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Shepherd’s Pie Recipe with Lamb

Shepherd’s Pie Recipe with Lamb

Shepherd's Pie Recipe with Lamb

As kids we’d get Shepherd’s Pie with beef.  Actually, it should be with lamb.  Shepherd: Sheppard's Pie with Lamb … get it? 

Shepherds take care of lambs, right!?  In actuality, Cottage Pie is what one would call the 'all beef' pie of the same nature.

So, my recipe contains both ground beef and ground lamb.  Some don’t fancy lamb.  (Some don't fancy pork.)

But this recipe still tastes like lamb but not a terribly strong a taste.

Please note, what I lack in culinary expertise, I make up in confidence and enthusiasm!

I’ll get on with it:

Ingredients For Shepherd's Pie Recipe With Lamb and Pork

1 Tablespoon of (I use Ghee-it handles heat better)  And I really use more than one tablespoon.  Some of the ingredients soak up the butter

1 Teaspoon Black pepper

1 pound ground lamb (or so)

1 pound of ground beef (or bison if you can get it)

1 large onion finely chopped

1 cup frozen peas

1 cup frozen corn

Thyme

Glass of red wine

2 Tablespoons of tomato paste

2 Tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce

2 Tablespoons of flour (or so)

1 Cup Chicken stock.  I use a beef stock as that’s what I have. A powdered bone broth.  You can see the photo in the image section.

Lots of mashed potatoes- you will need more than you think

1 Beaten Egg

Grated Asiage or some hard cheese

Salt to taste

And now…for the actual Shepherd’s Pie Recipe

Steam a large amount of potatoes while you are doing everything else.  I never peel the potatoes.  Some would find this offensive.  I like to get all the nourishment that I can.  And flavour.

  1. I chop a couple of large carrots finely and sauté for a while in Ghee.  I do these first because it takes a while to soften them.
  2. Remove carrots and sauté the onions.
  3. Remove the onions.
  4. Add the meat and cook till brown.  Some recipes call for removing the fat once cooked.  I never do.  There is way too much flavour there.  If things are too watery add a bit more flour later.  Season with Thyme and Pepper while cooking
  5. Add Peas, Corn and Carrots. Stir
  6. Add tomato paste, wine, and Worcestershire sauce
  7. Reduce a bit then add stock.
  8. You can add some salt anywhere along the line.
  9. Simmer until it is thick enough for your taste or you just can’t wait any longer because the smells are driving you crazy.
  10. Spoon the mixture into one or two glass dishes. 
  11. In there somewhere you have mashed the potatoes.  With lots of butter, milk or cream and salt.
  12. Spoon the mashed potatoes to cover the meat mixture.  Hopefully, you have enough potatoes to make a nice thick cover.
  13. Whisk an egg and baste the potato.
  14. Grate some hard cheese over the egg.
  15. Place in an oven for 20 minutes at 350

And now you are ready for dinner!

Remove from the oven, let sit for a few to let cool so that you don't burn your tongue!.

Don’t ignore the fact that you now have an open bottle of wine.

The Joy of Creating - Cooking

Cooking give me great pleasure.  Like I said earlier I’m not a culinary genius but I am pretty good at following directions!  And I truly love food. Because restaurants never compare to the flavours from cooking at home.

You will notice in this particular iteration of my Lamb Shepherd’s Pie, I kind of over filled the dish.  I should have had more potato which would have worked better with one large dish with one of the smaller ones to handle everything.

Please let me know if you do try the Shepherd’s Pie recipe!

Here is a link with a few more recipes with New Zealand Lamb

Posted by Cyril O in blog, 0 comments
Kayaking Queen Elizabeth Wildlands

Kayaking Queen Elizabeth Wildlands

Black River Kayaking - Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands

This kayak trip happened a couple of weeks ago.  We’ve been wanting to go kayaking in the Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands along the Black River for a number of years.  Never got around to it. I finally made sure I loaded the kayak racks into the car.  And made sure they made it up to the cottage.

Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands Provincial Park - Getting there!

Coming from Housey’s Rapids:  The road changes into Cooper's Falls Rd (or vice versa) at Black River Rd.  At that point turn onto Black River Road which takes you into Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands.  A few minutes from where you turn onto Black River Road, you will come to a fork in the road, or a turn off if you may.  A bridge to your right onto a road called Chisholm Trail (Route 6).  Don’t cross the bridge because you’ll be going the wrong way :)!  The rest of the road is pretty rough, consequently, really shouldn’t be called a road.  About half way to Victoria Falls, you will come to Rosebush Landing.  It’s easy to miss, so keep an eye out.  If you come to a wider section with a decent size, sandy parking are on the right, you have gone too far.  It is possible to put down there, if the water level is right.

