I am excited to share today’s post with you. Today isn’t about the usual pretty images or home decor ideas. I’m sharing my favorite Christmas tradition that my family has continued for years and years! Our Christmas Eve fondue dinner is always a favorite dinner each year, and I’ll be sharing some of our favorite food to cook and eat during this meal!
Christmas is by far my favorite holiday of the year. I love that it is full of tradition and family, in addition to Jesus being so present.
Every Christmas Eve growing up in Utah, my parents, brother and I as well as my aunt and her family would get together for a fondue dinner at my aunt’s house. Our two families are different religions with different practices and beliefs, but on Christmas Eve we all celebrated together. After a delicious fondue dinner, we would go to church at my family’s church for the annual candlelight service. My aunt and cousins usually joined us well, and then we made a tradition of following up the Christmas Eve service with a trip to Christmas Street in Sugarhouse to look at the lights. We’d all head home for the night and my brother and I would get to open one gift: which was always new pajamas. There is something so magical and uplifting about a tradition that goes by year after year, a night that I look forward to every single year!
Christmas Eve Fondue Dinner Favorites
The fondue dinner was always a favorite of mine because it was really the only time of year we ate fondue. As I’m older, I think part of the appeal is the length of the dinner. When you have to cook each bite individually, the process obviously becomes extended. But it sure made for some great memories! It was the one time each year where all of us would sit down at a giant table. The “table” typically consisted of several eight foot tables combined into a square shape. Regardless of age, everyone could participate, laugh, and enjoy just being together. It may sound sappy, but it is very true.
With the fondue, we always use electric fondue pots for consistent heat. We usually have several pots of grease for the meat to cook in and then one for cheese. We typically have chicken, beef and shrimp. We also have several types of bread for the cheese dip and we have tried pretty much every veggie you can think of fried. Sometimes we even get creative and fry things like dill pickles. It’s a thing!
We always polish it off with a dessert fondue, which is probably my favorite! We typically have chocolate and caramel in the fondue pots and then dip in various fruits and angel food cake. I think the caramel/pineapple combo is one of the family favorites. Although, the year my mom made bananas flambé was a huge hit with the kids, and really the adults too! Nothing like a little fire to add to the party ambiance.
Thankfully, this tradition still occurs and when my husband and I travel to Utah for Christmas it is always so fun to be a part of!
Do you have a Christmas tradition you cherish and want to ensure is passed along through the years? If not, hopefully you’ll find some inspiration along the way with this tour and will create some of your own new traditions!
If you’re looking for some Christmas decor inspiration, check out my Christmas Home Tour, which also links to many other gorgeous tours. You’ll be busy all day 😉 Thanks for stopping by!
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Oh my I thought my family was the only one that did this! On Christmas Eve one side of my family gets together and does fondue, I think there are like 5 pots of grease now, and the family is still growing!! No one else that I know does this or has ever heard of it, we don’t do cheese pots, only oil 🙂
The fondue idea sounds great. Fried dill pickles are “a thing” at the Minnesota State Fair too, yum! 🙂 We always got to open up one present on Christmas Eve too…such fun traditions!
~Sarah
We do a different, non-traditional meal for Christmas Eve every year and we’ve been tossing around ideas for this year. I’m putting fondue in the hat! So fun!
this sounds so fun! i think i’ve only done fondue like once in my life- i need to come to your christmas dinner! or dessert! 🙂
Fondue was our Christmas tradition for years too. One year my cousin was working as a doctor up north and his patients gave him all kinds of game meat. We had moose and elk in our fondue which was really neat. We usually cook in broth, not oil. Then with the leftover broth, we make an “egg drop” soup. There are always a few treasures of escaped meat that end up in the soup.
This is such a great tour, I’ve never heard of this tradition, either! It drives me crazy when someone (usually my mother) spends several days preparing a meal and then everyone rushes through it. I LOVE the idea of a slow and leisurely fondue dinner!
Such a unique tradition – I love it!!!
My boss introduced me to this idea when my children were little, I put so much work into dinner and the children were such picky eaters. Plus I worked on Christmas Eve day so time was limited. We started this about 15 years ago. We do cheese and oil. Meats, blanched vegetable, pigs in a blanket fried, fried cheese cubes with egg wash and bread crumbs and a vegan fondue cheese now as the group grows. The prep can be done in advance even the table prepare and covered in advance. Dinner is fun. Everyone gets what they want and we’re dinning instead of shoveling. It’s the best. Everyone we have ever invited over to join us really has a surprisingly great time. And then they buy fondue pots. One other benefit is its very economical. People eat less over all and the kitchen clean up is pretty minimal compared to a traditional holiday meal. If you have leftover make stir fry the next day.
Love this, Sarah! So fun to be on this traditions tour with you!