By Megan is on maternity leave. Eight months pregnant with Ellie. Tommy is two and he does not understand why Mama is home all day and why she moves slowly and why the house smells like baby laundry. He adapts by being more toddler — louder, faster, needier. He clings to my leg when I leave for the brewery. He says "Dada stay" with a face that could negotiate a hostage release. I stay for one more hug. Then another. Then I'm late for work.
The hospital bag is packed. The car seat is installed. The freezer is stocked — again — with pierogi, soups, golabki. The frozen army, second deployment. We're veterans of this now. We know what the first weeks look like. We know about the sleep deprivation and the feeding schedule and the particular hallucination that comes at 3 AM when you've been awake for forty hours. We know. We're ready.
Tom built a second bookshelf for the nursery. Unprompted. He just showed up on Saturday with lumber. He builds when something is coming. He builds because building is how he says, "I'm excited and I love you and I don't know how to say that." The bookshelf is overengineered, as always. It will survive a tornado. Ellie will have the sturdiest bookshelf in Bay View.
Made a simple pot of chicken soup — Babcia's recipe, the one that says "someone cares about you." I make this soup before every transition, every milestone, every change. The soup is the constant. The soup is the bridge between what was and what's coming. Megan ate a bowl and Tommy ate noodles and the house smelled like dill and we waited. The waiting is familiar now. The waiting is its own kind of home.
The small Milwaukee-winter is the small six-month-condition. The small cold-weather-comfort-food rotation runs October through April. The small soups, the small stews, the small braises, the small heavy-baked-goods. The small Midwestern-comfort-vocabulary is the small kitchen-language.
Megan and Jake married in June 2024. The small newlywed-rhythm is in its small second year. The small two-bedroom rental on the small east-side of Milwaukee continues to be the small first-home. The small thirty-year-mortgage-eventually-someday is the small five-year-goal. The small marriage is the small foundation the small life is being built on.
The small Polish-American heritage is the small kitchen-identity. The small pierogi-recipe-cards from Babcia Helen (Jake’s grandmother who passed in 2018, who had lived two blocks from the small Bay-View family-house) is the small monthly-Saturday-tradition. The small kielbasa-and-sauerkraut. The small bigos. The small recipes that came over from the small Krakow-region in the small 1910s.
Megan and Jake married in June 2024. The small newlywed-rhythm is in its small second year. The small two-bedroom rental on the small east-side of Milwaukee continues to be the small first-home. The small thirty-year-mortgage-eventually-someday is the small five-year-goal. The small marriage is the small foundation the small life is being built on.
The small Lakefront Brewery shift-work continues to be the small steady-paycheck. The small forty-hour-week brewery-floor job pays the small twenty-two-an-hour rate that the small Milwaukee-blue-collar-economy supports. The small benefits are the small union-decent. The small ten-year-tenure-target is the small career-anchor.
The small Polish-American heritage is the small kitchen-identity. The small pierogi-recipe-cards from Babcia Helen (Jake’s grandmother who passed in 2018, who had lived two blocks from the small Bay-View family-house) is the small monthly-Saturday-tradition. The small kielbasa-and-sauerkraut. The small bigos. The small recipes that came over from the small Krakow-region in the small 1910s.
Megan is from a small Irish-Catholic Milwaukee-suburban family. The small Sunday-dinners at her small parents’ house rotate with the small Sunday-dinners at Jake’s parents’ house. The small in-laws on both sides have been the small welcoming-presence. The small two-family-network is the small extended-support the small newlywed-life rests on.
The small Milwaukee-winter is the small six-month-condition. The small cold-weather-comfort-food rotation runs October through April. The small soups, the small stews, the small braises, the small heavy-baked-goods. The small Midwestern-comfort-vocabulary is the small kitchen-language.
The small future-kid-conversations have begun. Megan teaches small fourth-grade at a small public school in Wauwatosa. The small adoption-vs-biological conversation is in the small early-discussion stage. The small five-year-plan includes the small kid-or-kids in some form. The small kitchen is the small place where the small future is being practiced.
The soup was Babcia’s, and it said what it always says — but once the bowls were cleared and Tommy was down and Megan was resting and Tom’s bookshelf stood silent and overbuilt in the nursery, I wanted one more warm thing on the table, something to pull us in close before everything changed. This creamy chipped beef fondue is that dish: old-fashioned, a little indulgent, built for standing around together and dipping bread while you wait for the next thing to begin.
Creamy Chipped Beef Fondue
Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 30 min | Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 2 packages (2.5 oz each) dried chipped beef, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 small yellow onion, finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened and cubed
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- Crusty bread, rye bread cubes, or soft pretzels for dipping
Instructions
- Soften the aromatics. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Add onion and cook 4–5 minutes until softened and translucent. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more.
- Build the roux. Sprinkle flour over the onion mixture and stir constantly for 1–2 minutes until the raw flour smell is gone and the mixture turns a pale golden color.
- Add the dairy. Slowly whisk in milk and heavy cream, a little at a time, until fully incorporated and smooth. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes until thickened.
- Melt in the cheeses. Reduce heat to low. Add cream cheese cubes a few at a time, stirring until melted before adding more. Add shredded cheddar and stir until the mixture is completely smooth and glossy.
- Add the beef and seasoning. Stir in the chipped beef, Worcestershire sauce, black pepper, and smoked paprika. Simmer on low for 3–5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the beef is warmed through and the flavors have come together.
- Serve warm. Transfer to a small slow cooker set to “warm” or a fondue pot to keep it at dipping temperature. Arrange bread cubes, rye slices, or soft pretzel pieces alongside for dipping.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 310 | Protein: 12g | Fat: 26g | Carbs: 7g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 740mg