Celebrate Valentine's Day with the one you love by sharing a fun-filled fondue dinner. Choose all the different dips and dippers together to make the meal a real joint effort. Remember the long-standing fondue tradition—anyone who loses a dipper in the fondue pot has to kiss his or her sweetie. If creating your own fondue at home is just too much, we suggest visiting your local fondue restaurant, The Melting Pot. The guys in the Memphis restaurant, allowed us to take over their dining area for a while to create our photo shoot, and fed us a wonderful lunch. So, if you're scared you can't create the perfect fondue at home, let someone at The Melting Pot closest to you do all the work.

Menu:
The Pink Passion Martini
Fiery Cheddar Cheese Fondue
Beef Cake Fondue
Flaming Heart Chocolate Fondue
Caramel Lovers Fondue

Setting the Scene:
A simple way to create a romantic mood for an intimate dinner is to give it a change of scenery. Set two places at a low coffee table in front of the hearth, where the glow of firelight provides a soft, flattering illumination. Next, set small candles in various places around the room. For this intimate meal, play up the amorous theme with heart-shaped accessories from vases to napkin rings. Flowers such as tulips or roses are simple and beautiful and are easy to arrange in small clusters for the table. Seated on comfortable cushions on the floor, you share an easy, yet elegant menu.

Add a romantic touch to the table by creating homemade chocolate "kisses"—whimsical packages that contain a chocolate truffle and a love note. Set them in a bowl on the table, and put your favorite on your Valentine's plate.

The Pink Passion Martini

3 oz. Asti Spumante
3 oz. sparkling pink lemonade
1 dash sweet and sour

1. Shake all ingredients in cocktail shaker and serve in martini glass.
2. Garnish with raspberry or pink edible rose petal.

Fiery Cheddar Cheese Fondue

1 (10 3/4-oz.) can Cheddar cheese soup
1 (8 oz.) package shredded sharp Cheddar
1 cup chipotle salsa
1 cup whole milk

1. Stir all ingredients in heavy saucepan over medium heat until cheese melts and mixture is smooth.
2. Transfer mixture to fondue pot.
3. Serve with bread, jicama, tortilla chips and tortillas. 

1 1/2 pounds beef tenderloin, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
3 cups vegetable oil

Mustard sauce:
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1 garlic clove, minced

1. In small bowl, combine mustard sauce ingredients.
2. Pat meat dry with paper towels.
3. Heat oil in fondue pot to 375ºF.
4. Use fondue forks to cook meat in oil until desired doneness.
5. Serve with sauce.

Caramel Lovers Fondue

2 (14 oz.) bags caramels
1 (5 oz.) can Carnation evaporated milk
1 (10.5 oz.) bag miniature marshmallows

1. Melt caramels in large double boiler, stirring frequently.
2. Stir in milk and marshmallows slowly until completely blended together.
3. Transfer to fondue pot and serve with desired dippers.

Flaming Heart Chocolate Fondue

1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup milk chocolate
1/4 cup caramel syrup
2 Tablespoons pecans, chopped
2 Tablespoons rum, 151-proof for flambé

1. Soften milk chocolate in microwave.
2. Heat milk in fondue pot; once hot, add softened chocolate.
3. Stir until smooth.
4. Pour caramel onto the middle of chocolate.
5. To serve, pour rum over the top of chocolate.
6. Leave a small amount of rum on spoon to ignite with lighter.
7. Use flaming spoon to ignite rum on chocolate.
8. Add chopped pecans to chocolate.
9. Allow flame to burn out.

Here are some great ideas for dippers to go with all sorts of fondue.

Fruits: sliced bananas, apples, pears, peaches, pineapples, dried fruit, orange sections, strawberries, cherries, raspberries, blackberries or grapes.

Breads: crusty French or Italian bread, pita wedges, fresh tortillas, tortilla chips, croissants, breadsticks, naan, mixed-grain bread, focaccia or baked polenta cubes.

Blanched vegetables: broccoli, asparagus, green beans, snow peas or snap peas.

Raw or roasted vegetables: cherry tomatoes, red bell pepper slices, celery sticks, roasted potato wedges, roasted sweet potatoes or roasted mushrooms.

Cakes and sweet things: angel food cake cubes, marshmallows, graham crackers, tiny brownies, tiny cookies, ladyfingers, shortbread, D’Amaretti biscotti, crystallized ginger chunks or meringues.