Cheese fondue party menu for New Year's Eve

The holiday season is winding down, but not before one last celebration! Let's ring in the new year with artfully arranged (and oh-so-delicious) appetizers and hors d'oeuvres. Or, more specifically, crusty loaves of fresh bread, rich cheeses and, of course, the appropriate wines to match. And what better way is there to indulge those cravings than with a cheese fondue party?

And while some of us have been known to enjoy a dinner solely constructed of the aforementioned bread, cheese and wine, we recognize the path to good health is not paved with cheddar. Thus, we asked Chatelaine's food editor, Claire Tansey, for a few suggestions on how to choose dishes to go with this rich party dish.

"Think of fondue like a cheese board," she says. "The accompaniments should be both refreshing for your palate and complementary to the cheese. So, like you would with a cheese board, serve a variety of fruits like fresh pears and dried figs, as well as some crunchy things like crackers, crusty bread or crisp blanched green vegetables. To complement the heady flavours of the fondue, serve thinly sliced cured meats like serrano ham and a hearty wine."

Main
Chardonnay cheese fondue The star dish of your party can be ready in 15 minutes! Who knew this was so easy? We suggest serving it with baguette cubes, broccoli, kale, apples and pears. This recipe serves eight as an appetizer and would work well as a main for four.

Cocktail
Lemon-thyme wine spritzer As far as wine goes, we say choose what you love, but if you want something different, try our citrusy wine spritzer.

Salad
Arugula and hazelnut salad or apple fennel salad with prosciutto and walnuts Both of these include fruit and nuts and will make light and refreshing accompaniments.

Dessert
Raspberry-margarita sorbet For dessert, keep the mood light with this ruby sorbet. Wow your guests and serve it in cocktail glasses and garnish with mint.

All that’s really missing from this equation is an open fire, woolly sweaters and—dare we say it—some lightly falling snow. Happy New Year!