Backyard and hearth

A real Swiss half-and-half cheese fondue, made the way our camping friends taught us — melted low and slow over campfire embers, with the wine, garlic, and figure-eight stir that keep it silky.

Three ways to melt raclette by the fire — the traditional Swiss half-wheel, individual barbeclettes, and a fast griddle — plus what to build around it and how to serve it.

Not a recipe. The sound a cold can makes at the exact moment the preparation is finished and the evening turns from work into sitting by the fire.