the raclette that almost wasn't

{La Petite and her Tonton}

Now I realize that the holidays have passed what with the Epiphany having gone and occurred and all, but I'm not about to let you get away with not hearing about my New Year's Eve (although it wasn't too exciting, so no need to hold on to your hats or anything).

And surprise... we celebrated with cheese!

(of course we did)

Papa's Wife was hosting a Raclette for the evening, but to make it extra special, she bought a proper Raclette machine (which I would love to call a doohickey, because it looked far more doohickey-like than machine-like, so doohickey it is), one where you actually scraped the melted bits off the cheese  instead of grilling slices (raclette does mean scape you know... sort of). And what with the large wheel of Saint-Nectaire The Husband and I brought back from Auvergne, we were good to go (or so we thought).

It should be noted that while Saint-Nectaire is good in it's natural, semi-soft state, melted, it's a whole other ball game of deliciousness all together. I urge you to get yourself some Saint-Nectaire, and melt it immediately. Go now. I'll be here when you get back.

{doohickey}

Now back to that Raclette doohickey... it wasn't really working properly (because doohickeys rarely do). It was taking a bit too long to melt and then when there was finally enough melted to scrape off, one person would only get a teensy bit on their plate while nine other people looked on hungrily. We were pretty much entering a full on, five alarm, cheese emergency.

But luckily, The Husband came to the rescue (you didn't honestly think ol' Food Whore would sit back and patiently wait for a tiny dollop of melted cheese did you?). He pulled out the ordinary Raclette grill, plopped it on the table next to the doohickey, plugged it in, and got it going, proper like.

The Raclette doohickey was a wonderful idea though, and Papa's Wife gets a gold star for trying to make an ordinary Raclette evening more special, but what wasn't a wonderful idea however, was the playing of the dvd that she had made of the history of Brother-in-Law and Child Bride's relationship and the birth of La Petite, while we ate. It was very sweet that she made it, but very long, so very long. And did the rest of us really need to sit there and watch it? Did we? I don't think so.
(FYI... the dvd began when the two first got together... it was Brother-in-Law's 23rd birthday BBQ and Child Bride was 15½... I love how she mentioned the ½... like that made it OK).

But because The Husband and me were tuckered out from a  L O N G  week in Auvergne (and possibly that  L O N G  tribute to Brother-in-Law), we called it a night early and headed home to ring in the New Year with Fifty.

And I would love to tell you all about kisses and cuddles at midnight, and toasts with Champagne,

but I can't, because I fell asleep.

bisou