For the Thanksgiving 2000 party, the food of choice was fondue. I volunteered to cook, and I took some recipes from Epicurious.com to start. Of course, I modified the recipes because that's just the way I am. Here are the recipes that I used. Keep in mind that I was making fondue for 15 people, so for the cheese and chocolate, they filled two fondue pots.

Swiss Cheese Fondue

I modified this recipe only slightly from the Epicurious one. I didn't believe their wine-to-cheese ratio, so I played with it myself.

1/2 garlic clove
1 2/3 cups dry white wine
2 pounds Gruyère, grated coarse
3 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 cup cold water
freshly grated nutmeg and pepper to taste
2 loaves of crusty French bread, cut into 1-inch cubes, chunks of celery, broccoli florets, and chunks of granny smith apples.

Rub the inside of a heavy saucepan with the garlic, add the wine, and heat it over moderately low heat until the wine starts to bubble. Add the Gruyère by the handfuls, stirring each time until the cheese is melted and the mixture is blended, and keep the mixture just below the simmering point. You will notice at this point that the cheese looks separate; that is, it looks like you've got oil on the top and creamy stuff on the bottom. Don't worry. It will come together. In a small bowl stir together well the cornstarch and 1/4 cup of water, and add the mixture to the Gruyère mixture. This should bring everything together, but if it doesn't, go ahead and whisk the mixture until it looks like fondue. Add the nutmeg and pepper to taste. Now you can raise the heat until it is just below boiling. Transfer the fondue to a heated fondue pot and keep it hot over a low flame. Spear the bread cubes, fruits, and vegetables with long-handled forks and dip them into the fondue. It will be hot and messy, but very good!

Broth for Beef Fondue

For cooking beef in fondue, you can either do the batter-and-fry method or the boiling broth method. Since the party was at my parents' house, I chose not to have boiling oil splashing all over their dining room. We went with broth.

3 envelopes of G. Washington vegetable broth, or other vegetable broth with onion powder in it
2 T olive oil 3 scallions, chopped thinly
4 cloves garlic, chopped well
5 cups water
1 T parsley
box of white mushrooms
few drops Maggi seasoning
enough cubed beef for the number of people you have
cubed vegetables that you'd like to cook in the broth
favorite sauces (such as sweet & sour, mustard, horseradish, etc)

Remove the stems from the mushrooms. Halve or quarter the mushrooms and set aside. Chop the stems finely. Heat olive oil in a sauce pan and add the mushrooms, scallions, and garlic. Stir for about a minute, and then add the water and broth mix. Bring this to a boil and add parsley and a few drops of Maggi seasoning. Let it boil for a few minutes, and then taste it. The broth should not be too thick or rich, because it will get richer in the fondue pot, but at this point you can correct it. Add salt or pepper or a bit more Maggi, or even another envelope of the broth, but keep in mind that it shouldn't get too strong. When it's done, pour it into a heated fondue pot. Your guests can cook beef, veggies, mushrooms, or whatever in the broth. Serve with sauces on the side.

Chocolate Fondue

I seriously changed the recipe from Epicurious here. I wasn't sure what the heck they were getting at anyway, so I kind of winged it. It came out great!

2 cups cocoa powder (equate this to a whole can), sifted
2 1/2 cups water
3 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 cup plus light cream
1 of those round canisters of Ghirardelli Chocolate
Pound cake and fruit (such as bananas, apples, strawberries, and whatever is in season), cut into bite sized pieces, dried apricots, marshmallows, or whatever else you want to dip!

Sift the cocoa into mixing bowl and set aside. Place the water, sugar, and corn syrup into a pot and bring to boil. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes. Pour the cocoa powder into the solution and blend with a whisk until smooth. Continue cooking over medium heat. Add cream, bring to boil and allow to simmer for five minutes. Add the chocolate chips and stir until they are melted and the chocolate has thickened. Pour into fondue pot and keep warm. Serve with whatever you want to dip!

Well, that's it! Now you're ready for your own fondue party!