New Year?s Eve

It’s our tradition here to have fondue on New Year’s Eve. And it’s also a tradition for the kids to invite their friends. This year Teen Martha had 5 friends and Dude Martha had one (so the teenagers got the dining room and the boys ate with us in the kitchen). We had to run out and buy a third fondue pot. This was the first year people actually ate most of what I made. This time, we set up fondue pots on the table and instead of passing the food for dipping, I set it up buffet style on the kitchen counter. First course is cheese fondue (basic – gruyere, wine, cornstarch). With that I served: mini turkey meatballs, spicy chicken sausage, ham, tortellini, broccoli, cauliflower, cherry tomatoes, french bread, pumpernickel rye bread, pears, apple, grapes and I made 3 dipping sauces: tomato/Italian, mustard, and pesto. There was hardly anything left. Dessert was a chocolate fondue and a white chocolate fondue. In the dining room we did one pot of chocolate and second pot that had half chocolate and half white chocolate (Mr. MarthaAndMe did some synchronized pouring to make that happen). With it I served: pound cake, chocolate chip cookies, white chocolate chip cookies, shortbread, pretzel logs, marshmallows, Rice Krispie treats, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, pineapple, tangerines, and pineapple. I had chopped peanuts and sprinkles to roll things in as well. This was also inhaled.

I decorate the table with a New Years garland, lots of fun hats (although most of them will not be caught dead wearing them in a photo), noisemakers, those little champagne poppers, and everyone got a chocolate snowman. I serve sparkling juices, soda and chocolate milk. I use paper plates and plastic cups. It’s a lot of work though. Although making the fondues is pretty simple, the prep takes me all day – cutting everything up and cooking all the veggies and pasta and meats. It’s fun though. The best part is that I cook like a lunatic all day and decorate the table, they come, they eat, they horse around a while then they all leave to go to the later parties. Mr. MarthaAndMe clean it all up, then collapse. I never make it to the ball drop and am usually asleep pretty early. It’s a fun tradition though – and before we went out and invested in a third fondue pot Teen Martha promised she will continue to have friends come.