Dinner with the Ja(y)sons

Since both my husband & I are named Dan, many of our friends and family call us collectively, 'The Dans'. Likewise, our friends Jason & Jayson are known as 'The Ja(y)sons' to many of us. Friday night, they had us over for dinner, in part to celebrate Jason's birthday, which was December 26th.

We started off with some red wine and spanikopita triangles, while we chatted in the kitchen and Jason cooked (Jayson played sous chef, cutting up veggies and stuff). Then, we moved to the dining room for the main course - a delicious goat cheese fondue that Jason found in a Tom Douglas cookbook, along with a green bean, grape tomato, and feta salad that I believe had a balsamic vinegarette on it. To dip in the fondue, they had warmed, cubed bread, turkey meatballs, apple, pear, and cauliflower. Despite being such a varied selection, they all paired wonderfully with the fondue and I couldn't get enough of it.

Finally, Jason disappeared for a moment and reappeared with individual white ceramic ramekins filled with chocolate fondue, which was really rich and decadent... and a perfect end to a great meal.

Sadly - I forgot my camera (left in my work bag due to Frugal Friday), so I had to get Jayson to take some shots with his iPhone. And of course, I got so engrossed in the conversation and food, that I forgot to get shots of the souffle... but you'll just have to trust me that they were beautiful and tasty.

CSE Grant Manager Holiday Get-Together

Dan invited some folks from his work (all the people who hold the same position he does, managing grants for various UW CSE faculty) to come over for a little afternoon holiday potluck/get-together.



Unfortunately, the first big snowfall of the season made it impossible for everyone to make it, but we still had a great time, drank some cocktails, ate great food, laughed... and even got Julie to play a quick holiday tune on my accordion.



Dan got a variety of cheeses, some grapes and pear, a veggie platter, and plenty of fixins for pomegranate-cranberry cosmos and boozy egg nog.



I made some homemade chocolate barks (one with rice crispies, and one with mini-marshmallows and macadamia nuts), some mini happleberry pies (using puff pastry), and a really quick and easy fiesta cheese fondue, perfect for dipping chips or crudites in. It's from Sandra Lee, Miss Semi-Homemade herself.



Fiesta Fondue
1 can of cheddar cheese soup
8 oz of shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup of chipotle salsa

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat, and stir until melted and combined. Transfer to a fondue pot and keep warm.