Butternut squash and cheese fondue

It's a bright, sunny afternoon with snow on the ground again, though not as much fell as predicted. Still, it's lovely to see.

We had fun eating our cheese fondue. Below, demonstrates how to eat a dipped meatball - expression optional.

How is it that from year to year I always seem to forget that my "eyes are bigger than the stomach" which should make me be more conservative when buying dippers? Well, we stuffed ourselves as best we could but still had a table half-full of vegetables, bread and ham cubes. Good thing I know not afraid of making hearty omelettes from table scraps.

Speaking of hearty, I finally made something of that huge butternut squash Nico found in autumn. I used a Spiced Carrot and Butternut Squash Soup recipe from Gordon Ramsay (yes, Mr. Cursalot). I recommend it heartily. I had to puree it slightly as I didn't cut my squash into small enough blocks. I also didn't have carrots in the house so I used a can of yams instead. If you get a chance to try this, do. It was delish.

To those of you headed back to your workplace tomorrow, love and light. I include a photos of Hazel chomping on Christmas paper to cheer you.