Loading into the Black River in Queen Elizabeth Wildlands

At Rosebush Landing there is a winch and stairway/ladder designed to help get boats into the river.  There is enough of a bank at the bottom of the stairway to make is safe getting into the kayaks and into the water.  Thank you to the person or persons that installed this. We had a 12 foot and an 8 foot kayak, so we didn’t really need the which.  Though is was a lot of fun using it. 

As I mentioned there a couple of other spots that one can get in but at this point the Black River was several feet low making them a bit too difficult to access.

Below are three images of the area, each one drilled in a bit closer in to the launch site.

The Actual Kayak Ride Down the Black River

Our trip total was about 12 Kilometres.  At about the 9010 K mark, there are water falls. At a place called Big Eddy.  There is a 2-3 drop before the major falls which drop 10-15 feet or so.  Definitely a portage moment.  It was suggested that one climb down the left side which we did.  We parked the kayaks and did a little exploring on the little island in the middle of the falls. 

From there it was about 2 kilometres to Cooper’s Falls.  I tried to call my wife to come pick us up as we were close to the end.  Because the river was so far below the road level at this section, I got no reception.  Had to wait until we climbed out!

We'd done about 12km at this point and because it was getting late we exited the river just before Cooper's Falls.  Also, after Cooper’s Falls the river turns south and I'm pretty sure there are very few places convenient to exit. The river, from that point goes south then west then north and ends up near Washago or Severn Bridge.  No road alongside, as we had. 

I’m guessing it's at least another 20 plus Kilometres!

End of the Day

If you do this in the summer, bring bug spray.  We did this trip in the middle of September thus no bugs!   Earlier there would have been for sure.  Plenty of shade so not a big deal for the sun.  But even middle of September it was hot, so bring plenty of water.

Have fun.

More about Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands Here

My Photography Blog

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The Importance Of Living by Lin Yutang

The Importance Of Living by Lin Yutang

From “The Importance of Living” Chapter ‘On Playful Curiosity’

By Lin Yutang (written in 1937)

“It is for this reason that I hate censors and all agencies and forms of government that try to control our thought.  I cannot but believe that such a censor or such a ruler is wilfully or unintentionally insulting human intelligence.  If the liberty of though is the highest activity of the human mind, the the suppression of that liberty must be the most degrading to us as human beings.  Euripides defined the slave as a main who has lost this liberty of thought or opinion.  Every autocracy is a factory for turning out gorgeous Euripidean slaves. Don’t we have fine examples of them, East and West, in the twentieth century and at the very home of culture?  Ever autocratic government, no matter in what form, therefore, is intellectually retrograde. (retrograde:” Moving backward; having a backward motion or direction; retreating”)

We have seen it in the Middle Ages in general, and in the Spanish Inquisition in particular.  Short sighted politicians or clergymen may think that uniformity of beliefs and thought contributes toward peace and order, but historically the consequence is always depressing and degrading to the human character.  Such autocrats must have a great contempt for the people in general when they do not confine themselves to ordering a nation’s external conduct, but proceed also to regiment the people’s inner thoughts and beliefs.  They have a naive assurance that human minds will put up with this uniformity and that they will like or dislike a book or a concerto or a moving picture exactly as the official propagandist or chief of publicity bureau tells them to.  Every autocratic government has tried to confuse literature with propaganda, art with politics, anthropology with patriotism and religion with worship of the living leader. 

It simply can’t be done, and if the controllers of thought go too far in running against human nature itself, they are thereby sowing the seeds of their downfall.  As Mencius* put it, ‘if the ruler considers the people as blades of grass, then the people will consider there ruler asa  robber or enemy’. There is no greater robber in the world than he who robs us of our liberty of thought. Deprived of that, we might as well go down on all fours, the the whole biped experiment of walking on two legs a mistake, and revert to our earlier posture of at least some 30,000 years ago. 

In Mencian terms, therefore, the people will resent this robber as much as the latter despises the people, and exactly in the same proportion.  The more the robber takes away, the more the people hate him.  And as nothing is so precious and personal and intimate as our intellectual, moral or religious beliefs, no greater hatred can be aroused in us than by the man who deprives us of the right to believe what we believe.  But such short-sighted stupidity is natural in an autocrat, because I believe such autocrats are always intellectually retrograde. And the resilience of human character and unconquerable liberty of the human conscience always spring back and hit the autocrat with a vengeance.”

