Fundo from the Highlands

We had dinner together over at Ben and Jeanne's house this evening-Jeanne is one of the wonderful women that is in my small group of close girlies and accountability partners. We call ourselves the SAC club, cheekily standing for sex accountability club.

back to Jeanne. I met Jeanne a few years ago, and fell in love with her right away:) she is the sweetest, most gentle, most joy filled woman i have ever met. She is kind and warm, she is genuine, and we gravitated to each other like magnets. We both have been pregnant at the same time twice, with her first and second, and with my second and third. Her son Wolf is three weeks apart from my Norah, and her little Ruby is two months apart from my Olive. It has been a blessing to share the season of pregnancy with her and I love all that we have in common. 

Ben, her husband has much in common with my husband as well, from beards and glasses, to a love for  Wes Anderson movies and Bill Murray. It is always a real treat and pleasure for our families to get together apart from church, and tonight was no different. 

I forgot to mention that we both took Neil Martin's Ministry Training course through our church and that was a bonding/learning/connecting experience as well. 

anyways, Jeanne and I decided for this evening's dinner party, we would do fondue because it sounded like a fun festive experience and we love to share in those..:) i chose to do a cheese one,
and they did a chocolate dessert one.  We had a wonderful time, talking and laughing, while dipping our long metal spears into a pot of gooey melty cheese and later, swim our fruit and treats into smooth velvety semi sweet chocolate..

The cheese fondue i put together was loosely based from a recipe i found in my fondue recipe book that i keep above my stove top along with my other cookbooks. I just needed a map as to where to start. I stopped on one that said Highland Fondue and liked the sound of that. I also saw that it had 4 tablespoons of scotch listed as one of the ingredients. sold.  It at least got eaten, so i think everyone liked it. Ben was encouraging in saying he would eat it every day if he could.  ahhh..I'm sure that would be a bit much, but i appreciate the generous feedback nonetheless.   

This cheese fondue takes an every day cheese as cheddar and vamps it up, giving it a distinct foreign taste, almost as if you were to close your eyes you might imagine yourself transported to Scotland, deep in the highlands...[wow. only joking:) partly..] it is zippy and sharp, smooth and savory, and packed with flavor. i really liked it and i hope you do too:)

you'll need:
12 oz shredded cheddar cheese-honestly, i just took a huge 24 oz block of cheddar and broke it in half. I added and eyeballed to adjust thickness
3 tablespoons of flour
1 small white onion, chopped
1 tablespoon butter
3 teaspoons prepared horseradish
3 teaspoons ground mustard
4 tablespoons of Scotch whiskey-i used my husband's, Breaking&Entering 
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons real bacon bits


in a large pan, heat up butter and cook onions until translucent.

in a double broiler, throw in shredded cheddar that has been tossed with the flour.  Add horseradish, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce, stirring continuously. Add whiskey and stir with fork. Add cooked onions and milk.  Don't forget bacon bits.  Really, it doesn't matter the order, just make sure you keep things moving and mixed well as to not produce clumps. When it is all mixed together, the cheesy fondue should have the consistency of honey.

In a fondue pot, rub the inside with the flesh of a raw piece of garlic. Pour in prepared cheese fondue.

dippers: french bread/rye bread cubed, cheese tortellini, cooked sausage, apple chunks, and carrots