How do you have people over dinner when you don’t have a dinner table?

We recently moved into an apartment in the city. We love it: the restaurants and bars, the cultural events at our fingerprints, bumping into friends just walking down the street. We’re fortunate that we have an outdoor terrace that is three times the size of our previous backyard. Even when we’re inside, the terrace visually extends the size of our living room. Honestly, life does feel much more stress free.

At this stage, we haven’t designated a dining zone. It hasn’t been an issue though as while the weather was warmer, we would eat outside. Autumn is now here though, and that isn’t really an option. Last Friday we had my nephew and his partner come over for a meal. And, I wanted to eat in.

So, we had cheese fondue. Luckily, they are as fanatical about cheese as we are so it was a good choice whilst also addressing dietaries restrictions. All the dippers were easily prepped ahead of time and the actual cheesey goodness didn’t take long to come together. In fact, the longest part of it is grating the cheese. Please don’t buy pre-grated cheese as that usually has additives to stop it clumping/moulding etc but they can mess with cohesion of the fondue.

I’ve made cheese fondue a handful of times but I always have a few moments of panic when I wonder if it will come together or not. Last Friday’s smart solution which I will definitely use again was the use of a slow cooker to keep the whole thing warm while we merrily dipped away.

At one stage, my nephew enquired if there was dessert planned. No, I answered, surprised that he’d even asked the question. Good, he said, cause I’m going back for more fondue.