Who doesn’t love cheese? I can’t think of anything more fun than flashing back to the 70s with a fun fondue party. To keep it simple, you can focus on offering one delicious recipe for a classic cheese fondue recipe from MyRecipes.com with swiss and gruyere with a dash of white wine.
I am a child of the 60s and 70s and if I could go back in time and live in that era it would be so fun to soak in all the things I remember like vintage fondue pots with wooden skewers, I borrowed from my friend Heather, president of the Wedgwood Historical Association. Be sure to read all about the home tour the Association hosted last year. Their mission is to maintain and honor the vintage charm and architectural details of the homes built in the Wedgwood neighborhood in the 50s and 60s.
Use wrapping paper as your tablecloth!
Mr. Twist helped me make the fondue recipe here while I set the table. You know, at Home with a Twist, we like to add our modern spin on ideas – so instead of using a tablecloth, I used a roll of my favorite pink and red leopard print (because we always have to include a splash of animal print AND pink and red is my favorite color combo) wrapping paper from Wirr Warr wraps as my table cover. I have a small white tulip table in my Lady’s Lounge, and I used two sheets of paper from the roll, trimming the squared edges into a rounded shape to fit the table. After we were done, I wrapped the paper back up in the roll for my next party or gift wrapping.
The classic relish tray
If you serve cheese, you must also offer the quintessential relish tray. When my mother hosted gatherings, she made me the “Chief of Relish Prep,” as I artfully arranged gherkin pickles, olives, carrot sticks, and green onions on a tray. The relish tray has been around since colonial times, designed to give guests just a little something to nibble on before dinner. By the 1950s, when the American restaurant culture became mainstream, and we entered the era of frozen food, the relish tray had lost its luster. By 1970, California cuisine was on the rise. We began to eat raw vegetables beyond carrots, celery, and radishes; hence, the term crudités pushed the term relish tray out of the way. You can read more about the relish tray here.
But I brought relish back tonight. When I found an adorable vintage bamboo-handled tray from Nancy’s Empty Nest on Instagram, I knew that tray could help me resuscitate the relish tray back into popularity. I filled the side compartments with bright green onions, and on the other side, I added gherkins and olives. I filled the center with slices of a fresh-baked baguette and tucked in rosemary stems for a pop of green.
By now, the cheese fondue was bubbly hot, and we added it to the table, trying it out by dipping a piece of bread into the wine-infused cheese. Oh, my goodness, this is good!
I filled my highly collectible Howard Holt mugs from The Long Game with pretzel sticks, crackers, and baby heirloom tomatoes for dipping. The colors coordinate perfectly with my tablescape. I even used one of the mugs to hold all the cute wooden-handled skewers.
And, no 70s Valentine is complete without the cutest retro-inspired cookies from a gal I found on Instagram (she’s no longer baking). I mixed them with cute lip-shaped cookies she made into drink stirs and a set of disco ball sippy cups.
It’s a very groovy treat.
The star of this 70s Valentine is my Copper chafing dish I found on Etsy. Mother had one just like it. Here’s a twist – I transformed it into a container to create a fun centerpiece with pink and red carnations and tulips! The copper dish reminds me of all the parties my mother hosted growing up, so I knew I wanted it to appear somehow on my tablescape. If filling it with flowers isn’t your thing, use it for Swedish meatballs – a 70s appetizer.
I hope this trip down memory lane reminds you of fun times from the past. If fondue, relish trays, and Copper chafing dishes are new to your world, I hope my story today inspires you to make every day a celebration! Be sure to follow Home with a Twist on Instagram for more content I’ll share there.
In the meantime, keep it groovy.
Hospitality is in my DNA. I founded Home with a Twist, a daughter’s twist on her mother’s traditions, in memory of my mother to celebrate her life and the gifts she shared with me. Mother loved to celebrate life’s occasions – big and small.
