Cheese Fondue for Two

When Matt and I got married we asked for, and received, a fondue pot.  I really wanted one, but it's not the most practical gift. I can't say we've used it regularly over the years, but we broke it out for Christmas Eve dinner and had a wonderful cheese fondue. 

Melty, tangy cheese on all manner of fruits, vegetables and bread is about the best meal there is.  We watched Die Hard while enjoying our fondue, and it may just be a new Christmas Eve tradition!

I don't know what Matt enjoyed more, eating the fondue, or arranging the fruit, veggies and bread on the tray.  

Here's the recipe for Fondue for Two.  This is enough for a meal for two hungry people or an appetizer or snack for four.  Double the recipe and add more hearty dippers like salami and pretzels to feed a crowd. 

Ingredients:

1 garlic clove

1 cup dry white wine

250g Emmental cheese, shredded

250g Gruyere cheese, shredded

1 tablespoon cornstarch

juice of half a lemon

black pepper to taste

Things to dip:

• slices of baguette
• pretzels or pretzel bread
• toasted bread cubes
• grapes
• apple slices
• chunks of salami or cooked sausage
• boiled mini potatoes
• blanched vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, etc.

Directions:

Cut the garlic clove in half and rub both halves all over the inside of the fondue pot. 

Add the wine to the fondue pot and heat slowly until hot but not boiling.  

Toss the cheeses with cornstarch. Over low heat, add the cheese slowly to the wine, stirring to melt after each addition. Don't let the mixture come to a boil, just keep it warm and stir until it becomes glossy and starts to thicken. 

Add lemon juice and pepper. 

The cheese may still be thin at this point, but it will thicken up as it sits.  

If you have a proper fondue pot with a heating device, keep the cheese warm over the heat source while you eat, reducing the heat as the level of the cheese goes down as it's eaten.  If you're using a regular pot, you can warm it up on the stove periodically if it gets too cool. 

Use long forks to dip into the cheese.  Be careful!  It's hot!

Enjoy!  

Homemade Gummy Bears

My husband loves gummy bears but doesn't always want to snack on pure sugar. So I decided to make him some fruit juice gummies in his favouite flavours!

Making gummies at home is very easy. I got these gummy bear molds that worked wonderfully, but if you don't have molds, you can set the gummies in a baking pan and cut them into cubes or shapes. I will say that the droppers really help to fill the silicone molds, and the bears come out beautifully.  There are plenty of cute mold shapes available online too. 

I decided to make most of the gummies with 100% juice and no added sugar, and they were lovely.  But I made a small batch with a small amount of added sweetener and I have to admit they were even better.  The honey brought out more flavour in the juice.   I chose wild blueberry, Matt's favourite flavour, and apple cherry juice. You can use any juice you like except pineapple, which doesn't work well with gelatin. 

The other ingredient is the gelatin. I used these standard envelopes of unflavoured gelatin available in any grocery store, but you can get large canisters of grass-fed gelatin online.  The recipe requires a lot of gelatin, but makes a lot of gummies!

Here's what you need to make gummies at home:

1 cup fruit juice
4 tablespoons unflavoured gelatin (equal to 4 pouches in the box above)
1-2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup (optional)
Silicone gummy mold and dropper or metal or silicone baking pan

Place the juice (and honey, if using) in a small pot and slowly stir in the gelatin.  Let it sit for a few minutes, then warm over medium heat, stirring until the gelatin dissolves. Don't let it boil - you just want the gelatin to melt and the mixture to be thin and shiny.  

Remove from heat and use a dropper to fill the gummy molds.  If you get a lot of bubbles, you can use the dropper to suck it back up and fill the dropper with non-bubbly juice to re-fill.  Make sure you place the mold on a baking sheet before filling so you can easily move it to the fridge once full. 

If you're using a metal pan you will need to coat it with non-stick spray or coconut oil before filling.  

Place the filled molds in the refrigerator for 2 hours until completely set.  The gummy bears pop easily out of the molds!  

If you've set the gummies in a pan, carefully use a spatula to remove the set gummies from the pan, and use a cookie cutter or knife to cut into shapes.  

The gummies will keep in the fridge for a week or two.  Don't leave them at room temperature!  They have no preservatives and will get moldy quickly so they must be stored in the fridge.   

This is a fun project with kids and makes an easy, healthy snack!  

Short & Sweet Easter Sunday - Jello Deviled Eggs

These jello deviled eggs are super cute but weren't that easy to execute. You can buy an egg mold to make life easier, but I used these plastic eggs from the dollar store that open at the equator and it wasn't easy to get the jello out.