Do You Fon-Due?

What better way to celebrate the kindness of good friends... ...than to gather 'round vats of hot oil and cook an assortment of meats???

It all started when we were talking with our friends, Ken and Kathy Christiansen. (Hayley is good friends with their daughter Karen, and Kathy and I have discovered a kinship based on A LOT of similarities. And we have that good old Catholic connection going! And all the guys are at the Pistol Range right now, so there's that!) Anyway, we mentioned fondue and all agreed we should do it sometime. Well, long story short, our new friends loaned us their 4-wheel drive vehicle to get us through the recent "Great Snow of 2008." You know, the one where more snow fell on the PNW region than anyone can EVER remember? Yeah, that one. So, as a small gesture of thanks, we invited their family over for a fondue feast. Filet, lobster, scallops, shrimp, chicken, pork and mushrooms all took their turn in the hot oil jacuzzi's (better known as the fonduzzi.) Then, they were slathered with horsey, dill, deviled, lemon butter, cocktail and Asian sauces. Oh and there was classic Swiss fondue, which is basically a cheese/wine melt and you dip chunks of french bread into that. Yeahhhhhh!

We thought the kids would prefer chicken strips and Dano's home fries, but really, they would have been just as happy with fondue for their dinner. They eventually headed back upstairs for more Guitar Hero World Tour, but did come back downstairs for this: That is Swiss Chocolate Fondue. From a recipe circa 1973...that cracks me up! Basically, it is cream and chocolate and a dash of liqueur...with hunks of banana, pound cake and rice krispie balls for dippins'.

Take a moment....

Now, I do apologize for the lack of photos. But honestly, it is really hard to hold a camera when you're holding a fondue fork in each hand! Trust me.

Ken, Kathy, Rob and Karen, thank you so much for lending us your truck and for a really fun evening!