Monday, January 31, 2011

Fond of Fondue

I mentioned in an earlier post that I had been contacted by CSN to review a product of my choice. I knew exactly what I wanted because it was something I’d been trying to justify over the holidays…a fondue set.  The decision was made when I saw the same one I’d been thinking about on cookware.com, one of CSN’s stores, for less than I’d seen it anywhere else. A. Lot. Less. So with the amount they provided , paying the difference was a no brainer. It arrived within three days of ordering.

I love the bite size nature of fondue. I’m not so much into actually cooking things using this method ( the broth or oil) but for appetizers or dessert? YUM!
You can probably guess that my inaugural use involved chocolate! Here’s the fondue set I chose:
Cuisinart’s electric fondue set. I didn’t want to deal with making sure I had Sterno and wanted to control the temperature so I went w/ electric. No fondue when the power’s out!
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I went with a sour cream angel food cake, bananas and strawberries as our selection.
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Cut those into dippable bite sized pieces
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Used a basic chocolate fondue recipe which I didn’t measure.
  • Cream
  • Chocolate of choice ( I used semi-sweet) Some recipes call for baking chocolate in which case you need to add sugar.
  • Vanilla ( The recipe booklet that came w/ the set called for bourbon but we decided we’d skip that )
Bring the cream to a low simmer, add the chocolate, stir until smooth , add vanilla. The instructions said to keep the fondue on a low temp while serving but I disconnected it to serve it which worked fine. If you’re going to have it out for a while ( not the case in my house…didn’t stand a chance) then I can see leaving it plugged in!
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It was hard to get pics while doing the prep, cooking, and serving and once on the table, forget it. My husband and son were telling me “put the camera down now” so we could dig in! And we did. And ate all the evidence.
I am planning on using this for Valentine’s Day but I had to practice right? I think I’ll have to practice again. Just to be sure.

13 comments:

Brittany said...

3 of the best things to dip in chocolate fondue are canned pineapple, pretzels and brownies. Yum!! We've got a fondue party coming up at church!

Erin @ Crafts and Sutch said...

Carol, that is just cruel and unusual punishment. How am I going to start my diet now? :) LOL!

Jocelyn said...

Fondue is one of our absolute favorite things to do for an at home date night!!! You are going to love your set!!!

JC's Loft said...

Oh fun! I LOVE going to the Melting Pot so I think I need this : )

Paula

Lori said...

Looks positively yum-o, but the problem I see here is...one bite sized piece = 100 bite sized pieces. Wouldn't be able to stop. Oh hell, just give me the damn pot, and I'll drink from it...

the cape on the corner said...

yum! i was so going to order that in the past...i just ordered a toaster oven. gotta love csn!

Michele {The Scrap Shoppe} said...

Yummo, Carol! I think we have the same set. The hubs and I use it traditionally on V-day. Cheaper than eating out and tons of fun!

Rose said...

i haven't used a fondue set in over 20 years sounds like it's worth trying again. take care rose

Kindra-At Home With K said...

When's the next fondue party?! I'll be right over! YUM!

Em {Emerging Em} said...

Mmmm, I love fondue! There's a restaurant in downtown Greenville that serves fondue with all kinds of fun things like pound cake, apples, mini marshmallows, peanut butter cookies....I always get a glass of Prosecco to go along. ;)

Anonymous said...

Great choice! That looks delicious!

Mindy said...

About six years ago I was doing fondue parties all the time, but I haven't done one in soooo long. I really need to do one again because they are a lot of fun. :)

Anonymous said...

Oh yummy! I don't know how often I'd use a fondue set up but it sure would be fun now and then.

Jo @ SmileMonsters