Recipe: Smokey Turkey Shepherd's Pie

I've actually made this recipe quite a few times now, but just keep on forgetting to blog about it.  Rachel Ray's Smokey Turkey Shepherd's Pie is a great recipe that I definitely want to share with you.  There is quite a lot of prep needed for the recipe, since there are so many veggies you have to chop up into small similarly sized pieces.  I look at it as a good way to practice my knife skills.  I would say this recipe takes about an hour and 15 minutes once you've done it a few times and don't need to stop and stare at the directions every 5 seconds to keep cooking.  

I usually start the potatoes first since they take the longest. You can three large potatoes, but lately I've been getting a small container of baby Yukon golds and boiling them up.  It makes for less chopping since the little ones don't really need cutting up to cook fast.  

Another substitution I make is the meat.  I started using ground turkey, but since have prepared this with meatloaf mix and ground beef.  All three work great and are very yummy.  

After I get all the meat and veggies cooking in the pan and get the sauce going at a good simmer, the potatoes are usually fork tender.  I let the meat and veggies cook down in the sauce while I mash up the little potatoes with the butter, sour cream and egg.  Then they are all ready to go when I want to put everything in the casserole dish.  

I do find that I really need to season the meat, veggies and potatoes quite aggressively.  For some reason these ingredients seem to be flavor black holes, devouring anything I throw at them.  So, in the interest of keeping your family happy, I highly recommend that you season as you go so you get things just right.  I add salt and pepper each time you add more ingredients and then taste things to make sure they are to your liking.  I for one add at least double if not triple the amount of cumin/paprika, but I know that my husband and I really like highly seasoned foods, so it makes sense. 

Finally everything goes into the broiler to get the potatoes all nice and crispy.  I usually put this in for 15 to 20 minutes and quite a distance from the heating coils on the oven.   You can always put it in for longer, but it's kind of hard to de-char your casserole :-) 

I like having my shepherd's pie with salad and maybe another veggie on the side.  Seeing as hubbie isn't a bog fan of corn and I absolutely adore it, I just snuck some in on the side for myself the last time. 

Card Class with Basic Grey and Hero Arts

 

Last night I took a card making class with Jenn Shurkus, the creative chick, and this time she had us create six wicked cute cards using papers from Basic Grey and stamps from Hero Arts.  The papers we used are from Basic Grey's 6x6 Life of the Party Collection.  We only used a little bit of the paper in the pack, so I still have a ton of different papers left over that I can play with, which is definately a huge bonus!  

Image courtesy of Basic Grey

The stamps we used are from the Hero Arts Spring 2011 collection.  You can view that collection by looking through their online catalogue.  The stamps we used featured cupcakes, cotton candy and ice cream just to name a few.  We also made use of Copic Markers, flock, stickles and lots of glitter (which I think I still might have on my face, lol) to make the cards eye catching.  Well, I think I've managed to talk about the cards enough, how about I actually show them to you?

Hmmm, didn't realize I made that sentiment so crooked... oh well!

I miss you cupcake!



With this card, Jenn  taught us how to use extra layers of foam tape to really give our cards depth.



This is what happens when you are stingy (or lazy) with your glue pen when you are using flock.  My bad!  It still looks cute though :-)

Must get a craft stapler!!! Because big staples don't look right...

More CUPCAKES!  And my favorite card of the much.  So simple, yet so striking.



A Work In Progress Wednesday Without a WIP

So, I've been kind of working single mindedly on just one project lately.  It is almost done, but I don't really want to talk much about it until it is actually completed.  While I have worked on my Simple Beginners Toe Up Socks, I haven't really done anything worth reporting.  Since I have no wood wip's to show you I'm instead going to show you everything that is languishing in my pile of hibernating projects.  After I finish my main project, I am hoping to get back to these sadly neglected ones that are calling out t in an effort to guilt myself into working on them.  Currently they are softly calling to me like the tell tale heart under the floorboards.... 

These projects are the most egregiously neglected:

Teal Forest Scarf

- started 8/27/2009 -

My first try at lace knitting.  It was hard, I got bored, or preoccupied... or something.  I put this down ages ago and since have done lots of lace and am fairly comfortable with the techniques involved.  I bet I could whip this out in notime!

Medieval Hooded Scarf

- started 9/11/2009, frogged 11/8/2009, made corrections to pattern 8/11/2010 -

This was my second attempt at lace and first encounter with a badly written pattern without any errata available to help me.  I tried making this several times, ripped it out each time and then put it down for almost a year.  At that point a knitsib mentioned that I should chart out the pattern to figure out what was wrong.  I did and have managed only this swatch of the pattern.  Some day I have to declare my victory over the pattern and actually make the darned thing!  Maybe I'll even get to finally wear it to King Richard's Faire like I originally planned.  It's pretty chilly when I go there, so the hooded scarf would have been a good costume element to have.

Medieval Pouch

- started 8/31/2010 -

This is yet another King Richard's Faire projects.  I started it for last year and then quickly realized I wasn't going to be able to go due to having all my weekends booked :-(  So, that's why I stopped mid project.  I had no more motivation. I actually think I need to rip back a few rews just to make the griffins not pucker so much.  It's tough when you are carrying yarn behind 16 or so stitches... no matter what there seems to never be enough slack. 

