Fondue Recipes

Good Tuesday morning!

The Gallery Pic is of something Roxie found in her locker yesterday. I thought it was pretty funny. The explanation is under the photo.

CONTEST! CONTEST! CONTEST! - LOOK FOR THE COLOR WORD IN THE POST TODAY!

All you have to do is read A Simple Life Monday through Friday (February 14 through February 18). Every day this week, I will use a color word SOMEWHERE in the post.

After you read Friday's post, you will need to send me a comment in the Comment Section, an e-mail or Facebook message giving me the list of colors mentioned in the posts that week.

Your entry should look something like this:

Monday - Red
Tuesday - (The color word I use in the post that day.)
Wednesday - (Same as above.)
Thursday - (Are you getting the idea now?)
Friday - (Please say you understand!)

The FIRST person who leaves me a comment, e-mail or Facebook message with the five correct color words in the correct ORDER will win... A GIFT CERTIFICATE TO OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE! How about that? Pretty cool, huh?

COMMENCE READING!

RANDOMNESS #1 - Mikie took me to the movies last night for a Valentine's Day date, and it was delightful. We saw Just Go With It... the new Jennifer Aniston/Adam Sandler movie. It fell into the "light romantic comedy" category, and for the most part it was a good movie. As usual, there were several things which were added for... Well, I don't know why they were added. They most definitely could have been left out. But all in all, it was a good date movie for me and Mikie.

I am always so amazed how blue Jennifer Aniston's eyes are on the big screen. So pretty.

RANDOMNESS #2 - In honor of the Love Month, I'm re-posting the story of how Mikie and I came to be. Feel free to skip ahead if you remember it from last year, or the other times I've told the story. It will not offend me in the least... as long as you don't tell me you skipped it! Remember the rules. What I don't know, won't hurt me! (Words I try to live by!)

The Mikie and Belinda Story - Part One

Mikie and I met at Shades Mountain Baptist Church when we were both 22 years-old. I had recently moved to Hoover into an apartment with a roommate, was working as a legal secretary downtown, and I was looking for a new church home.

I had grown up in a smaller church in Trussville, so leaving the familiar and comfortable behind was exciting, but also terrifying. Thankfully, I had a friend from my law firm who was also looking for a church home, and she was more than willing to accompany me to Shades.

Our first Sunday morning there, my friend, Kelley, and I sat on the front row of the balcony overlooking what was then the largest church I had EVER seen in my life. How would we ever meet people? The Sunday School classes must have at least 100 people or more in each class. It was just too big. It was just too scary. It was just too... interesting. My goodness. It was a people-watcher's dream!

Kelley already knew some people who attended the church. Her childhood friend, Alesia, was a member of the Singles Department at Shades, and we were supposed to meet her as soon as the service was over. As we were waiting for the service to start, Kelley leaned over and whispered, "There he is." She had recently been on a date with a young man from Shades, but they both knew after the date they were supposed to be "just friends."

"Which one?" I asked, and she pointed out a very nicely-dressed guy with a mustache talking to a group of people below us. I watched as he threw his head back laughing and took a seat with several other people.

"He's cute," I whispered back.

"He's really sweet, too," she said. "Oh, and he's sitting a few seats down from Alesia." I then turned my attention to Alesia and the other people sitting next to her. Little did I know, that packed pew of people would impact the rest of my life in such a sweet and wonderful way.

And little did I know, I would one day be writing a little story about meeting a cute guy with a mustache who threw his head back while laughing that very Sunday morning.

Because, you see, I met my husband that day... as well as several of my groomsmen and bridesmaids. It's pretty wonderful how God works, isn't it?

I wish I could say we met, dated and married within a year, but our storybook wedding was almost four years away from that first meeting. And I'll share more details tomorrow.

Fondue Recipes - My friend, Lori Burrow, mentioned her family was having fondue for Valentine's Day, and I loved that idea. I told her she had her own little Burrow's Melting Pot! (Much more affordable than the real deal, I'm sure!) Thanks to Lori's idea, I've copied several fondue recipes from my 101 Things To Do With a Slow Cooker recipe book for us to try together!

Chocolate Fondue

You will need the following:

2 cups milk chocolate chips
2/3 cup half-and-half

1. Stir chocolate chips and half-and-half together in greased 1 to 2-quart slow cooker.

2. Cover and cook on low heat for 1 hour.

3. Stir halfway through cooking time and again when fondue is finished.

4. Dip fresh strawberries or chunks of angel food cake.

Caramel Fondue

You will need the following:

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 cup brown sugar
1 can sweetened condensed milk

1. In a saucepan, mix together all ingredients and bring to boil.

2. Transfer to greased 1 to 2-quart slow cooker and set on low heat to serve.

3. Dip apple slices or chunks of angel food cake. Or spoon over apple-spice cake.

Peanut Butter Fondue

You will need the following:

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 cup brown sugar
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup peanut butter

1. In a saucepan, mix together all ingredients and bring to boil.

2. Transfer to greased 1 to 2 1/2-quart slow cooker and set on low heat to serve.

3. Serve with slices of cake, apples or bananas for dipping.

Pizza Fondue

You will need the following:

1 jar (26 to 28 ounces) spaghetti sauce with meat
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon cornstarch or instant tapioca
1/2 cup sliced pepperoni
1 cup mozzarella cheese, grated

1. Combine all ingredients (except mozzarella cheese) in greased 2 to 3 1/2-quart slow cooker.

2. Cover and cook on low heat for 2 to 3 hours.

3. Add cheese the last hour of cooking.

4. Dip bread sticks, pita bread or chunks of crusty Italian bread.

Well, what do you think? Anybody ready for some fondue tonight? We're going to have the Caramel Fondue for dessert this evening. I'll have a play-by-play in The Gallery tomorrow morning, but I'm thinking it will be a big hit.

Wednesday Wisdom, a Seasonal Tradition AND massive Randomness awaits your return Wednesday morning.

Take care, and I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda