Fondue with Friends!

For those of you who are new, last year my husband spent 7 months working in Europe.  As soon as school ended, I joined him, and we had a blast!  One of the highlights of the trip for me was taking a bus to Gruyere, Switzerland, where they make Gruyere cheese.  Oh yes- authentic Gruyere cheese.  It was INCREDIBLE!  Then we hopped on a train and rode through the Alps to a chocolate factory that we toured and, of course, sampled!  You can read about it and see pictures here. 

On that trip, I bought a couple vacuumed-sealed packages of Gruyere.  We had one fondue party when we returned home with my family and our dear friends Emily, Tim and Ashley.  For my birthday, Emily gave me a fondue pot of my own! 

So I had one package of Gruyere left.  And I was holding out.  I did not want to open it for just anyone!  I was waiting for real "food friends" who could appreciate it's awesomeness! 

In the military, it's not uncommon to make wonderful new friends, only to have them move a couple months later.  Such is the case with Melissa and Patrick.  Melissa is a real, authentic, beautiful Catholic woman and her friendship has been a real blessing and source of grace.  They have three amazing daughters- a five year old and twin (almost!) three year olds and it is a blessing to spend time with them!  We are so sad to see them go, but before they left, we busted out the Gruyere cheese and had a fondue party!

For starters we had Gruyere and Swiss fondue, with fabulous baguettes, crisp green apple slices, carrots and broccoli.

For our main course we had beef and cream cheese stuffed mushrooms.  (We used green onion and chive cream cheese, and dipped the mushrooms in a batter before we cooked them in the oil.)

And for desert we had dark chocolate fondue with strawberries and marshmallows. 

We love our food friends! 

*Melissa, I'll "see you in the Eucharist"!*