How much to spend on Mother’s Day champagne?

Truth to tell, unless your group consists of

That being said, the biggest value in champagne in the U.S. is likely the Kirkland brand from Costco.

Made for Costco in France’s Champagne region, it costs just $20—half the price of other real champagnes.

Kirkland Champagne lacks the toasty complexity of a big-name Champagne, but unless the’re big-time champagne drinkers, guests won’t notice the difference.

While champagne is the sparkling wine made in Champagne, there are other more affordable sparklers that deserve attention—and are even more reasonably priced. Head to your wine store and check out the options in:

 
In fact, our year-round go-to is Yellow Tail rosé sparkling wine, from Australia, for $10.
 
 
HOW TO MAKE BUBBLY EVEN MORE FESTIVE

Our two favorite techniques, which we first employed when we opened bottles that were too dry, or otherwise a bit unappealing to our palate:

[1] The best bargain in champagne is at Costco (photo courtesy Costco Wine Blog).

[2] Make bubbly more festive with raspberries (photo courtesy Tender NYC).

[1] Food fun: fonduta and meatballs (photo courtesy Flavor & The Menu).

[2] How about a smoked mozzarella fondue? Here’s the recipe from Center Cut Cook.

[3] Serve fonduta with classic dippers, with or without the fondue pot (photo courtesy Equatorial Sky | Wikipedia).

Who needs spaghetti or lasagna?

This fun dish from Flavor & The Menu plops meatballs into a fonduta, an Italian variation of Swiss fondue.

Even richer than fondue, fonduta adds eggs, milk and butter to the melted cheese. The recipe is below.

The original recipe was created in the Valle d’Aosta region of northwest Italy, an area of the Alps bordered by France and Switzerland. Fondue likely jumped the border from Switzerland to Italy.

In the Valle d’Aosta, cooks enriched the local fontina cheese (Swiss fondue is based on gruyère) and served it as a dip for bread and crudités, or as a sauce for cooked vegetables.

Here’s the history of fondue, which dates to the 17th century.
 
 
RECIPE: ITALIAN FONDUTA

While the classic cheese for fonduta is fontina, you can use any semihard cheese. Just avoid crumbly aged cheeses.

Plan ahead: In this recipe, the cheese and milk must meld overnight. Also plan that when the fonduta comes off the stove, it’s ready to eat. No one wants cold fonduta!

If you have a fondue pot with a heat source, or a brazier, use them.

Or even better, make your fonduta in individual dishes instead of one serving dish. With a large serving dish, it’s messier to scoop-and-serve.

If you prefer an all-mozzarella fonduta, follow the directions for the smoked mozzarella fonduta (substitute regular mozzarella as you wish) in photo #2.

Ingredients

 
To Serve With Meatballs

 
Preparation

1. PLACE the cheese and milk in a small bowl, ensuring that the milk just covers the cheese (add more milk as needed). Cover and set aside overnight. When you’re ready to cook:

3. ADD the egg yolks one at a time to the cheese mixture, whisking constantly until the fonduta is smooth, thick and glossy (about 10 minutes). Pour it into a warm serving dish (heat it for 20 or more seconds in the microwave) and serve immediately.

For The Meatball Fonduta

1. HEAT the marinara before creating the fonduta, and keep warm. When the fonduta is hot and ready to pour…

2. COVER the bottom of the serving dish with the sauce, then add the fonduta. Top with the meatballs and mozzarella. Heat briefly in the microwave to melt the mozzarella. Garnish with herbs and serve immediately with the toasts for dipping.

NOTE: This dish is easier to eat with a soup spoon, rather than a fork.
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*Herb garnish is not traditional with fonduta or fondue, but we like the subtle flavor it adds.

Here’s a fusion recipe for Cinco de Mayo: Mexican Chicken Lasagna. It substitutes tortillas for lasagna noodles, enchilada sauce for pasta sauce, Monterey Jack for mozzarella.

It’s lots of fun.

Thanks to Pampered Chef for the recipe.
 
 
RECIPE: MEXICAN CHICKEN “LASAGNA”

Ingredients For 8 Servings

 
Preparation

1. PLACE the cream cheese in a bowl and microwave on HIGH for 30-45 seconds or until very soft. Add the cilantro and 1-1/2 cups (375 mL) of the Monterey Jack cheese; mix well.

2. CHOP the onion and set aside. Spread 2/3 cup (150 mL) of the enchilada sauce over bottom of baking pan. Pour the remaining enchilada sauce into a mixing bowl andset aside.

3. ASSEMBLE the lasagna. Dip four of the tortillas into the enchilada sauce in mixing bowl using tongs, and arrange over sauce in the baking pan, overlapping as necessary. Scoop half of the cream cheese mixture over the tortillas, and spread.

[1] It looks like a classic lasagna, but it’s a Mexican twist (photo courtesy Pampered Chef).

[2] If you’re not a cilantro lover, substitute basil or oregano (photo courtesy Good Eggs).

4. TOP with 1 cup (250 mL) of the chicken and one-third of the onion. Repeat the layers one time. Dip the remaining tortillas into sauce and arrange over second layer. Top with the remaining chicken and onion. Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over lasagna and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup (125 mL) Monterey Jack cheese.

5. MICROWAVE, covered, on HIGH for 12-15 minutes or until the center is hot. Let stand 10 minutes, then sprinkle with additional chopped cilantro. Cut into squares and serve using a spatula.

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*If desired, 1 bottle (22 oz/650 mL) medium salsa combined with 1/2 cup (125 mL) water can be substituted for the enchilada sauce.