Raclette: Fun with cheese

I bet you don't know what raclette is! I think of myself as a confirmed foodie, but when a BIG package arrived from the post office, I had no idea what it was. It looked a little bit like a tiny barbecue, and in fact, Ryan was excited at the idea of barbecue accessories. (boys are weird. who knew barbecues could have accessories??)
For an official definition, with explanatory pictures, look here. Ours came from Raclette Australia, and was a wedding present from my sisters. Thanks ladies!

I think our friend Aaron described it best. He said 'You mean a cross between fondue and teppanyaki?"

It's an electric grill that sits in the middle of the table, and everybody can cook things on top. Meanwhile, there are individual pans underneath, in which you can melt cheese and other goodies.

We didn't wait long to try it out, with a little help from our friends. This is the before picture, with all the yummy things we wanted to grill and melt.

It's traditional to pour your melted cheesy goodness onto roasted potatoes.
We ate a lot of potatoes.