Knorr Shepherds Pie

It would not surprise too many people if I made the comment it was another busy day, right? 

Today being the first of the Month, and April's Fool Day at that, meant most of my morning was spent doing some Crabby Cabbie billing.  

I also had to stop downtown to get a couple of errands ran.  

Since it was April Fools Day, and since I had to drop into Pinkerton's Carquest to pay our bill I thought I would take the opportunity to pull a prank off on owner, Eric.  I calmly sat there asking him if it would be any problem to change the bill from Rob's name into mine, as I had taken over the Cab Business.  Eric said, "no problem".  I quickly came back with, "oh great as Rob and I have split up".  His mouth dropped opened, whereas I could not hold it in any longer by saying, "April Fool".  I was good for my prank and a great laugh of the day !!!  

Thanks goodness Eric is a good sport, and I have known him for the past 11 years.  His wife had a chuckle about it with me too.

The mail arrived later today, along with it the 2014 Bruce Peninsula Telephone Directory.

It is still weird seeing The "Crabby Cabbie in print, but hopefully this bit of advertising will help us shine this Year.

Rob has an out of town trip this evening.  This afternoon we all made "quiet" so he could get some sleep.  He has had a sore throat since yesterday, and I am always worried about him getting too run down.

I was very excited today to find out Rob will be able to drive me this upcoming Saturday on the Annual Kemble Maple Syrup Tour.  This is good news, as otherwise I would probably not have gone should I have had to drive myself, and besides we had such a great time two years ago.  I am looking forward to us having a great lunch together as well at the Kemble Church.

Full details on the Kemble Maple Syrup Tour can be found by going HERE.

I thought I would make him one of his favourite Dinners today.  Since it is easy to make and full of flavour goodness I decided on a Knorr Shepherd's Pie.

This is one of the best Shepherd's Pie I have ever made (other then my own recipe using leftover Roast Beef Gravey).  It was very much enjoyed by both Rob and myself.

Recipe please?  FOR A PRINTABLE RECIPE PLEASE *CLICK* HERE.

I had problems with my laptop loading this evening (I am thinking it is barely 2 years old, please do not give up the ghost on me yet).  Between that and getting the Dinner dishes done up, I got a late start going on this blog post.

All in all it was a day with some progress made in the paperwork department, but I am afraid all household chores otherwise were put on hold this day, Just North of Wiarton & South of the Checkerboard.

LOTS More Again !

Routine is good for the Soul, or so I think.  I crave some type of routine, as I think many of us do.  Routine also grounds me at times.   My mornings usually begin turning on the kettle, stoking up the wood stove, having a coffee while I catch up on social networking via Facebook and catch-up on Blog reading, let Bandit out, going out with Lexus with now checking on four little ones, out with Mercedes and lastly out with Buddy, make the bed, then carry on with the day after all of that has first been accomplished.

I had to run some errands downtown Wiarton today, but I wasn't going anywhere until I cleaned the mess off my vehicle.

"This is what a vehicle looks like after sitting for 4 days after over a foot of snow had fallen.  Oh yes underneath all that snow there was still ice to be scraped off."

Errands some days are very time consuming, this day taking up the majority of my morning.  The rest of the day I did a bit of this and a bit of that, nothing really much that stands out other then a little mishap I wasn't very happy about.

"Going down the stairs I brushed this photo of my Great Aunt Lizzie and my Paul when he was a month old.  Aunt Lizzie was celebrating her 90th Birthday in this photo 30 years ago.  At this time Paul had been the youngest and Aunt Lizzie the oldest in our family.  Now I need to find an old frame I can take the glass from to replace this one.  The sad part about this is I had just thrown two out last week when I was decluttering.  Yes good Old Murphy strikes again !"

When I was reading some of my favourite blogs this morning, I had been taken aback at seeing two recipes I had made and shared on a couple of Blog "Linky" parties had been featured.  What a surprise to see my photos on another's blog post.

The Hamburg Soup was featured at Ms. enPlace's "See Ya in the Gumbo" , hosted by Michelle.

and

Grandma's Cinnamon Cake was featured at Feeding Big and more, hosted by Cynthia.

Thank you ladies for being such lovely hostesses.  It really is a pleasure to participate in such a wonderful Foodie network, with all the hard work these ladies have put into them for others like myself.

Speaking of food? for tonight's Dinner I made the Knorr Shepherd's Pie, which I do believe will be a favourite of both Rob and myself.  Not only is preparation very easy, the dish is full of flavour and goodness.

"How can anything with so much colour not be good?  I even added to the recipe this evening by throwing in a handful of garden fresh peas I had in the freezer.  Into the casserole it goes, then to be topped by a can of Creamed Corn and mashed potatoes which I had added a splash of milk to as I mashed them."

