Having family traditions for the holidays is a great way to have your kids feel connected and loved. Our special Valentine’s Fondue Dinner is a great tradition to connect with your kids on this fun holiday!
Holiday Traditions and Involving Food
Valentine’s Day is a day to express your love to those you love, so of course we include our kids. While I’m definitely snagging some alone time with my husband, I’m also deeply in love with my kids and want to spend time with them also. My kids look forward to this tradition every year. What I didn’t realize when I first started this tradition is how successful it could be in getting my kids to try and eat different foods they normally don’t love.
So, if you want to see your kids eat double the vegetables than you expect, serve your veggies with fondue! One mom said about this fondue, “This was a big hit even with the adult picky eaters!” LOL.
Valentine’s Fondue Dinner Menu
The star of our dinner is always the cheese fondue. We like to have a protein option as well. This is our typical menu:
Entrees
Roasted Chicken + Steak
Cheese Fondue with Dippers
Dessert
Chocolate Fondue
Berries + Fresh Fruit
Dessert Dippers
We love to have a lot of different options for dipping in the cheese fondue! These are some ideas for dippers:
Veggies:
- Broccoli
- Asparagus
- Zucchini
- Carrots
- Cauliflower
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Bell Peppers
- Celery
- Mushrooms
Fruit:
- Apples
- Pears
- Grapes
Grains:
- French Bread
- Multi-grain bread
- Sourdough bread
- Soft or hard pretzels
- Tortellini
- Tortilla Chips (think nachos)
If you have really little kids and raw veggies are too hard to chew, you can blanch the veggies. To do this, I dunked the veggies in boiling water for 2 minutes, than I removed them from the boiling water and shocked them with a cold water bath. This stops the vegetables from continuing to cook. It’s a great method for kids, because you get a softer veggie than raw, but it’s not so cooked that they turn mushy. Great for fondue!
Cheese fondue is really easy to make. We bought this fondue pot years ago, and it has worked great for this tradition! I would highly recommend the Cuisinart brand. The fondue only takes a few minutes to make and then stays warm and melty in the pot.
It is also fun to serve a fancy drink with our Valentine’s dinner. Sometimes we will do a 100% choose mixed with club soda. Some years we have made Italian Sodas which my kids love! You can even print a fancy menu and make it feel like you are at a restaurant.
And of course no Valentine dinner is complete without some chocolate dipped strawberries! Some of our other favorite things to dip in chocolate fondue are:
- Pineapple
- Bananas
- Cuties
- Kiwi
- Pound Cake
- Rice Krispie Treats
- Marshmallows
- Strawberries
- Pretzels
- Nilla Wafers
- Caramel Pieces
Whatever you decide to serve, adding a few decorations, or fancy dinnerware makes it feel really special. I hope you can enjoy this fun Valentine’s traditions with your kids!
Valentine’s Fondue
Ingredients
Cheese Fondue
- 1 cup cooking wine can use chicken broth instead
- 1/2 pound cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1/2 pound gouda cheese, shredded
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
Chocolate Fondue
- 10 ounces semisweet chocolate pieces
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Cheese Fondue
- Turn your fondue pot (or pot on the stove) to medium-high. Add cooking wine or chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Turn heat down to medium. Add cheeses 1/4 pound at a time. Stir after each addition of cheese until melted.
- Stir in flour. When the cheese has melted and flour is incorporated, stir in salt and nutmeg. Turn heat to low and serve with dippers!
Chocolate Fondue
- In a saucepan, combine the chocolate milk and cream over low heat. Stir often until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth.
- Add the vanilla. If needed, stir in heavy cream or milk one tablespoon at a time until the consistency is how you like it.
- Pour the mixture into a fondue pot or small slow cooker to keep warm while serving. Serve with dippers of your choice!
Notes
- Broccoli
- Asparagus
- Zucchini
- Carrots
- Cauliflower
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Bell Peppers
- Celery
- Mushrooms
- Apples
- Pears
- Grapes
- French Bread
- Multi-grain bread
- Sourdough bread
- Soft or hard pretzels
- Tortellini
- Strawberries
- Bananas
- Pineapple
- Marshmallows
- Rice Krispie Treats
- Pound Cake
