Shepherd's Pie

Yes, for those of you who know my past, today was a "Shepherd's Pie" day. Big Smile right?

Before I go into that, let me just say that today has actually been a really nice, peaceful day. The kids were exceptionally well-behaved at church which was such a relief to me. All of the church meetings were inspiring and generally enJOYable :-). So, those things all bring a smile and sense of peace to my soul, but none brought out actual laughter, which is OK for today. Because, (take a deep breath), I am going to share a "funny" from my past.

For dinner, I made Shepherd's Pie. It was delicious and my stomach is very happy tonight. Needless to say, my Shepherd's Pie experience isn't all delicious and happy.

When I was in college, I had planned to catch a ride north back to school after a weekend visit home, with my cousin (super nice - Troy). Our plan was to meet at my oldest brother's home in Utah, load some plates up with dinner and begin the trek northward. Prior to this occasion, my parents had been very good at loading me up with compliments about how my shepherd's pie was just the best in the world. There couldn't have been another Shepherd Pie maker better than me. Or so we ALL thought :-).

I knew many mouths would need to be fed for dinner on this particular day, so instead of using real potatoes, as I had always done (and c'mon, I am from Idaho, would I have possibly considered an alternative? And, actually admit it?), I thought I would go the easy route and use fake potatoes (cue the horror music) for this batch. And, batch it was. I am telling you, I made the biggest pan of Shepherd's Pie that can be conceived. Normal families in this "day and age" DO NOT have pans the size of the one I used for this batch. I happily prepared the meat and shredded the cheese. When it came time to do the fake potatoes, I cheerfully talked with my sisters (can I throw them under the bus in this story -- I am sure blame-shifting could come in handy about now) and dumped a bunch of fake potato dust in a pan. When it came time for the salt, I must have really (I will repeat for effect) really been distracted. Instead of adding, maybe 3 tablespoons of salt, I added something like two cups of salt.

I continued on my merry way. Down in Utah, I pulled out this ginormous pan of Shepherd's Pie, everyone oohing and ahhing, mouths watering (this could be foreshadowing) over how good it would be. I put it in the oven at my brother's and chatted with many family members while it baked. My cousin arrived just in time for me to pull out the Shepherd's Pie and load up our plates with it. We took off.

I was in the kind of mode (and my cousin was just WAY too nice to say anything rude) to simply keep taking bites and thinking, "hmm, this might be a bit salty". I probably finished my whole plate. My heart will probably forever reap the consequences of taking in so much sodium.

I don't even remember my family contacting me about the dinner after I arrived at my apartment. I must have gotten some kind of feedback, but I don't remember it. Apparently, my oldest, wisest brother helped himself to such a huge portion and first bite that his reaction was warning to the rest of the family to stay away. All I know is, I simply can't even show up to a family event now without one of my family members bringing up, "Hey, did you bring some Shepherd's Pie"?