In late February Matt V called to say he'd be in town, and suggested we get together for dinner on a "double date." An hour later he suggested we invite one of his friends for a "triple date," then another . . .  Alan and Vicki, Matt and Erin, Cory and Danielle, and George and Erin. With 8 people set for dinner, 6 of them under the age of 30, I wanted to do something fun, and suggested we do a little wine tasting and fondue. Matt gave the idea the green light, and the event was set into motion. After a toast with a sparkling wine we had shipped from a vineyard we visited close to Pompeii at the base of Mt. Vesuvius, we kicked off the eating with Comté & Emmenthaler Cheese Fondue (page 104-105). Many cheese fondue recipes call for the shredded cheese to be mixed with flour, so that it thickens to the proper consistency.  This recipe calls for cornstarch instead of flour. I personally think this results in a better tasting fondue as it loses its roux flavor. Also, it's something you can serve to guests with gluten issues as it's gluten free. Just be sure to serve apple or pear wedges and fresh vegetables along with the chunks of crusty bread for dipping. A few years ago I was in San Diego for business and one night Matt and I went out for dinner in La Jolla, starting our meal with a flight of wine cleverly entitled Spain vs Italy. What struck me as interesting was the way Matt was saying which wines he liked best, and how it kept changing as he ate different things. He really was starting to understand that wine changes as it opens up and breathes, and changes based on different food pairings.  So I decided to introduce our young tasters to some wines from different countries and let them experiment with how the tastes evolve. I chose 3 countries, 2 wines from each. Spain vs France vs Italy. A wine tasting can be set up many different ways, lighter to darker wines (white, pink, red), vertically (tasting one wine varietal from the same producer from several vintages/years), horizontal (focusing on a wine varietal from a single year, but from multiple producers), priceless (don't divulge the prices as it may affect people's perception of the wine), and all kinds of other ways. There are no hard and fast rules - the objective is to get some friends together and taste some different wines. For our tasting, all the wines were red, priced the same (~$20 per bottle), and all scored 90+ on the wine spectator scale. I selected wines from different parts of each country - some medium bodied, some much fuller. And just to dial up the fun factor, I made it a blind wine tasting, with a competition to see who could guess the most wines. To assist with the tasting, I prepared an info sheet listing each wine and detailing the characteristics of each. This way, as we tasted, we could read about the choices and try to match them with the selections. Click here to see Info about the Wines we tasted The wine tasting turned out to be a perfect activity to accompany fondue (pages 106-107) because our tasters could concentrate on the wine while their meat and veggies were cooking. And of course, one of the best things about eating fondue is trying all kinds of different sauces. For this dinner, we had filet of beef, chicken, shrimp, mushrooms and potatoes with 6 different sauces. Here is what we served and what sauce we would recommend with which foods. ------------- Barbecue (I bought this one as there are many delicious varieties to choose from). Good with beef and chicken. Curry Dip (page 96) - Good with chicken, shrimp, and potatoes. Horseradish Sauce - Mix together 1 cup sour cream, 6 tablespoons prepared horseradish, 1/4 cup chives. and season with salt and pepper. Chill. Good with beef. Thai Peanut Sauce (page 118) - This one is simply good with everything. Chipotle - Finely chop 2 chipotle peppers in adobe sauce. Mix with 1 cup mayonnaise, 2 tsp. Worcestershire, and 2 tsp. of the adobo sauce. Add a pinch of cayenne pepper for additional heat. Good with chicken, shrimp and mushrooms. Hoisin - Mix 1/2 cup hoisin with 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice and 2 tablespoons of ketchup. Good with beef, chicken, and shrimp. ------------- Everyone took the wine tasting very seriously, and the younger folks actually got more wines correct than Alan or I did. Matt emerged as the wine tasting champion with 2 correct, winning the prize - a wine tasting kit and a bottle of wine. Ok, so none of us are ready to sit for the master sommelier test, but it was a lot of fun nonetheless. So here's a fun documentary to watch about 4 people preparing to take the Master Sommelier exam. Whether you know anything about wine or not, it's interesting to see just how much is really involved when it comes to wine tasting. Click here to watch trailer for SOMM After dinner, we engaged in a rousing game of taboo, where the guys beat the girls handily. Now that we had worked up an appetite for a little dessert, we congregated around the kitchen island to dip fresh strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, star fruit, kiwi, bananas, apples, grapes, pineapple, brownies (page 48), pound cake, and marshmallows into chocolate fondue (page 108) and our new favorite, Caramel Fondue. Yummy . . . star fruit dipped in caramel is simply divine. ------------- Caramel Fondue Recipe Ingredients: 4 cups sugar 1 cup light corn syrup (recommended: Karo) 1/2 cup water 3 cups heavy cream 2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into cubes 4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract Add the first 3 ingredients to a saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium heat. Cook the mixture until the sugar has dissolved, about 10 to 15 minutes. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook until the sugar mixture becomes an amber color, about 20 to 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining ingredients. Bring the mixture back to a light simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Set aside and let cool for about 30 minutes. Serve in a fondue pot with dipping choices surrounding the pot so they can be easily dipped in the caramel ------------- All of our guests spent the night, and the next day we pulled out the leftover chocolate and caramel fondue and started dipping all over again. In fact, we didn't even bother to heat it up as it was delicious  as it was. If you're looking for a fun theme for a party with family or friends, I'd definitely recommend either wine tasting or fondue or as we did for this get together, both. Here are the highlights from the evening.

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