Friday, July 23, 2010

Shepard's Pie


Shepard's Pie
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel
Every family has their moments. One of my stories revolves around a casserole that my mother called Shepard's Pie. My husband's family calls this Chinese Pie. Nobody is right. I just call it supper.

My mother told me that she used to make this once a week. My father ate almost no vegetables and forced himself to eat a tiny salad. I don't think that this was unusual for a family of the early 1950s but it sure made for a boring cooking routine.

One day, my mother and father has a fight. About what I don't know. I wasn't there or I was a tiny baby. My mother made this meal. She put it in two small casserole dishes. Hers had vegetables; dad's did not.

She put them in the oven to heat up so it would make the mashed potato brown and crunchy. Since they were not speaking to each other she let the dishes stay too long in the oven. When they sat down to eat at the tiny kitchen table, they had to blow on each forkful to cool it off. They started to laugh at how silly they must have looked and the fight was over

Today, I make this with "gravy in a jar" and instant mashed potatoes. But, my husband always says, "Oh, boy, Chinese Pie!"

1 comment:

Bobbie in Maine said...

I am glad I am not the only one who uses instant potatoes. I think that brand you have in your photo is the best yet. I am not a fan of instant potatoes but those you almost can't tell the difference. I have always called it Shepard's pie but I have heard it called both.