is really about finger food and sandwiches. There were things that we
always had like shrimp cocktail, rumaki,
deviled eggs, one or all of my mom’s hot appetizer puffs (chicken, crab, or
ham), stuffed celery sticks, black and green pimento stuffed olives, some type
of meat sandwiches (usually ham or turkey).
Deviled Eggs |
Sometimes new traditions were added when one of us got married and
introduced our spouses’ favorite foods or traditions to the mix. Sure
there was apprehension but generally speaking change is good. As an example,
while living in Boston my sister and her husband were introduced to a
cheese fondue that became a new tradition in her family. My wife's aunt made
Swedish meatballs so they were introduced along the way too. Change is good but
tradition trumps change. There I go drifting again.
In addition to the cheese fondue, my sister brought a box of Fannie May Mint Meltaway's, another family tradition.
My niece had decorated her home so that it was warm and inviting. Her main menu item was Italian beef, Italian bread, sweet peppers, jardiniere, and a whole pot of au jus.
My niece that was hosting the party really jumped the curb and went off
the road to tradition by introducing a high-tech chocolate fountain and
assortment of fruit to coat, marshmallows and graham crackers. This was an
entertaining diversion, especially for the children and some of the grown-ups
too.
One thing that I really missed this year was rumaki. My mother always made them with chicken livers and water chestnuts. We eliminated the chicken livers from our version and went with just the water chestnuts. They were always delicious but did mess up the broiler.
I just kept thinking about that fondue. In a family setting, or with
really good friends, communal dining can be fun. In a restaurant setting it can
and often is a nightmare. Sitting down over food with total strangers is not my
idea of a good time.
For many years my wife loved to go to a local Japanese restaurant for their teppanyaki style cooking. I'll admit that at the beginning and after a few Mai Tai's it was a lot of fun and we did it often. Unless you go with a group of 6-8 people you can expect to be seated with 6-8 total strangers. We were once seated with six high school age boys and girls on a prom date. I'm sure they loved sitting with us as much as we enjoyed sitting with them.
In addition to the cheese fondue, my sister brought a box of Fannie May Mint Meltaway's, another family tradition.
My niece had decorated her home so that it was warm and inviting. Her main menu item was Italian beef, Italian bread, sweet peppers, jardiniere, and a whole pot of au jus.
Another of my niece's made hot chicken appetizer puffs just like
her Grandmother did for all of those years before. When trying these I couldn't
help but think Mom was guiding her.
Chicken Puffs |
One thing that I really missed this year was rumaki. My mother always made them with chicken livers and water chestnuts. We eliminated the chicken livers from our version and went with just the water chestnuts. They were always delicious but did mess up the broiler.
Water chestnut rumaki |
For many years my wife loved to go to a local Japanese restaurant for their teppanyaki style cooking. I'll admit that at the beginning and after a few Mai Tai's it was a lot of fun and we did it often. Unless you go with a group of 6-8 people you can expect to be seated with 6-8 total strangers. We were once seated with six high school age boys and girls on a prom date. I'm sure they loved sitting with us as much as we enjoyed sitting with them.
Cheese Fondue |
My sister's fondue got me thinking. Anyone who was married in the 1970's
probably was given at least one fondue pot as a wedding present. Each pot came
with long handled color coded dipping forks. Fondue parties became the rage.
What you made in the fondue pot determined what you dipped into it with the
forks. A good paring of wines to compliment your fondue was essential.
Depending on how many fondue pots you had determined how many
things you could dip into them. More often than not the host had a cheese
fondue made up an assortment of cheeses. You would dip bread cubes, or fruit
chunks into the sauce and enjoy the extremely rich molten lava treat. No double
dipping allowed.
For meat and fish a fondue filled with peanut oil would
literally fry your selection. Dip shrimp or vegetables into a tempura batter
and then into the hot oil would take it to a whole new level. Of course you
needed a selection dipping sauces to go with it. To cook meat or seafood you
needed an electric fondue capable maintaining a proper cooking temperature.
Most fondue pots use a candle or Sterno cans to keep them warm.
Let's not forget a Fondue pot filled with some decadent
chocolate dip. Not exactly the high-tech chocolate fountain my niece had but a
similar result. Arrange a platter of fresh fruit for dipping and you’re on your
way to a wonderful ending to your communal meal with family or friends.
The most popular fondue restaurant that I know about is
"The Melting Pot." Expensive but good I hear. It is one of the
restaurants on my bucket list. To learn more about the Melting Pot visit their
website at http://www.meltingpot.com/. There are so many
recipes on the Internet for fondue and dipping sauces I will not try to cover
any of them.
I would be remiss if I didn't tell you about a Raclette. My cousin in Germany spent New Year’s
Eve with friends and a Raclette. A Raclette is similar to a fondue and designed
to be enjoyed by friends and family. To learn more go to Williams-Sonoma at http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/electric-raclette-maker/.
Q. Did you know that if your bread falls into the cheese fondue proper etiquette dictates that you buy the table a bottle of wine? © TMelle 2014
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