Dixie-Style Dining: Shepherd’s Pie

Happy Monday, friends!  I hope you all had a wonderful St. Patrick’s Day weekend!  It was actually a bit of a busy weekend for us here at the Confessions house.  It’s Monday night and I have to admit, I’m pretty tired for 8:30 p.m.!

We spent the weekend celebrating some special birthdays, including my nephew Jerry’s 4th birthday! 

I got to dance with some friends at a fun St. Pat’s Zumba class… and then another fun class on Sunday!

And I even had time to make a special Irish meal for our family.  This recipe for Shepherd’s Pie is really special to my family.  My grandmother would make it for us when we would visit her and my grandfather in Philadelphia.  It was always one of our very favorite meals.  We would spend the day out shopping or visiting relatives and when we would come home, the Shepherd’s Pie would be ready to go in the oven. 

We loved asking her, “Did you go out and kill a shepherd today?”  And she loved to play along and say she did.  Don’t judge our weird family conversations, please.

Dixie’s Shepherd’s Pie

I know Shepherd’s Pie traditionally has peas and carrots mixed in with the beef, but my grandmother didn’t make it that way, so I didn’t either.  I’m actually not even sure whether her version had onions with the beef, but I went ahead and added some for flavor. 

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. ground beef (I used extra lean)
• 1/2 small yellow onion, finely chopped
• worchestire sauce and/or any other flavorings you like (Our family likes Maggi’s seasoning.)
• 5-6 potatoes peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1/2 cup skim milk (use more or less for mashed potato creaminess)
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• salt, to taste
• medium cheddar, sliced (enough to cover casserole)

Prep: Place potato in boiling water.  Cook until fork-tender.  While potatoes cook, brown beef and onions together.  Add seasonings.  Add 1 tsp. cornstarch dissolved into 1/2 cup cold water to the beef mixture.  Cook for 1-2 minutes, then reduce heat.  When potatoes are tender, add milk, butter, and salt, and mash with electric mixer until desired consistency is reached. 

Layer in casserole dish: beef mixture, potatoes, and top with the slices of cheddar cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees or until the pie is warmed through and the cheese is nice and bubbly. 

 

Technically, this is much easier to serve if you let it stand for about 5-6 minutes after it is out of the oven… but sometimes you just can’t wait that long, you know?  We won’t judge you. ;)

Enjoy!

Birthday Weekend Number Two

I know we had a special birthday weekend last weekend!  Sadie turned four.  This weekend it was my turn!  Sadie’s and my birthdays are just 5 days apart, so we do a lot of celebrating this time of year!  I thought I would do a “weekend highlights” post today.  We had a busy weekend as usual around here!

On Friday, we had our 2nd annual “Souper Bowl Tailgate.”  Last year we had a soup/chili cookoff, and we decided to do it again this year.

I liked the “shots” of soup!  This method lets you try lots of different soups!

I think my favorite was the chili made with venison. 

Friday afternoon, we took Sadie for her very first gymnastics lesson.  She absolutely loved it.  She was able to practice walking on the balance beam, do a forward and backward roll, and start working on a handstand!

From there, we headed to our church for a silent auction to help raise money for Global Missions.  We had lots of fun socializing, eating some delicious food, and I even won a basket of goodies, including a manicure!  I am looking forward to using that! 

On Saturday, we celebrated my birthday!  I spent the day at a dance-fitness workshop, and then enjoyed dinner at a local restaurant with Ryan and Sadie.  Of course we had cake afterwards! 

Carrot cake!  My favorite!

Whew!  What a packed weekend!  Tonight I am looking forward to relaxing and watching The Super Bowl halftime show and commercials.  I don’t really care about the game!  I’ve never been too into football.  This is one of the first times we have ever just been at home for the Super Bowl!  I am planning to make a fun dip I sampled at Trader Joe’s and also some oven-fried chicken nuggets with BBQ dipping sauce.  How about you?  Any fun plans for tonight???

No Words Needed…

January 31, 2012…

Annual Birthday Weekend!

Hi there!  I bet you’re wondering where I have been!  It’s been a week since I posted last.  That’s one of the longest breaks from m y blog that I have taken in the year and a half that I have been blogging.  I guess sometimes it is bound to happen.  Last week was really busy.  We were trying to get ready for a special birthday weekend!  ;)

Sadie’s official birthday is Tuesday, but we were celebrating this weekend.  We started Saturday morning with a fun party at a local gymnastics studio (?). 

