Shepherds Pie, my oh my!

My oh my, what a day I had yesterday!

It started out as a normal day. Woke up at 6:45, went to the gym to meet my friend but she didn't show up (don't worry, I didn't show up to the spin class Saturday morning so we are even). And then I got ready, got my large cuppa coffee, and headed to work. It was a busy day, but that's good because the busier I am the faster time flies (and also the less time I spend on the internet!)

Well, I did spend a little bit of time online yesterday, enough time to see Ellen Degeneres tweet that there would be a giveaway in Dallas off of Lemmon Ave. A car giveaway! All you needed was a 1$ bill with Ellen's name written on it to be entered in the drawing. (and the money benefited breast cancer research).

I left work a few minutes early and headed to the car dealership off of Lemmon Ave. It was hard to find a parking spot and there were about 500 people there so I figured I would watch them pick a winner and then I would leave. Well Jeannie (from the Ellen show) picked 12 ticket numbers and I wasn't one of them. But one of the 12 didn't walk up there so she called out one more number and you can guess who it was. ME. Ticket number 934345!

So here I am standing next to eleven other people not knowing what is going to happen next. It's the Ellen Show, you never know what is going to happen. Next thing I know we are scrambling towards the trunk of a car to get a bag, and we have to create a costume from what is in the bag in 20 minutes. I got a big white sheet, a hula skirt, some scrapbook paper, fabric pens, a cowboy hat, string, Ellen boxers and shirt, and a few other random things.

First I slipped the boxers on under my skirt and took off my skirt (Yes, in front of hundreds of people!) and then I put the hula skirt on and I had a small set of fall looking flowers and put those around my waist also. Next I made a top with two pieces of fabric and string. I was going for the hula girl look and the cowboy hat wasn't working, so I added some Hawaiian flowers to the hat with the scrapbook paper. I added a big E to my stomach with yellow tape and our 30 minutes was up.

Ellen was in California filming the show (which airs today) and we could see each other over satellite. She picked and called out the top 5 costumes and I was one of them, I couldn't believe it! What I couldn't believe was that Ellen actually said my name! Next we were handed a set of car keys and had to test out the keys in the car they were giving away. Well folks, I didn't win the car. The woman right in front of me had the working set of keys. But that's ok, we didn't leave empty handed as they then gave us $500 Amex gift cards! Hey, that works for me!

Shepherds Pie
yield: 5 -7 portions

1 lb. Ground Beef
2 pieces bacon
1 tsp Chili Powder
1 tsp Onion Powder
1 tsp Garlic Powder
Salt, Pepper to taste
1/2 an Onion, small dice
1 Carrot, peeled and small dice
3 Potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 TBS Butter
1/4 cup Heavy Cream
Salt, White Pepper to taste
1/2 cup Cheddar Cheese, shredded
Chives or Green Onions, garnish

preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. Warm up a pan over medium high heat and when the pan is hot add your ground beef. Add the chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper and cook until the meat is browned and fully cooked. Set aside.
2. Cook your bacon in the same pan until crispy, drain the bacon on a paper towel. Add the carrots and onions to the bacon grease and cook for 5 minutes, until tender. After it has cooled chop the bacon up in large pieces.
3. Combine the beef, bacon and vegetables. Set aside.
4. Peel and quarter your potatoes and add to to a large pot of cold water. Place the large pot of water and potatoes over high heat and boil for at least 10 minutes. Use a knife to test a potato, it should go through the potato like butter.
5. Drain the potatoes and let cool. I use a potato ricer to make my potatoes very creamy and lump free, but you can prepare your mashed potatoes as you normally would.
6. I added 1 TBS butter, a 1/4 cup cream, salt and white pepper to my mashed potatoes.
7. Using a 3qt baking dish add your beef mixture and top with the mashed potatoes. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese and chili powder and bake for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped green onions or chives before serving.

This shepherds pie was a perfect dinner after my exciting night! I normally don't eat beef or bacon but I was in a great mood and wanted something comforting and delicious and had just enough left for one portion. The beef and bacon is very smokey while the potatoes were very creamy. I have never made a shepherds pie or anything like it, but I definitely will be again. This was easy to make, cheap to make, and tasted great.

Edit: Now with a picture and a short video.
(I was hamming it up for the camera a lot more after the video ends!)Am I giving her the stink eye or what?