Colors of Autumn…🍂

“And all at once Summer collapsed into Fall”

– Oscar Wilde

Hello, sweet friend…

I hope you are doing well…

Joe & I are heading out of town…

for a mini getaway…

this will be Anastasia’s first experience with a pet sitter…

we’ll see how that works out…😂

I thought before we departed…

I’d take you for a quick stroll around the garden…

this is my favorite time of year…

everything is so beautiful…

I almost don’t want to leave…

However…a change of scenery is always good…

whether it’s a faraway trip…

or only a small getaway…

I always get excited…

because it gives me a greater appreciation for home…

👩‍🍳

What’s Cooking?

Here where I live we’ve already experienced the first few days of fall…which leads me to the much anticipated offerings of the season and it’s wealth of getting cozy ay home. This delicious cottage pie is the perfect and ultimate cozy-comfort food.

Cottage Pie

Ingredients for mashed potato topping:

• 2 pounds potatoes  peeled and cut into big chunks
• 4 tbsp butter  half a stick
• ¼ cup sour cream
• ¼ to ½  cup milk
• Salt and pepper to taste
  

Ingredients for filling:

• 1 pound ground beef 
• 1 small onion diced 
• 2 cloves garlic  minced 
• 2 cups of frozen peas and corn medley
• 2 tbsp flour
• ½ cup beef broth 
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp rosemary 
• ½ tsp thyme 
• 1 bay leaf

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Boil the potatoes in water to cover until fork tender and then drain the water.
• Add the butter, sour cream, milk and salt and pepper to taste and mash the potatoes with a hand masher or mixer until you reach your favorite mashed potato consistency. Set aside.
• In a large skillet brown the ground beef along with the onions and garlic. Drain any excess grease.
• To the same skillet add 2 cups of the frozen vegetables, cook for about 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Sprinkle the flour over the meat and veggies and stir to mix.
• Add the tomato paste and stir to mix it in.
• Then add the beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, rosemary, thyme, and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer and then reduce heat to low. Cook uncovered for 10 minutes, adding additional broth if necessary to prevent the meat from drying out.
• Remove from heat. Remove Bay Leaf. Spread the meat mixture in an even layer in a 9×13 dish that has been sprayed with nonstick spray.

• Top the meat with the mashed potatoes making an even layer of potatoes. You can get all fancy and pipe the potatoes onto the meat or you can use a spoon and spread the potatoes evenly and then use a fork to make designs and ridges in the potatoes. These little ridges will brown nicely!

• Place the dish in the oven and bake for 30 minutes until brown and bubbly. You can place it under the broiler for a few minutes to brown the potatoes more if necessary.