A New Year and a Blogiversary

So I've had this blog for over 2 years now, and I'm starting to want to do a little more with it...like actually blog. I know if I don't put it up here, I will never hold myself to it. I have a tendency of writing my resolutions in pencil, so I can go back and erase any that might seem less doable farther into the year. I'll honestly consider it a success if I even manage to blog once a month, but of course I'll try and shoot for more. I do think about blogging occasionally. I tend to take loads of pictures of things that I make or cook when they are done, but then I never do anything with them. And so, I will start the year off with two such pictures I've taken in the last two weeks. The first is my beautifully ugly monkey bread.



I made it from a mix that my in-laws got me. It was deliciously sweet, but a little too sweet for only two people. We sadly couldn't finish it, but it was tons of fun to make. It's a very involved process. You make the dough, then let it rise, then roll it into a bunch of little balls (and its all gooey and sticks to your fingers), then the best part is dipping each little ball into butter and rolling it in a cinnamon and sugar mixture. Anyways, I think I'll try it again and just figure out a way to cut the sweetness.
The next picture was a special project I undertook for Mark. See his favorite food to order whenever we go to a pub is Shepherds Pie. They make a really good one at McGuire's Irish Pub in Pensacola. It is one of the few things we actually miss about that place (other than the great friends of course). So anyway, the local brewery out here has a Shepherds Pie on their menu, and we went there for Marks birthday last month only to be disappointed. It was too much like gravy stew with a dollop of potatoes on top. So I promised him I would find out how and make a Shepherds Pie just like McGuire's, and I DID IT!



Even down to the little Irish flag stuck in the top and the individual size casserole dishes, which by the way are not sold at Wal-Mart, Linens N'Things, or Bed Bath and Beyond. I finally found them at World Market and was ecstatic. Now onto the food, Shepherds Pie is NOT just meat with potatoes on top. It must be made with lamb; the Brits are very specific about this. See Shepherds watch sheep, and if it's anything else then it's not Shepherds Pie. In fact, if you make it with beef it should be called "Cottage Pie". Americans don't give a damn about semantics so we basically call anything Shepherds Pie. Almost all the recipes I found when searching for Shepherds Pie had something other than lamb. I pretty much made up my own recipe as I went, which is very unusual for me as I generally like to have very specific instructions when making something new. I used peas and carrots for the vegetables, and just Worcestershire sauce, garlic and thyme for seasonings (and salt and pepper of course). I am so pleased with how it turned out. This is really the ultimate comfort food and will become a winter standard along with chili in our house. It's very easy to make, and I think the little bowls make it more fun too. Dipping this out onto a plate creates a messy appearance, but serving it like this is just cute. So I'm on a little cooking kick lately, now I just need to get on a running kick.