Cold comfort

Gee whiz it's cold and windy outside. Of the freezing and gale force variety.
We crazily braved the walk to school this morning and I'm pretty sure that stuff hitting us in the face was sleet.
Then to top it off the wind whisked away a drawing our daughter was holding way beyond the reach of this smidge-over-five-foot-mama. And so she played a spot of see-you-and-raise-you-one with the foul weather and embarked on the mother of all meltdowns, complete with frothing at the mouth.
We made it back home alive (just), kicked off our gumboots, crawled in under the covers together and napped for an hour.
Balance restored.
And just to make sure we stay in the land of happy (and froth-free) for the rest of the day we're about to put on a warming and comforting lunch. There's nothing like a hot lunch on a cold winter day.
I use this pumpkin dish I discovered via Elizabeth David as a perfect accompaniment to pork and recently discovered that leftovers mixed with brown rice make for one of the finest comfort foods around (a quasi risotto even).
Preheat your oven to 220°C. Steam about 600 grams of pumpkin until soft then mash. Scatter 30 grams of butter (broken into little pieces) in the bottom of an oven proof dish (a pie dish is a good size) and put in pumpkin mash. Then add half a cup of milk, one egg and the yolk of another (keep the white), season with salt, pepper and nutmeg and give it all a stir. Then whisk up your egg white and stir it in too. Chop some butter into pea-size bits and sprinkle on top. Place the dish in the oven for 5-10 minutes.
Pssst :: don't forget today is the last day to enter the Le Super Zeros giveaway. Click the image top left over there to leave a comment and be in the running to give Zonk a new home.
Have a warm and toasty weekend everyone. x