Dipping the Night Away

It was fondue night here in Our Little Town!

Every once in a while we like to reminisce about the time in our nation’s history when the US was involved in a long-running, futile, unpopular and possibly illegal foreign war, when domestic politics was polarized to the point where morons insisted that revolution was only sensible, and when gas-guzzling cast-iron behemoths ruled the highways, and on those occasions we whomp up a cheese fondue for dinner.

Boy, things have changed a lot since 1969, haven't they?

The first time we did this was a few years ago, when we decided to have three different ones – one cheese, one hot oil and one chocolate – for a dinner party. This led to several discoveries.

First, that these things are ridiculously easy to make. You throw all the ingredients into the pot and heat them up, and then you stick things into them. It’s a culinary straight-line, and no matter how comical you are in a kitchen you can’t but help hit that one dead on.

Second, these things are popular. We served the cheese and hot oil ones first, since conceivably you could dunk enough healthy things into them to count as a meal. Eventually everyone declared themselves to be completely full, with no possible room for any further food. And then the chocolate fondue came out and I nearly lost my arm from all the people lunging at it with pointed sticks.

Never stand between a chocolate fondue and a group of people with pointed sticks, is what I’m saying.

And third, well, there is no third. Easy and popular is all you need to know.

So we drag out the fondue pot, chop up some fresh-baked bread, apples, sausage, and occasionally veggies, run the extension cord over to the dining room table and set up for dinner. Even the girls like it now.