Cooking & Conversation: February 2015

Garrett, Liz, Aiden, and Camden

Today we are celebrating my son, Garrett's, new job at Iberdrola Renewables.

He has been a wind turbine technician since 2008,

and is moving to a new wind farm fairly close to where he lives now.

Garrett at Panther Creek 3 Wind Farm,
South of Big Spring, Texas

These three photos are of the Hoosier Wind Farm.

Mojave High Desert in California for a 3 week training.

Sunrise at the Victory Wind Farm.
I love that name.

At work...

Some fun facts:
2.3-MEGAWATT WIND TURBINE
Distance from ground to hub 263 feet
Length of rotor blade 173 feet
Concrete foundation 66 feet in diameter, 8 feet deep
Concrete foundation contains 395 cubic yards of concrete and 63,400 pounds of reinforcing steel
Energy generation Begins at a wind speed of 7 mph, maximum generation occurs at 29 mph

http://www.midamericanenergy.com/include/pdf/wind/facts_iowa_wind.pdf

A view from the top.

On to our celebration.

We are having a simple lunch of pork sliders topped off with

Chocolate Fondue

for dessert.

What could be more fun?

Find that fondue pot you packed away in the 1970s, and be prepared

for a trip down memory lane.

I recruited my two grandsons, Camden and Aiden, to be my sous chefs.

They are preparing the blackberries and pineapple for dipping.

Traditionally, fondue consisted of small chunks of French bread

dipped in a melted, gooey

mixture of hot Swiss cheese, Kirsch, wine, white pepper and nutmeg.

With that being said, those who know me would rightfully question me throwing a fondue party.

I do not like cheese. When a dish calls for cheese, I request it be left out.

So, that eliminates many dishes from my diet such as

mac'n'cheese, grilled cheese, Alfredo, and the list goes on and on and on...

But, I do love chocolate!

My fondue party is chocolate only.

That is a good thing!

Camden is getting the marshmallows ready for Fondue S'mores.

I know that you can dip marshmallows into chocolate,

but we are putting a new twist on s'mores.

Garrett and Liz gave Doug and I an indoor Hershey S'more Grill for

Christmas a couple of years ago. It came about when I said you can make s'mores out of any chocolate. My theory is that you can use chocolate chips and not just Hershey candy bars.

And, you can use Teddy Grahams and not just graham crackers. And, I also use mini marshmallows.

So, my recipe combines Teddy Grahams, mini marshmallows, and chocolate chips together in a bowl. You don't have to roast the marshmallows, either.

My husband, however, is a purist. He maintains that you can only use Hershey candy bars, graham crackers and roasted marshmallows. Hence, we received the indoor s'more pot for Christmas, just to keep the debate alive.

Aiden is getting the graham crackers ready to dip into the chocolate.

By the way, I did a blog with Aiden when he was two years old.

Check it out. It validates my s'more theory...Cooking with Aiden

Ready for slow cooker pork sliders with

Camden, Aiden, Doug, Garrett and Liz.

Proud Mom and Grandma in the middle.

Chocolate Fondue, 1970s Style:

1- 16-oz. bag milk chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 c. half and half
1 teaspoon vanilla

Melt the chocolate over a double boiler. Add warmed half and half and vanilla. Stir until

smooth and put mixture into a fondue pot. Dip your favorite fruits and cake into fondue.

Melt the chocolate chips.

If you don't have a double boiler, you can easily place a light, non-plastic bowl set over a pot of lightly steaming water. The steam will slowly melt the chocolate.

Do not add water as the chocolate will become unusable.

Make sure not to put the bottom of the bowl (holding the chocolate) in contact with the steaming or boiling water. Contact with the water may cause the bowl to grow too warm, burning the chocolate instead of melting it.

Then warm the half and half and vanilla in a microwave for a few seconds.

Add the warmed milk into the melted chocolate chips

and stir until combined.

Pour the melted mixture into a fondue pot.

This fondue pot is my Mom's from the 1970s.
Time to turn on your lava lamp and pull up your bean bag chair and dip in.

This fondue reminds me to today's popular ganache.

Ganache is the French term for the luscious combination of chocolate and cream.

When it’s hot and pourable, it’s a classic companion to ice cream. Warm, you can pour or pipe it over a cake, cupcakes or cookies; it will set to a soft, rich glaze. Let it cool to room temperature and whip it in a mixer to make a fluffy frosting.

Or chill it, then roll into balls and dust with cocoa powder to make truffles.

Ganache