Sadie was so excited about her party.  She couldn’t wait to jump and play with her friends!  I think everyone was successfully worn out afterwards!

   

Ryan and I can’t believe we have a little girl who is almost 4!  Time goes by so quickly! One advantage of writing a blog is that I can easily look back and see what we were doing a year ago.  Here are two links from this weekend last year!

• Partying With the Chick Fil A Cow
• Early Birthday Brunch and Veggie Pizza

We were so happy that Leenie, Poppy, Meredith, David, Adrienne, and Paul could all come to spend the weekend with us.  AND all their dogs came, too!  We had a full house, but it was a lot of fun! 

(brother-in-law David and my mom aka Leenie)

(Adrienne and Paul—the newlyweds!)

(Dad aka Poppy and sister Meredith)

(Sadie, me, Ryan)

We enjoyed a fun lunch at Sixpence Pub.  I had to get the fish and chips… it’s my favorite thing there.  I have had fish and chips other places… but it’s really delicious here.

Later, there was family time.  With all the company in the house, we had to make some room.  Sadie graciously gave up her bedroom to Adrienne and Paul.  She had a campout in our room.  

And then there was a lot of oooh-ing and ahhh-ing at this little puppy.

Meet Gracie, my mom and dad’s new little puppy.  She is such a playful little thing and she is so friendly!  She is as soft as she looks.  What a cutie!

This morning, we had a birthday brunch for me  at my favorite brunch spot: The Terrace Cafe.  Technically my birthday isn’t for a week, but we went ahead and celebrated while everyone was together!

I never get tired of going here!  The food is always wonderful and so is the service.  I guess that is why it is always packed!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! 

Restaurant Week Cheat on Eat-In-Month

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!  This was another nice weekend in the Confessions house!

Saturday was a really dreary, rainy day.  It seems like we’ve been having a lot of rain lately!  I really kinda wish it was snow!  This has definitely been the most up-and-down winter I have ever experienced, temperature-wise.  Today it was 40 degrees.  Tuesday it will be almost 70.  Mother nature is playing a fun little game with us.  Saturday morning, Sadie was invited to another birthday party, so we spent the morning partying.  Take a look at this video… wouldn’t you like to try this?  I sure would!  Next week, Sadie is actually having her birthday party at this same place.  Do you think they will let me try it out?

Then I had to head out in the pouring rain on a super-secret birthday present mission.  I’ve had my eye on a certain special gift for a certain little girl who is turning FOUR in just 9 days.  (I can’t believe it!)  The certain item I have been wanting was a little tricky to find, but I was able to locate it in a store 20 miles away.  I had to move quickly to grab it, which meant going out for a drive in the pouring rain.  It was a gross day, but I was successful!  Yay!  (I am sorry, friends, but I can’t reveal the super-secret present yet!  You’ll have to stay tuned!)

I got back home just in time to get showered, dressed, go vote, and head out for an evening with friends!

 

I know it is Eat-In Month, but it is also Restaurant Week here in Charlotte, so we decided to use our cheat a little.  We were heading to Dressler’s.  Ryan and I had never been there before, so it was fun to try out a new spot.  And of course it was fun to go out for an adult evening with friends!

Dirty Martini to start it all off…

 

For appetizers, Ryan and I chose Crispy Thai Calamari and The Wedgie.  Both were delicious.  I gave Ryan most of the calamari, but it was so good.  Crispy and a tiny bit spicy and sweet, too!  The Wedgie was crisp and crunchy.  It’s crazy how something so simple can taste so good.

Ryan went with steak for the main course (not pictured) and I chose Maryland Crab Cakes. 

I loved the crab cakes.  They had lots of crab in them.  I hate when it’s all filling and not so much crab.  That was not the case here.

And we finished things up with Apple Crisp for Ryan (ice cream on top)…

and Mom’s Cheesecake for me.  This cheesecake was divine.  Very fluffy and light. 

After eating in all month long, it was such a treat to eat out and to also eat such a delicious meal.  The service and the food was excellent.  It was worth it to cheat.  :)  I have to confess… we may be cheating again next weekend, too.  We’re looking forward to having some of our favorite people come and visit us, and I have a feeling there may be a few meals eaten out.  But I am really proud of us for making it all the way to January 21 without eating out! 

Reader Question: Where is your favorite place to eat out or get take-out?  What’s your favorite menu item?

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.  Now… it’s time to gear up for another week!