stirring the (fondue) pot with southern living
katie and erin were featured in southern living this month (the january issue) profiling their tradition of celebrating new year's eve with a low-key fondue party. borrowing the custom from katie's time living in switzerland, our founders have made this an annual dinner, mixing swiss tradition with texas hospitality.
fondue is just the way the sisters like to entertain-- no fuss, interactive and full of cheese.
the feature was shot in a frigid day at erin's house by steven karlisch and styled by our friend walker wright, with tina bell stamos and her magic food styling tricks (a clothes steamer! on cold sausage!).
our founders are grateful to betsy cribb and the SL team for making their southern dreams come true.
scroll for some behind the scenes of this fun photoshoot...
watch our reel from the shoot to see if all in action.
after switching locations at erin's house maybe 5 times, poolside was the best place for the set. it was SO COLD, which was the perfect opportunity to wear our very first MIRTH sweaters samples.
what better way to feature our green gingham tabletop? we mixed in clear glassware with sage green coupe glasses from kuhl-linscomb. we also added vases of sparklers and mini bottles of champagne for extra festive touches. and since it's new year's eve and a time to get fancy, we threw in mother of pearl caviar plates at each place.
want to host your own fondue get together? you should! you'll need a copious amount of emmentaller and gruyere cheese for the fondue, a crisp white wine (or kirsch), cubes of crusty bread, boiled new potatoes (tucked in a burlap sack to be true to the swiss way), cornichons, pickled onions and anything else that sounds delicious dunked in melty cheese. we like to add jalapeño sausage from opa’s smoked meats (located in fredericksburg) to add a little bit of texas, or sometimes apples.
you can add kirsch, a cherry brandy, straight to the pot or you can dip the bread in the kirsch first and then in the cheese-- just be warned this leads to a boozy evening :)
wheeling out a bar cart makes it easy for guests to refill, and bringing the indoors outdoors, like we did with the couch and coffee table vignette is easier than you think and adds to a cozy atmosphere.
thanks for following along our photoshoot with southern living! we loved working with their team and sharing our traditions.
