Fondue pot as a family gift?

[linnylu]

Santa always leaves our 5 children ages 10, 14, 16, 18, and 19 a family gift.
Last year it was a gaming laptop and a mini donut maker. I am stumped as to what the family gift should be this year. I was looking on best buy at their deals of the day and saw a fondue pot. Would that be a good gift for kids, or is it more likely to be a dust collector? Any other ideas to share for a family gift? We've also done an icecream maker, hot air popcorn popper, and an iPad in past years.

 

[cluvsdisney]

Were the other food based gifts put to use? If so, I would get the fondue set. It's really easy to make cheese & dessert fondue. It's tasty and I think it's fun to have fondue.

 

[Micca]

Was the donut maker a hit? If not, I wouldn't think there'd be much excitement over a fondue pot. I agree that fondue is a fun thing for a family to share, but am thinking it's not an "oh wow" gift for Christmas.

 

[BCDisneyFanatic]

We do a meat fondue every Christmas Eve...it's a nice, slow meal when you want to spend some quality time with family. We usually do beef tenderloin in oil, with mushrooms, onions and peppers. We've also done shrimp and chicken dipped in tempura as well.

We also have a chocolate fondue pot (smaller dish with just a candle under it since it doesn't need as much heat) that we use more often. In fact, my DD14 used it for dessert at her birthday sleepover last week.

 

[HM]

It would be fun the first time you used it. Not so much after that. My family always complained it took too long to cook anything in ours. Our meal time was really long on fondue night. (we heated oil to cook meat and had dips)

 

[scrapquitler]

Santa always leaves our 5 children ages 10, 14, 16, 18, and 19 a family gift.
Last year it was a gaming laptop and a mini donut maker. I am stumped as to what the family gift should be this year. I was looking on best buy at their deals of the day and saw a fondue pot. Would that be a good gift for kids, or is it more likely to be a dust collector? Any other ideas to share for a family gift? We've also done an icecream maker, hot air popcorn popper, and an iPad in past years.

It would not go over well in my house. Would your kids eat fondue? Do you want to cut up all the stuff and have your kids dipping things in the fondue (I'm grossed out by the idea, personally).

For kids that age, I'd probably go more with a game console (wii U?, XBOX 360), a grouping of boardgames or something like that.

My Mom is buying each 'family' a microwave popcorn popper, a couple bags of popcorn, popcorn spices and a big bowl this year.

If you like the idea of a food related gift, how about a Soda Stream? My kids love it and we use it all the time.

I just had another thought....how about something like an outdoor fire pit or a chiminea? It might be fun to get the whole family gathered round out in the yard to hang out and relax around that....

 

[Pollyanna Poppins]

I was thinking popcorn maker but saw where you already had that. What about some board games or a pool/ping pong table. How about a gun or bow and arrow with targets. This is a hard one when I don't know the family dynamics.

 

[kimmar067]

It would not go over well in my house. Would your kids eat fondue? Do you want to cut up all the stuff and have your kids dipping things in the fondue (I'm grossed out by the idea, personally).....

....not to mention the DOUBLE-DIPPING....

 

[Pollyanna Poppins]

I just thought of those choc. fountains. My kids love those things and everyone wants to borrow it for their wedding, party, etc.... Just don't pour the melted choc. down the drain during clean up....trust me you will regret it.

 

[luvmy3]

Someone gave us a fondue pot one year for a family gift. We used it once, and then it sat in the closet until it made its way to Goodwill. It was not a good gift for us, but it could be to a family that would enjoy breaking it out every so often.

What about a "movie night basket" or a "family game night basket". You could fill it with snacks/candy that everyone likes and gift cert. to a local pizza place.

 

[ilovemk76]

A candle fondue pot can be very useful during a power outage to heat canned soups and such.

Do they have to get a family gift each year? A game system as a family gift makes sense.

 

[sksjasams]

Do you already have a game console system?

What about a Ninja? Great for making smoothies.

http://www.target.com/p/ninja-master-prep-black-silver/-/A-12834612#prodSlot=medium_1_3&term=ninja

Otherwise I like the Soda Stream and ping pong/game table ideas from PPs. Sort of fun, novelty items.

 

[disykat]

When I was growing up, we had the "year of the fondue pots." We got three of them.

We had a lot of fun as a family making fondue - probably about once or twice a year for about 8 years. Of course, with three we had one for oil, one for cheese, and one for chocolate.

