My husband and I were living in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1974. We moved around a lot with his company so when we moved to a new city we didn’t waste time making friends because we never knew how long we’d be there. It wasn’t long before we invited his boss and wife to our apartment for dinner. We were quite a bit younger than they were and wanted to make a good impression. It was the seventies so sitting around a coffee table on small pillows, drinking wine, burning incense and listening to Barbara Streisand sing the number one hit of the year “The Way We Were” would be “takin it to the max!” So while my husband was at work I prepared all day setting the table with our prettiest dishes and using a cloth table cover and cloth napkins. I found sangria at the store that the manager said would be good with the shrimp creole and salad I making. I thought I’d put the sangria in our punch bowl and fill it with all kinds of fresh fruit. We were such fruit eaters anyway how could that hurt ! I cut French bread in small pieces to eat with the cheese fondue. Candles were ready to light when the time was right. I went about my business cutting the onions and green pepper in small pieces, deveining the shrimp and making the tomato sauce. I was enjoying cooking and,of course, to make it more fun for me, I was fixing a new creole dish I’d never prepared before. The salad was easy to assemble and was put in the refrigerator to get cold. Since the rice was a minute made kind I figured that could wait until time to eat. Our guests arrived just as the clock struck 8:00p.m. as planned. I hurried and lit the candles and incense and turned the stereo on while my husband let them in. The mood throughout the apartment was perfect and they were happy to join us on the floor to have the sangria and cheese fondue. To our delight everything was tasting so good and we were getting along so well. The fruit that had been soaking in the sangria was fantastic and so was the sangria!! We talked and laughed and time was just going by when someone said maybe we should eat out dinner now. DINNER! Oh, yes that’s my job! As I stood up the wine hit me as I tried to remember what I had planned for dinner. Where was the kitchen anyway?? My husband helped by showing our guests to the table and setting out the salad as I tried to read the directions for fixing the rice. Everything turned out well but I learned that night that sangria wasn’t a punch even if it’s served that way. I made the shrimp creole again just to make sure it was as good as I remembered. It was!! Enjoy, but serve sangria with it only if you dare!!

********************************

CHEESE FONDUE

Both of these recipes came from this cookbook . This is my very favorite cookbook of all and I collect them!! Everything I have ever tried has been delicious and I have fixed most of these over the thirty some years I’ve owned this book. I don’t know if It’s still in print but it would be worth it! Thank you Betty Crocker.

6 eggs
2 C milk
I T syrup
Zest and juice of 1 small orange
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 baguette or French bread cut into1/2
diagonal slices
2 C berries (all the same or mixed up)
2 T melted butter
1 C chopped walnuts or pecans
1/2 C packed brown sugar
********************************

Spray a 9 x 13 pan. Whisk eggs, milk, syrup, zest and juice and vanilla together. Dip bread slices in egg mixture and then into baking pan. Fill bottom completely. Put berries on top and along sides then pour remaining egg mixture on top and cover with clear wrap till morning. Take out and let it sit while oven is preheating. Mix together the nuts and brown sugar in the melted butter and put on top of the mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with more syrup.

Watch out!! The fruit might not make it to the table!! Alycia’s son Eric couldn’t wait!!

KRUSTEAZ is a very good brand to make dessert bars from. I first found them in Florida at Publix but you can find them in Kroger and Walmart and probably other places now. They make Pecan, Lemon, Key Lime, Raspberry and Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter bars as well. On the box they give you recipes to make pies and other things, so look closely. Delicious !!
===============================