The first time I had Shepherd's Pie was when I visited my friend, Jarrod, and his wife, Susse, in London. It was also the first time I was meeting Susse. Susse was radiant Scottish sunshine. She was totally at ease and totally charming; she chatted with me while sautéing chopped onions and ground meat with one hand and sipped from a glass of red wine with the other. She tossed in some frozen veggies, stirred a packet of Colman's Shepherd's Pie seasonings in a bowl with some water and poured it into the sizzling pot of ground meat and onions. The meat mixture was poured into a casserole dish, covered with mashed potatoes, a fork-tined crosshatch pattern was drawn over the top and then popped into the oven; along with a salad, dinner was cooked and on the table in about an hour. We chatted and laughed for hours. Did I mention it was a weeknight? Even though I didn't grow up eating it, Shepherd's Pie will forevermore be comfort food to me, thanks to that completely relaxed and warmhearted meal.
For today's musical accompaniment, here's Don't You (Forget About Me) by Simple Minds. Why? Well...
- It's a Scottish band - reference Susse
- Lead singer Jim Kerr was married to Chrissie Hynde (she's American) - Jarrod and I were interns at Smart Design in New York
- Jarrod and I started our internships on the same date, twenty years ago as of last week. If we don't cross paths (we rarely do), we always email on our Intern Start Date Anniversary, keeping tabs on what's going on in each other's lives, regardless of where we are in the world.
- And lastly, The Breakfast Club was a seminal movie.
So, hop over to YouTube and hop back because there's a Shepherd's Pie going in the oven and you're making it! Happy Friday!
Click to read more ...