Fondue Party

I love fondue. There's just something about a big pot of cheese with bread to dip it in that gets me all excited. It's been years since our last fondue party, so we decided it was time for another one.

Here are some links to last night's fondue recipes!

From Emeril, Garlicky Cheese Fondue (we used sharp cheddar instead of Muenster and 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar and 3/4 cup apple juice for the white wine)

From allrecipes.com, Cheesy Pizza Fondue

For dipping, we had:
Deep fried ravioli (which was great dipped in both sauces!)
Smoked sausage
Lightly boiled potatoes
Toasted French bread chunks
Toasted everything bagel slices

And of course, chocolate fondue for dessert (with marshmallows, pretzeles, bananas, strawberries, and shortbread cookies). Yum!

Pineapple Muffins

Pineapple is such a summery fruit. And little Clara has a thing for fruit. We call her a fruit bat, which is only half true. She is also a pizza monster.

So we had a huge can of pineapple left over from Emily's wedding. Since I hate to waste anything, last night I started browsing for a recipe to use up the pineapple, and I found it: pineapple muffins!

The link above is the original recipe, below are the modifications I made. The muffins were awesome! I will definitely make them again!

• 2 cups all-purpose flour (or 1 cup white, 1 cup whole wheat for a healthier option)
  
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 (16 ounce) can crushed pineapple
• 1 egg, beaten
• 3/4 cup milk

• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease and flour muffin pans, or line with paper liners.
2. In a large bowl, stir together 2 cups flour, white sugar, baking powder and salt. Drain pineapple, reserving 1/4 cup juice. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour in the reserved juice, egg, milk, and 1/4 cup melted butter. Mix just until blended. Add half of the pineapple (about 1 cup) to the batter and fold in gently.
3. In a separate bowl, stir together the cinnamon, brown sugar, 1/2 cup flour, and 1/4 cup melted butter to make the topping.
4. Spoon batter into muffin cups, then spoon pineapple over the batter and sprinkle with the cinnamon topping.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted in the crown of the muffin comes out clean.