I'm not a meat lover in general, but my absolute favorite thing was little meatballs with a cube of cheese in the middle cooked in oil.

For us, it was party food. Not something we did as a meal.

 

[jeepgirl30]

I LOVE fondue. Growing up we used to have it as a special dinner. We did the meat and oil.

I bought 2 fondue pots for the family and think i used each one once. The first was a cheapy and I couldn't get it clean. The other was a major pain and DH wouldn't sit through the meal, said call me once enough is cooked for me actually eat! It takes a very long time and i was nervous with the kids getting burnt. It is a bit messy too. I tried to do a cheese app, the entree and dessert but it didn't go well. Took way too long and the kids were bored.

I think I'd go for something more entertaining for the family. Another game console, a special video game or a board game. Or maybe do a gc for a fondue restaurant in our area?

 

[shortbun]

When I was growing up, we had the "year of the fondue pots." We got three of them.

We had a lot of fun as a family making fondue - probably about once or twice a year for about 8 years. Of course, with three we had one for oil, one for cheese, and one for chocolate.

I'm not a meat lover in general, but my absolute favorite thing was little meatballs with a cube of cheese in the middle cooked in oil.

For us, it was party food. Not something we did as a meal.

Yeah, that's the thing, you need several pots if you really want to have fondue. It takes forever to clean and prepare the next dish if you're having cheese, then meat and last, chocolate.

Say-Santa always brought us board games and puzzles. When Dad died and Mom moved, we split up the games. We also had one last family game night. It was fun! Now we play with our son and use the old family games of my youth.

 

[linnylu]

Thanks for helping me rethink the fondue pot. It won't be under our tree. The older kids would all be screaming at the 10 year old for double dipping.
We have both a Wii and an XBox which our 2 boys love and will be getting games for. Are there any new family games out for the XBox? DD14 did ask for Just Dance 4. We have a pool/ping pong table. We have a Vitamix for smoothies. Our family doesn't play games very often, although I am open to buying a new game from Santa. Santa at our house fills stockings, brings each kid 2 presents, and then leaves a few family gifts. The 10 year old still slightly believes in Santa, so I will continue the tradition this year. It just seems so much harder with the kids getting older.

What is a microwave popcorn popper? That might be something for my 2 college age kids. I was thinking Santa might bring each kid a few gift cards this year instead of 1 family gift. Maybe I can find a creative way for Santa to wrap the giftcards? Totally stumped here.

 

[leight]

My two girls and their friends have a blast with the $5 smore maker (NIB from Kohls that I bought at a garage sale) and the fondue pot that they got last christmas. At least once a month they ask for fondue and during the summer we have a gaggle of teenaged girls each week begging for fondue. I say go for it if your family likes that sort of item.

 

[akhenaten]

We do a meat fondue every Christmas Eve...it's a nice, slow meal when you want to spend some quality time with family. We usually do beef tenderloin in oil, with mushrooms, onions and peppers. We've also done shrimp and chicken dipped in tempura as well.

We also have a chocolate fondue pot (smaller dish with just a candle under it since it doesn't need as much heat) that we use more often. In fact, my DD14 used it for dessert at her birthday sleepover last week.

We do this on Christmas Day!! Homemade onion soup, salad, meat fondue, baked potatoes and garlic bread!! Yum!!!

 

[Micca]

Just for the record(because a couple of people mentioned it): There is no "double-dipping" with fondue. One uses a fondue fork to place the meat/bread/whatever into the very hot fondue pot.
When the item is cooked (or in the case of cheese or dessert, coated) one retrieves their item from the very hot fondue pot and deposits the food on the individual diner's plate. The food is eaten from the individual's plate with a regular fork. Double-dipping could really only occur by eating directly from the fondue fork. As the fork becomes very hot from swirling around in the fondue, this would be a mistake one would only make one time. It's quite a clever way to curtail double-dipping.

Now, back to the terrific suggestions for family gifts.

 

[akhenaten]

It would be fun the first time you used it. Not so much after that. My family always complained it took too long to cook anything in ours. Our meal time was really long on fondue night. (we heated oil to cook meat and had dips)

It is supposed to be long.... Relaxing, conversation.... Once everything is prepped and out everyone ... Including the cook gets to sit and enjoy....


And the previous poster is correct... There is no double dipping.. Unless you want burned lips or tongue...