"We had just finished eating not too long ago, but looking at these photos my mouth is still watering on how good it was ..... really good."

Recipe please?  JUST *CLICK* HERE.

I am also happy to report, even though it has not been "dusted" off, my treadmill was put back into commission today with me being the operator.  Wish me luck on continuing daily ... goodness knows I need all the luck I can get on the best of days.

Oh by the way, LOTS More Again? that would be SNOW !!!  It is still coming down, so I suspect should I need to go out again tomorrow I will be cleaning off my Van once again, "Just North of Wiarton & South of the Checkerboard".

Another "Happy Tail" It Is !

It was a very very loooooong day today.  This is the way it seems when one has been awake since 2:00 am. Really with the weekend I had just had I really expected I would have slept like a "log" last night.  Fat chance, as it that was far from happening.

Rob put his "Crabby Cabbie" hat on going out the door by 6:30 am., all the "Checkerboard Aussies" were out, fed and petted.  Speaking about "out" it was quite a blustery day outside today with high winds at times along with torrents of rain against the windows.  Actually temperature wise it had been very mild.

I didn't get too much done today ...

"However slow motion I was going I did manage to get this one corner cleaned from woodstove ashes and dust, along with the window cleaned and its ledges."

Oh yes I also wrote out a letter to send off to an employer commending on how wonderful and helpful their employee had been to myself and a couple others I personally know.  Usually we are guaranteed to hear all the "negative", so I think we should start practising putting forth the "positive".  I work on this daily, or try to.

I had four very happy "Checkerboard Aussies this day.  Expressions tell ALL !!!

"It is ALL in the eyes, is it not?  They all enjoyed every morsel of the Homemade Peanut Butter Doggie Treats gifted to them by Aimee of the Craftmates.  Thanks Aimee from Bandit, Lexus, Missy Mercedes and Buddy !"

Go figure, when Buddy got his treat I never had my camera with me.  Next time when I have my pockets full of treats maybe?

This afternoon I could have very easily slipped off into a mindless sleep I am sure, but with phone calls it was not to be.  A bit of "Crabby Cabbie" business, then bit of good news by way of an acquaintance finding out she just became a Grandparent for the very first time this past Friday.  Ahh...to experience being a parent is really something, but to become a Grandparent is a second chance on embracing love yet again ....

I had just been browsing "Cindy's Recipe Exchange" a bit on Facebook when a posting popped up on one of the Swaps.

"A home was being sought out for this 3 year old sweetie, as her Human is suffering with Cancer with worry about finding her a good home through friends."

I immediately put in two phone calls to persons I knew had both recently had their own animals released from this World as they had been suffering incurable diseases, both at very good "dog" years.

One friend was unable to at this time; not because they would not have liked to but because there had been their own medical situation going on at this time; not a suitable time to bring a new pet into a home.  The next call I  had returned, but they wouldn't have time to open the email I had sent them this evening, so it was left at that.

It was barely an hour or so later when the phone rang from the second person again.  She had been given a "sign" of some sort and was calling to tell me she would be opening the email and would call me right back again.  The call came back the third time saying, "YES they will take the dog and go get her tomorrow".  I called the Contact person, gave them her name that she would be calling them.  It has all been arranged and Blondie will be going to her new Forever Home tomorrow, and an excellent home I might add with almost a "perfect" match I am almost certain of this.

I am thrilled to say, "Another Happy Tail It Is" !  which makes me happy by making someone else very happy, with a wagging tail and a smile to boot !

By the time all this had all gone down I had begun making Dinner for myself and Rob.

"What's For Dinner, Knorr?  All the fixings out and ready to go  for a .... "

"With the meat, carrot and onion sauteed, and the Cream Style Corn spread over top, it was time to mash the potatoes to spread over top of all, then into the 400*F Oven for 30 minutes."

"Thirty minutes later, with a 10 minute "leave sit" time, brought us this amazing Comfort food to our plate for a Hearty Knorr Shepherd's Pie Dinner.  Oh Yum it was Good !"

Rob loved this version of Shepherd's Pie.  It was very Easy Peasy as 1-2-3, much to my liking to be added as a "keeper" to the ever growing pile of recipes I keep managing to accumulate.  Would this surprise anyone who knows me?  Ha !  I think not.

Recipe please, Knorr?  Just *click* HERE.

I not only got to try out a new recipe, I got to use my new Paderno Ceramic Fry pan and my Epicure Stoneware for the very first time too.  Three very pleasing experiencing all within an hour's time.

A crazy thought here, but I am so dang, dang, triple dang tired.   I believe my eyeballs are going to fall out of my head soon.  I believe on that note it would be a good time to say "sweet dreams" as I hopefully head off to a good nights sleep soon, "Just North of Wiarton & South of the Checkerboard".