This weekend we actually didn't have one bit of restaurant food... maybe for the first time in years.  Friday night we had friends over for dinner and drinks and had a great meal.  We began with Kirian Ichiban beer and I rolled my own sushi rolls (California rolls.)  Round two began with sake and we sat down to fondue.  One pot consisted of a beef broth infused with soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger root, and garlic.  The other pot was filled with peanut oil.  We cut up mushrooms, spinach, bok choy, broccoli, and zuchini to cook in the broth and had cuts of chicken and marinated steak for the oil pot.  It was fantastic!  The vegetables soaked up the flavor of the broth.  We also had a spicy dipping sauce consisting of peppers, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and seseme oil that went very well with the meats.  We followed up dinner with a Japanese liquor and a cigar.

Saturday night we met with our gourmet club.  This time there was a twist to the menu as the theme was soups, salads, sandwiches and sweets.  Our contribution was sliders!  We made two varieties - one the traditional White Castle slider... and the other was a meatball slider.  The home made White Castles were great!  We used ground chuck, beef broth, and baby food beef mixed together.  I then rolled it onto a baking sheet and froze it for 1/2 hour.  Once firm, I scored the meat into 3 inch square and used a straw to make the holes.  I then froze until hard.  I broke the meat into squares and cooked in a skillet with lots of hydrated onions.  It actually steams the burgers - and because of the holes, you don't flip the patties.  I then cut hot dog buns into small square buns and served with cheese and pickle slice.  They were as close to a White Castle as I've ever had.  Our meatball sliders were made with italian sausage, ground pork, parmesian cheese, and red pepper flakes.  They were fried and then put in a sphagetti sauce.  The sandwich was made by cutting a hawiian roll in half and then placing the meatball and some sauce.  The meatball was topped with a slice of romano cheese and basil and topped with the roll.  They too were awesome.  We also had great muffaletta, chowder, lasagna soup, and desserts!