* Mencius was a Chinese Confucian philosopher who lived in the 4th century BCE. He was a prominent student of Confucius and is considered one of the most important Confucian philosophers after Confucius himself.

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The End of Capitalism: Crony Capitalism vs Entrepreneurial Capitalism

The End of Capitalism: Crony Capitalism vs Entrepreneurial Capitalism

Crony Capitalism vs Entrepreneurial Capitalism

Was having a chat with a friend the other day about capitalism.  Apparently, there is a lot of chatter on social media about the ‘end of capitalism’.  Other phrases used for this: ‘post-capitalism’ or post-growth’ or ‘post-capitalist economy”.

There is a quote that I love.  Comes in handy when two people seem to be having an argument.  One can easily help sort out an argument by using this.

“If you want to converse with me, define your terms.”

    • Voltaire

Important when it comes to discussing capitalism.  Odds are that if each person arguing, one for capitalism and one against; if each defined clearly what they thought capitalism was, the other might agree with their argument. 

Here are a couple of definitions that might help:

Crony Capitalism

The meaning of CRONY CAPITALISM is an economic system in which individuals and businesses with political connections and influence are favored (as through tax breaks, grants, and other forms of government assistance) in ways seen as suppressing open competition in a free market.

A bit more:

‘Crony capitalism’, sometimes also called simply cronyism, is a pejorative*(*belittling) term used in political discourse to describe a situation in which businesses profit from a close relationship with state power, either through an anti-competitive regulatory environment, direct government largesse, …

And here is how I think of capitalism:

“Entrepreneurial capitalism is a form of capitalism that emphasizes the role of entrepreneurs in creating new businesses and driving innovation. It is characterized by a focus on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are often seen as the engines of economic growth and job creation. In entrepreneurial capitalism, individuals with innovative ideas and a willingness to take risks start new businesses, creating new products and services that meet the needs of consumers.

This form of capitalism is often seen as the most pure and dynamic, as it allows for the free flow of ideas and resources, and the ability to adapt quickly to changing market conditions. Entrepreneurial capitalism is also associated with the concept of “creative destruction,” where old industries and businesses are replaced by new ones, leading to a more efficient allocation of resources and a more innovative economy.

(AI Generated answer) 🙂

This is one example but an important one considering the current state of affairs in the world.  Many young people think that socialism or communism might be a solution to what currently ails the world.

Again, one needs to define terms.  What is your concept of socialism? 

And if you destroy both sorts of capitalism, is that good?  Who is going to create the products that we all need to get through life.  Who are going to be the innovators.

The Chinese have a communist/socialist state. But they have, over the years squashed any sort of individualism, and as such, no innovation, no entrepreneurialism.  So, they have to steal ideas from capitalistic countries. Duh.

Pretty sure anyone with extreme views will not get this far in the article.  If you get this far and still feel the need to tear down ‘capitalism’, please try not to ‘throw out the baby with the bathwater’.

‘Define your terms!’

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How to Shut Down Anyone’s Argument

How to Shut Down Anyone’s Argument

Conspiracy Theories Are Evil

The Best Way to Shut Down An Argument

I love the phrase ‘conspiracy theory’.  If you don’t like someone else’s stand on a topic, you no longer have to explain your side or tell them factually why you think they are wrong. 

Simply refer to the other person’s information or point of view as a ‘conspiracy theory’ and you no longer have to justify yours.

It’s freaking brilliant!

You no longer have to do proper research on:

Climate Change

Drug Side Effects

Government Intervention or Spying

Russian Interference In USA Elections
Chinese Interference in Canadian Politics and Elections

Did One Man Kill John F. Kennedy?

Chem Trails

9/11 Attack on the Twin Tower/USA

Biden’s Connections to China

Voting Fraud

MK Ultra

Flat Earth

Wrestling is Fake

Aliens, Extraterrestrials and UFOs

All you have to do is figure out how the majority of people are leaning on a subject and tell anyone with a differing opinion that their idea is a  conspiracy theory.  And voila! - you win.  Any discussion or argument. 

You don’t have to ‘define your terms’ or have facts to back you up or any such thing. 

Life is so much easier that way.

Posted by Cyril O in blog, 0 comments