Every year, when September rounds the corner, thoughts of Christmas and Chinese New Year preps loom near. Anticipating the coordinated arrangements that will be needed, some preliminary preps begin.
I try to prep ahead so that I don’t get all stressed out at year-end. It is a great time after all to sit back in awe and enjoy the festivities all around the world (the Internet is best for this!)
Christmas beckons first ~ I have all the usual recipes tucked away in my blog and easily retrieved on the app Pinterest (which also makes it easy for my family to access). The recipe I am ‘reviewing’ is the Shepherd’s Pie.
Do you ever wonder why one flinches when another says a particular dish is ‘so easy to do’? I’ve realised that saying a dish “is easy to do” is only ‘so easy to do’ when one has cooked it several times until it becomes ‘automatic’, a bit like preparing for a standard exam when one rehearses the practice of previous years’ exam papers within the given time. Yeah, that sort of ‘trained’, rehearsed, conditioned behaviour. By doing so, one also lessens all the complexity that the feeling of anxiety often brings with it.
Truth be told, I hardly cook this on an ordinary weekday. Therefore, I ‘practise’ this first to get a feel of the recipe, and, also to ‘update’, if my current kitchen equipment can cope with the preps, can I do it faster or simpler (eg. using fewer bowls and less cleaning up etc)? Through such ‘mindful’ noticing, I create more orderly work-life routines and become extremely realistic about what I can accomplish.
After COVID-19, family life practices also changed. I introduced “kitchen duty days” after the pandemic broke out. It was stressful to have every member living and working in the same house for an extended period. The family needed a ‘system’ to assist the daily caregiving of everyone. Then began “kitchen duty days” when every family member is in charge of meals on designated days of the week. Looking back, I adore this arrangement. I am beginning to think calling it a “system” sounds like I run my home like a company! Yes, I do! I thrive in an organised environment, and routine keeps everyone sane and, most importantly, allows us to rest on our ‘days off’!
There have been some changes since this recipe was blogged. I cooked more when the children were in school. However, just about last year, I noticed throwing away more bags of shrivelled garlic and onions which were sprouting shoots. These days, I just ‘make-do’ and omit certain ingredients in my recipes if I don’t have them in the kitchen pantry. For example, in this recipe, I didn’t have milk and substituted it with water and it still tastes fine. I substituted onion powder for onions. I also substituted tapioca flour for corn flour because I eat little or no corn these days as I have noticed it does not agree with my gut (health). The kitchen no longer houses a microwave oven. It is replaced by a combi steam oven now. I think the reason for this replacement is because of a switch to eating more steamed vegetables so this time, I steamed the potatoes.
Cooking this dish today makes me nostalgic though; it brings me back to the time I used to pair it with my “Simple Russian Soup” cooked in a slow cooker. I have disposed of my slow cooker 5 years ago when its timer function stopped working. Nowadays I just use the steel pots over the induction stove or my multipurpose (rice) cooker, both of which come with automatic timers.
I am just feeling amused now at how many behaviours and appliances have changed since I blogged this recipe. It still feels pretty surreal how much has occurred in this period and I feel slightly serendipitous.
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