spinache artichoke fondue/ Cheddar fondue

Our Version of Melting Pot's Spinach Artichoke Cheese Fondue

I love this fondue. It is one of my favorites at Melting Pot and I nailed it on the head (with a lot of help from my waiter.. he was nice enough to pretty much hand the recipe to us last time we were there). My husband and I do a fancy Christmas candlelight dinner each year and this is what we made for part of it this year. It was perfect. I am telling you, this IS the recipe.

3 oz. vegetable broth
appx. 1-2 oz. fresh spinach, chopped
appx. 1-2 oz. artichoke hearts, chopped
1 Tbsp. chopped garlic
2 1/2 oz. Butterkäse cheese* (if you can't find this, you can substitute Farmer's Cheese or Romanian Cream Cheese.. if you can't find these either, see the recipe below to make your own "fake" Butterkäse.)
2 1/2 oz. Fontina cheese
1 tsp. grated Parmesan cheese
dash Tabasco sauce

Heat vegetable broth in fondue-type unit or similar cooking pot. When hot (do not bring to a boil) add spinach, artichoke hearts, and garlic and mix well. Combine Butterkäse and Fontina and add a little bit at a time to spinach/artichoke mixture, stirring constantly until you reach your desired consistency. Stir in Parmesan cheese and Tabasco sauce. Serve with french bread pieces and/or lightly steamed vegetables.

*Fake Butterkäse (Keep in mind, the fake really isn't quite as good so try your hardest to find the real Butterkäse. Only use this recipe if you are desperate and truly can't find it anywhere):
Mix 1/2 brick (4oz) of cream cheese with 1/4 cup of buttermilk and 1/2 tablespoon of sour cream.. you would only use 2 1/2 oz. of this so a LITTLE more than half of what this recipe would make.

Cheddar Cheese Fondue

For the CHEESE:

1 1/2 c. beef broth
1/2 c. milk
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp. ground, dry mustard
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
3 Tbsp. flour
6 c. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (the higher-quality the cheddar, the better the fondue will be!)

In a saucepan over LOW heat, combine beef broth, milk, Worcestershire sauce, dry mustard, garlic and flour. When it is ALMOST to a boil (don't let it boil!) gradually stir in the cheese doing a figure-8 motion. Add beef broth to thin if needed. When all the cheese has melted, transfer to a crock pot or fondue pot. (Easy huh?!)

Russian Tea Cookies

Russian Tea Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 6 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar for decoration

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, cream butter and vanilla until smooth. Combine the 6 tablespoons confectioners' sugar and flour; stir into the butter mixture until just blended. Mix in the chopped walnuts. Roll dough into 1 inch balls, and place them 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
3. Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven. When cool, roll in remaining confectioners' sugar. I also like to roll mine in the sugar a second time.

Baked French Toast

Baked French Toast

It's not my day to post a recipe, but I couldn't help sharing this absolutely delicious recipe with y'all! It. is. so. good.

I found it last night while searching for a make-ahead recipe for breakfast (I'm trying to get as much done the night before as possible so I can get all my exercising in early....which is a good thing cuz this ain't no diet-friendly recipe!). I started searching Pinterest for overnight breakfasts, but then thought, "Oooh, I bet P-Dub has something good on her site!" I was not disappointed.

I told my kids this morning that we were trying a new recipe from Pioneer Woman. My oldest daughter said, "Oh, then it'll be really good."

And it is.

Really good.

Like, make you wanna slap yo'self good.

Ingredients:
1 loaf sourdough bread (I used Pepperidge Farm)
8 eggs
2 cups milk (I used 1%)
1/2 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. vanilla

Topping:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1 stick cold butter, cut into pieces

1. Grease a 9x13 pan with butter. Tear bread into bite-size chunks and place evenly in the pan.
2. Mix together the eggs, milk, cream, sugar, and vanilla. Pour evenly over bread. Cover tightly and store in the fridge for several hours (I put mine in overnight....it was about 12 hours).
3. In a medium bowl mix together the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender until it all looks nice and crumbly (like small pebbles, according to P-Dub). Place in a ziploc bag and put in fridge.
4. When ready to bake, take pan and bag out of fridge. Remove wrap and evenly sprinkle the crumb mixture over the top. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees (or 45 minutes if you like it more soft and pudding-like).

Notes:

• You can serve with syrup, but we made a quick glaze with powdered sugar and milk. Delish!
• If you don't have brown sugar, mix 1/2 Tbsp. molasses with 1/2 cup sugar until well blended.
• Like I said, you can bake it for less time if you like it softer, but I love how the top gets crispy when it's baked for an hour. The underneath part is still somewhat soft. One hour in my 350-oven was just right.
• The directions said to scoop out, but I wanted to be able to control the portions so I cut it into 12 servings (they were large, and this is rich, so you could serve other breakfast dishes and use this as more of a side dish and get 24 servings).

Makes 12 large servings