After being married for a year, Rex and I decided that we needed to implement a date night once a week so that we could make sure we spend quality time together. It’s been great. Instead of scheduling ourselves so tight on weekends, we managed to give ourselves a break from the busy week to just enjoy time together. The only issue is that date night can get expensive quickly :) Thus, we’ve had some fun doing creative dates. I love utilizing Groupon and LivingSocial, but there are definitely “dry” weeks with a lot of coupons that won’t work for our dates. This past week I decided to do a “date night in”. I had a lot of fun planning it and not telling Rex anything about it! I received a fondue pot for our wedding and decided to put it to use for more than just a chocolate dessert. So what else should I make with a fondue pot other than cheese! I made a couple of things to dip into the cheese: meatballs, granny smith apples, carrots, celery, and French bread. I also made stuffed mushrooms in the oven (DELICIOUS!). We ate probably less than half of each item on the table and took a break to watch a redbox movie. After the movie we made a chocolate, peanut butter fondue and dipped strawberries, bananas, and marshmallows into it. It was a great date night and I think the meal turned out wonderfully. Although it was probably more than I would have spent on a normal dinner, it was much less than we would have spent on a date night out.
Cheese Fondue:
INGREDIENTS
· 1 cup dry white wine
· 1/2 pound shredded Swiss cheese
· 1/2 pound shredded Gruyere cheese
· 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
· 1/4 teaspoon salt
· 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
· 1 (1 pound) loaf French bread, cut into 1 inch cubes
DIRECTIONS:
1. Simmer wine in fondue pot. Add Swiss cheese and Gruyere cheese 1/4 lb at a time. Stir after each addition of cheese until melted. Stir in flour. When all cheese has melted, stir in salt and nutmeg.
Stuffed Mushrooms
INGREDIENTS
· 1 pound lean ground beef
· 2 pounds fresh mushrooms-stems removed, chopped and reserved
· 1/4 cup margarine
· 1/2 cup chopped green bell peppers
· 2 teaspoons minced garlic
· 3 teaspoons dried parsley
· 1 teaspoon dried basil leaves, crushed
· 2/3 cup dry bread crumbs
· 1/3 cup soft bread crumbs
· 2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. Place ground beef in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.
3. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the margarine and stir in the mushroom stems, green bell peppers, garlic, parsley and basil.
4. In a large bowl, mix the ground beef, mushroom stem mixture, dry bread crumbs, soft bread crumbs and Cheddar cheese.
5. Place the mushroom caps, upside down, on a large baking pan. Generously stuff each cap with the mixture.
6. Bake in the preheated oven 15 to 20 minutes, or until the filling is golden brown.
2 eggs
DIRECTIONS
1. Crack 2 eggs into shallow dish (I like using pie plates).
2. In a separate dish, mix bread crumbs, thyme, basil, and Parmesan until well combined.
3. Roll ground beef into separate meatballs, dip in egg wash, and then roll in bread crumb mixture.
4. Place meatballs in skillet and cook until no longer pink inside (8 or so minutes).
Chocolate and Peanut Butter Fondue
INGREDIENTS
1 c semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c milk
1/2 c creamy peanut butter
DIRECTIONS
1. Set up a double-boiler. My set-up is to place a metal bowl in a saucepan. Place 1-1.5 c water in sauce pan and bring to a boil. Place metal bowl over water.
2. Place chocolate chips into saucepan and melt. Add sugar, milk, and peanut butter and heat until smooth. Transfer into fondue pot.
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