I’m finally getting around to my photos again. Here are a few of my favorite shots from Alec’s birthday party.

It’s hard to believe, but Alec turns one today! Here are the final photos of his first year.

We hosted our third fondue night of the year. I have to say, last night’s was the best so far. We’ve experimented with different recipes and ideas and are still working out how much food to buy (we’re always left with a lot of extra meat and veggies). Here are some of the favorites:

Broth

Mojo Fondue Broth (from desktopcookbook.com) – This broth is very similar to the Mojo broth at The Melting Pot. It doesn’t claim to be related, but it certainly does smell and test similar. Either way, it’s a very flavorful broth that works well with just about everything. It has cumin, jerk seasoning, fresh squeezed orange juice, fresh squeezed lime juice, garlic, and cilantro.

Vegetable and Wine Broth – This was an experiment since I didn’t have all the ingredients for this Coq Au Vin Fondue broth. Basically, use 2 parts vegetable broth to 1 part white wine (we had cheap chardonnay on hand), add 2 cloves with a garlic press, and a handful of chopped green onions.

Marinades

Not-really-teriyaki Beef – I normally just marinate the beef with some mixture of the following ingredients: soy sauce, mirin, garlic, green onions, and sesame oil. I have no idea how much of each I put in.

Orange Pork (from recipehound.com) – This is another recipe I went looking for after our big night out at The Melting Pot. I was really surprised at how the marinade flavors carry through even after cooking it in the broth. The marinade is simple enough to make. It’s orange juice, orange zest, brown sugar, dried onion, dried oregeno, dried thyme, and salt and pepper to taste.

Sauces

The Melting Pot’s Gorgonzola Port Dipping Sauce (from wafb.com) – This was by far the favorite sauce of the night. It makes a great stuffing for mushrooms. It’s also really good with steak. The recipe makes more then you need for Fondue but you can use the left overs as veggie or cracker dip. I recommend increasing the garlic and port to taste. A 1/4 ounce of port just isn’t very much.

The Melting Pot’s Green Goddess Dip (from ajc.com) – This also makes a good stuffing for the mushrooms and works as a veggie dip.

Last Minute Spicy BBQ Sauce – Again, I found myself without the right ingredients, this time it was ketchup. Rather than make my own BBQ sauce I decided to just enhance whatever store bought sauce I had. I pulled out the almost-empty bottle in the fridge, added a couple splashes of worcestershire sauce, a few drops of my favorite hot sauce, and a couple splashes of cider vinegar for extra tang.

Wow, only a week until Alec is one!

I’m almost caught up posting photos!

It’s fairly routine for Alec to crawl up the stairs when it’s time to go to bed. He’s very used to this and any time you leave the gate open he’ll make a mad dash to it. Recently, he’s even learned to close the gate… well sort of. He climbs up the first two stairs, turns around, and pulls the gate as far as he can. It’s a safety gate so I have to help him by pulling it up and placing it in the right spot, but he’s learned close the handle. It’s really cute.

These photos were fun. He likes to walk back and forth and bounce up and down while holding on to the gate.

closing the gate

side stepping

the goofiest grin I've ever seen!

that's better