Autumn Round Ripple Afghan

- started 11/14/2010 -



Ok, so this one isn't so bad.... I powered through this afghan back in November but quickly ran out of yarn and had to stop.  Please note that I cannot proceed without more of said yarn.  You think that might enter my head and oh say, motivate me to purchase more.... nah!  Anyway, I love this project and it will be going on the back of my couch once finished.  It has no deadline, hence it's half finished existance.





Ten on Tuesday: Ten Things I Love About My Family

The Molliwog

I know this is about family, but I do have some very close friends (and animals) who I consider to be family in addition to those both biologically related or via marriage. You know who you are :-)

1) They are always there for me... whether I'm happy, sad, or indifferent. 

2) They love unconditionally despite my (many) shortcomings.

3) They put up with me constantly talking about whatever knitting, crocheting, stamping or other random project I'm working on.

4) They are extremely generous with their time.

5) They are willing to tell me things I don't want to hear, but need to hear anyway.

6) They are ready to give me an opinion and advice whenever I ask for it, or they think I need it.

7) They are excellent at encouragement and suppport me in whatever new thing I want to try.

8) They make me stop and think, not just go through my life in my own bubble, focused on my own issues and wants.

9) They hold me accountable for my actions.

10) And last but not least... they are all wonderful, hilarious, loving people and I am very blessed to have them in my life!

A Very Happy Birthday Card for Mr. Harley Kitten Shurkus

In honor of her very cute kitty's 3rd birthday, my favorite crafting instructor, Jenn Shurkus, is hosting a raffle on her blog.  In order to enter we needed to make a birthday card just for Mr. Harley and send it to her.  I'm coming in just under the wire and submitting it just after midnight on April 13th rather than on Mr. Harley's birthday, but I think he'll forgive me.  I had a pretty long day and he is a very sweet guy.  

Materials I used to make this card:

• Stampendous - Kitty Silhouettes clear stamp set
• a muse - Happy Everything clear stamp set
• Ichiyo- Cat with long tail stamp (not the real name, couldn't find it online)
• a muse square note cards (unavailable)
• Shake it Up - mini mat stack papers
• Memento Ink - Tuxedo Black
• Dew Drop Versamagic Ink - Pretty Petunia
• Spica Glitter Pen in Olive
• a muse olive ribbon
• foam tape
• mono adhesive
• patience of a saint

So, while this wasn't what I had planned to do originally, it came out nice and I am happy.  I need to exercise my paper crafting and stamping juices more often... this card took me way to long to finally figure out.  Oh well, hopefully more stampy goodness to come in the future!

 I hope you had a wonderful birthday Harley!!

Edited for spelling and grammar issues.  Apparently, one shouldn't blog tired ;-)

Ten on Tuesday: 10 Favorite Snacks

1) Nature Valley Nut Clusters - Just found these when I was picking up as stack at a gas station a few weeks ago.  I was shocked to find such a healthy option.

2) Sensible Portions Veggie Chips and Straws - Another gas station find.  Perhaps HESS should be the place I start looking when I crave new and different snack foods... two out of ten favorites isn't bad. 

3) Stop & Shop Bruscetta Salad on french bread - Had my frst taste of this snack in a long time this weekend.  I totally forgot how yummy it is.  Too bad it seems like a seasonal item at my store.

4) Hood Cottage Cheese with Pineapple - A great sweet and creamy treat.  Almost feels like I'm eating dessert... almost.

5) Quaker Chewie Snack Bars - Good to throw in your pocket when you are running around and very busy.  I really like the chocolate chip ones.

6) Granny Smith Apples and Peanut Butter - Just the right amount of tart, sweet and salty!

7) Blue Diamond Bold Flavors Almonds - My favorites are Wasabi & Soy and Smokehouse.  Very filling and good for you if ou can stick to the serving size.

8) Celery Sticks and Blue Cheese Dressing - A nod to Rick on the Knit Wits Podcast... I must admit this snack is fantastic so long as you aren't trying to record a podcast while you're eating.  Best podcasting bit ever!  Sir, your snark is epic!

9) Bagel, Pepperoni and Blue Cheese Dressing - Might as well continue with the blue cheese theme!  This snack goes back to when I used to do live action role play (LARPing) with some of my friends back in college.  We'd pack up and head down to CT for a weekend and live off of a cooler until Sunday night when we would leave and go out for dinner.  This bagel sandwich was great because you only needed to refridgerate it after the packages were opened and most of the time there wasn't any leftovers to worry about in the first place. 

10) Curry English Muffins - My mom used to make these for us on Christmas eve and they are fantastic!  They are a mixture of olives, curry and cheese served on top of an english muffic and toasted.  So very yummy and a Loranz Family Tradition.

A Walk on the Beach

This past weekend, hubbie and I were able to get away for the first time since Christmas.  While we didn't have a particularly busy weekend planned, we did get to spend some quality time together and relax.  We started off  with a nice walk on the beach.  While it was still a bit chilly and windy, it was a nice walk and I was able to finally take some pictures of something that wasn't snow or full of the blandness of color that winter provides.  

Self portraiture at it's finest... in high winds, lol.



No problem!  Too damn cold to swim anyway :)

A tiny jetty in the middle of the beach.  Perfect for perching AND taking project photos!

I finally was able to get a nice picture of my finished Checkers Scarf crocheted in Cherry Tree Hill in the limited edition colorway Afflication Anyone?

After our little beach excusrion we went home and worked on our craft of choice.  Brian worked on his Warhammer 40K minis.  This is his form or relaxation, whereas I spent my time crocheting and reading.  Then we went out to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants.  It was a wonderful day and I can't wait until we can do something like this again!