Another Fondue and a Note to the Great-Great-Greats

Last night our Valentine dinner turned out so wonderful. And I know that you are probably getting sick of my fondue recipes but besides the Chocolate Almond (by the end of the evening, people WERE just eating it with their spoons!), I also made this one. It is delicious! Really, I had forgotten how much I loved fondue. I was married in the seventies...and I think we got 4 fondue pots for wedding gifts. And 4 hibachi grills. Those were the "seventies" gifts! I think I still had one of the pots until a year or so ago, when one of my kids (actually David!) used it to melt wax for his skies. He also used my hair dryer. Ruined that as well. He's such a kid!

Caramel Apple Fondue
Ingredients

82 small soft caramel candies (about 1 1/2 pounds)

3/4 cup apple cider

1/2 cup half-and-half object

Dash of ground nutmeg , cinnamon (pumpkin pie spice would work as well)

Preparation: Place candies and cider in a medium heavy saucepan over medium heat; cook 12 minutes or until candies melt, stirring frequently. (I actually did the whole process in the microwave) Stir in half-and-half and spices. Reduce heat, and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour into a fondue pot. Keep warm over low flame. Serve with apple wedges, bananas, berries, rice krispie treats, etc.

Last night I had a restless night. I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't sleep for a couple of hours. When I did sleep, I wrote my blog entry for today. I thought. Of course it was in the dream. This morning the idea was gone. So, I wanted to borrow a few thoughts from other blogs that have gotten me thinking.

The picture at the beginning and this one here both look like they are enhanced. You don't really believe that people do those kinds of stunts. But they are real....the snowboarder is Tenille's little brother, Jake Welch, who is sponsored by a dozen companies and flies all over the world snowboarding and making magazines and films. In his journal he wrote that "alcohol" was poison. While his buddies were all sleeping off the night before, he was able to have the photographer all to himself and got these great shots in Chile. This kid has snowboarded with the best of them....well, he is included in the best of them.....for years. And he is only about 20. Just the neatest kid.

Well, while he was practicing this past week, he tore his ACL. He's out for at least a year. The sport has been rough on his body. The disappointment has got to be horrific.

And I've been worrying about him. And then Marta shared a disappointment that her young son had not making a ball team that they thought for sure he would make. And then I thought of all the disappointments that make up a life. I won't bring up the roadshow......

Marta shared the lyrics to a song from "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang." One stanza reads:

"Every bursted bubble has a glory!
Each abysmal failure makes a point!
Every glowing path that goes astray,
Shows you how to find a better way.
So every time you stumble never grumble.
Next time you'll bumble even less!
For up from the ashes,
grow the roses of success!"

It sure is hard, when life brings you disappointments, to immediately start looking for the silver lining. I do think it is important to allow ourselves the stages of grieving, for healing. It is a challenge not to let disappointment define us for the rest of our lives. For me, as I have reflected on some disappointments in my life, I realize in retrospect that I can "thank God for unanswered prayers."

One of the most meaningful scriptures to me is found in the writings of Paul. He writes in Philippians 4:11-"Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content."That scripture is so much more meaningful when you realize that Paul wrote that while he was in prison.
Wow, great-great-greats- I'm sorry I am sounding melancholy this morning. It must be from all that fondue that I am so urging you to indulge in! I guess what I am saying is that it is important to use disappointment to turn in a new direction. It is certainly not something we should beat ourselves up with.

C.S. Lewis said, in Pilgrim's Regress,
"And what is this valley called?""We call it now simply Wisdom's Valley; but the oldest maps mark it as the Valley of Humiliation."
I don't think it is wrong to grieve or to be sad. It is a healing process. We don't have to see the blessing right now...just know that God is in charge and He can make things right. And He can help us through the storm. And oftentimes that which seems as failure, may be really be a protection in disguise....
And sometimes it is only with time, that we can look back at our lives and see those valleys with wisdom and as the turning point to greater joy in our lives. But until that happens, just mix up a big pot of fondue. Get a big spoon. Eat the whole pot yourself, if you wish. Then get back on your feet, go to work and know that you are loved.