A Foodie's Fondue

Everyone has treasured childhood memories of their favorite foods and the good times associated with those foods. A particularly fond one of mine is my mom's fondue. 

My mom had a unique talent for pulling out her famous fondue recipe right when it was needed most. It might have been that one of us kids had a difficult day at school, or perhaps that money had been a little tight that month, or maybe just that we all needed some time together as a family. Whatever the reason was - when the fondue pot came out, we came running.

Fondue is the ultimate party food, perfect for families, and especially useful for busy parents which my mother certainly was - so, for her, fondue was not only a crowd pleaser it was conducive to her lifestyle. She made us all different kinds, featuring fun new foods to dip and scoop with and always making it a time for laughter and smiles. We would gather around the Fondue pot, play "Rock, Paper, Scissors" to determine who got what color of dipping fork, and then scramble to be the first to get our favorite treats into the bowl. It was always tremendous fun and we always finished the night both full and happy.

The thing about the fondue was that it was such an unassuming meal. Fondue doesn’t ask that you dress up to eat it. It doesn’t insist that you have a gleaming line of silverware or fine china setting the table. And fondue doesn’t judge you on your level of expertise when it comes to the fine arts of cuisine. Fondue is just fondue and it’s happy that way.

And because of it’s simplicity, it’s quite comforting nature, and its flexibility, fondue is easy to adapt to any situation and any particular tastes. For example - my family was raised to be vegetarian so we always had a cheese fondue with an assortment of breads and vegetables. It was a down to earth sort of meal, without much emphasis on presentation or protocol and it was an easy way to have a fun dinner while staying within the guidelines of our way of eating. It was a fun dinner to pull out for game night or for a family party and it was usually present around holidays as well.

Fondue showed up in other areas of my childhood too. I distinctly remember the chocolate fondue fountain being my favorite part of any family wedding we went to and my birthday often included a chocolate waterfall and lots of goodies to dip.
All of this and a great deal more gave fondue a special place in my family’s book of recipes that continues to remain dear to me to this day.