Shepherd's Pie - better than a couple of aspirin.

There are many different types of foodstuffs that are referred to as "medicinal".  A nip of brandy, a sherry before dinner, chicken soup - all qualify.

In our family, however, it is - without doubt - the Shepherd's Pie.

Whenever someone has been grievously ill, you know they're feeling better when they will accept some Shepherd's Pie - and you know that it will do them so much good, that they'll be well on the way to recovery thereafter.

Take when I had Shingles.  Now Shingles is a horrid thing at the best of times - but on your face (from my chin to the top of my head) is especially nasty.  Add to that a secondary infection and you can just begin to imagine how ill I was.  Knocking on the door of not being here, in fact.  I can well remember lying in bed wishing for Shepherd's Pie.  Dreaming about Shepherd's Pie.  I eventually asked hubby whether he could make me a Shepherd's Pie and of course he was straight into the kitchen, rattling pots and pans.

That Shepherd's Pie was of life-saving quality.  The first forkful, carried weakly to my mouth, was absolutely ambrosial.  Every forkful thereafter brought with it a little more nutrition, a little more energy - and ultimately, more life.

I can remember that, from that moment onwards, the slow creep back to normality began.

Shepherd's Pie was on the menu list for tonight - and my goodness, but did hubby do it justice?  You bet he did.  From the mashed potato that was mashed with double cream, butter, sea salt & freshly ground pepper, to the lamb mixture that included onion, carrot, celery and stock enrichened with a little sweet sherry and tomato puree.  He gave it his all.

My only regret was that we had a guest for dinner tonight, so there wasn't any leftovers.  Ah well, all the more reason to put another one on the menu list, very soon!

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