On A Stick

This post is dedicated to my cousin, Krista, and her husband, Jeff, who share our love of food on a stick. . .

Mike and I love fondue. Actually, we love The Melting Pot. If you aren't familiar with the restaurant, it is a fondue restaurant. The food is fabulous. However, it is pricey. Definitely cheaper than Morton's, but more expensive than TGI Fridays. And, WAY more expensive than Friendly's, which, as most of you know, is a the pinnacle in our dining out repertoire these days.

Back in B.C. times (before children, not biblical times, although they may be associate with heaven in my mind), when $100 bought more than four days of after care or one week's gas, we frequented The Melting Pot regularly with our other couple friends without children, Steve and Lisa Klein.

Then came Mikie. Initially, we still went to The Melting Pot because he would sleep while we dined on fondue (the low lighting is perfect for sleeping infants). Then, he slept less and was a whole lot more curious, and all of our favorite restaurants seemed to be less than child friendly. Melting Pot's hot plates built into the table were a problem, although not as big a problem as the mini pitch forks they give you to skewer your food with. As a side note: Sakura's hibachi tables. . . also not kid friendly, unless you want to give your 18 month old nightmare's about fire.

So, we evolved into making fondue at home. Between the Kleins and the Trahans, we had two fondue pots, so we could make cheese and desert fondue without cleaning up in between. And really, you can make cheese and chocolate into a very filling meal. Add wine, and it is the best meal ever. Plus, dining at home (or someones home) meant Mikie could wreak havoc (or go to bed) without making me feel guilty about disrupting other peoples' meals.

Alas, we moved to Massachusetts, and the Kleins moved to Pennsylvania. But, Mike and I have continued to eat fondue at least once a month. And, when strawberries are in season (or aren't in season but look tempting at the grocery store), we eat chocolate fondue multiple times a week. Thankfully, the island has an outlet built into it, so we can very easily set up a pot of fondue without worrying about the kids stabbing each other with little pitch forks or burning themselves.

Until last month (which is really two months ago since I am behind on blogging). That was when Hannah "I will eat whatever you are eating" Trahan decided that fondue looks delicious. Other than the appeal that most food has for our daughter (namely, someone else is eating it), I think she really just wanted to dip food in the pot. With some supervision to make sure she didn't (a) stab herself, (b) burn herself on the pot or (c) leave chunks of food floating in my fondue, she managed to successfully skewer and dip some apples.The verdict: still out. Taking a page from Auntie Katie's book, she thoroughly enjoyed licking the cheese off whatever she dipped, but never actually ate the bread or apples themselves. Once she realized she was expected to eat the stuff that was enrobed in cheese, she lost interest. She spent the rest of the time dipping food and force feeding Mike and I.I'm sure she would enjoy the desert fondue a whole lot more. But, there are some things too sacred to share with my two year old.

Love, The Trahans