Chocolate Fondu for Valentine's Day

A new family tradition is born... chocolate fondu for Valentine's Day!

I bought this cute little chocolate fondu pot last week in anticipation of the holiday. Not that DH and I have ever ever done anything special for Valentine's Day, but we now have a Little Boy who just delights in every holiday, so what is a Momma to do? And, I want holidays to be centered around special foods and traditions and spending special time with loved ones - not ALL about gifts - so I thought the chocolate fondu pot fit the bill to a T!

This, being our first forray into the world of chocolate fondu - we tried a variety of fruits. No surprise - the strawberries were hands down the favorite, closely followed by the bananas. However, the apples, melon and pears also disappeared - actually - we had 2 fruit plates (with lots more strawberries and bananas) for 6 adults (2 of whom only nibbled) and 1 toddler and there wasn't a single piece left. And this was after we had all stuffed ourselves on a wonderful dinner - meat fondu with a variety of salads and breads (well, we are in Austria - no way to get around having at least 3 different kinds of breads with every meal!). So, all in all, the chocolate fondu was a huge success and definately something we will be doing again.

The recipe:

200 ml whipped cream
100 grams sweet milk or cooking chocolate (from the baking aisle)
100 grams semi-sweet chocolate

Heat whipped cream in pan on stove until hot, but not boiling. Add broken up chocolate and let melt - stirring occassionally - on very low heat. When it is all melted and nice and warm - put it all into the fondu pot with a little candle underneath.

Makes enough chocolate for 4 people - 2 fruit plates are better than 1! And that would be 4 people after a meal - so if you just want to have a chocolate fondu party, you would probably want more, which means you would need 2 fondu pots.

OK, Momma confesses - presents are nice too! We did get Little Boy a small teddy bear holding a heart and Tante (auntie) brought him a small bear and his cousin brought him a little wind-up snowman which he has latched onto in a big way. They also brought me some Valentine's themed napkins and a little candle. And, Little Boy had his own presents to give - we had a few photos printed at the camera shop and I put them in frames. Nothing elaborate, but a nice thought and Little Boy had fun helping to wrap them up and was very excited to give them.

Really, we all had a fun time! Believe me - much easier than trying to plan some romantic dinner at a restaurant with a toddler - is there such a thing?

And, an added bonus for inviting some family over to help us celebrate... a beautiful bunch of roses - a real surprise and aren't they lovely!