Is it Fall yet?

OK. I'll start this out by saying: I'm not complaining.

Today, it was 75 degrees and beautiful in Portland. Just gorgeous.

Today, I also really wanted some darn FALL FOOD. I wanted stuff that needed the oven + stove + other heating appliances.

So, I rebelled and did it anyway. Now my house is stinkin' hot. Eh. Again--not complaining.

I got an awesome recipe out of my mom's Sunset Magazine for [get this] a SHEPHERDS PIE with PUMPKIN instead of MASHED TATERS. Yeah.

Bet you want fall food right now, too.

It was relatively easy, but took quite a bit of babysitting.

Here's what I did:

[And for the record, here's what they did. They are a little more complicated.]

1 can [12ish oz.] of good pumpkin [you can bale a 2lb pumpkin--ain't nobody got time for that]
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 pounds stew meat, bite size pieces [recipe calls for lamb--I used beef because it was there...]
Salt
Pepper
1 medium onion cut into thicker wedges
3 garlic cloves, chopped little
3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch little wheelies
8 ounces of mushrooms, no stems
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup red wine
1 cup of beef or chicken broth
1/3 - 2/3 cup cream
2 tablespoons of chopped flat-leaf parsley [I did not have this, but I bet it would have looked pretty.]

OK--start your oven to 400 degrees. 

Heat up wide pan [preferably something like a dutch oven that can go into the oven, my go-to for dishes like this is my most favorite pan in the world]  and drop in a good amount of olive oil [1 tablespoon is good.] Then, add your meat. Add salt and pepper to season it. Brown all sides. Good? Good.

OK, now time for onions and garlic. Put them in with the meat and cook until they start to soften [3ish minutes.]

Now, dump that all into a bowl [juice and all.] Then, put your carrots and mushrooms in that bowl [yeah, raw] and give it a good stir.

Back to your big pan. Add the wine, chicken/beef broth and grab a wisk that is safe on your nice pan [if you have a cast iron it's best to use something silicon tipped or plastic so you don't get any nasty scratches.] Wisk in the flour slowly and stir until it thickens a bit. Try not to get any lumps. That will not taste good. If you do get lumps, poor the liquid through a strainer before mixing it together. Those lumps taste icky.

Cook that liquid until it gets to the consistency of a watery milkshake.

Then, add your meat + veggie mixture back to the pan. Give it a good stir.

Pumpkin time! In that bowl you already dirtied with your meat + veggies, plop in your pumpkin. Mix in a little bit of cream [I used regular milk, but I bet cream would taste ahmuhzing] stir until it's combined. Then plop the pumpkin over the meat + veggie + juice thing you have going on in your pan. You can smooth it out if you want, or you can leave it all ploppy. Both look awesome.

Now, oven. Put it in the oven. 30 minutes. No lid. After the 30 minutes are over leave it out for about 10 minutes so you don't burn your mouth off. Believe me--the smells that come off this thing will make you think it is worth it. Third degree mouth burns are NOT worth it. [But...second degree...]

You will then have this beautiful thing sitting on your table:

ERMEHGERD. TASTE. GOOD. SO.

• Ok...recipe makes 6 servings. Ben probably had 5.5 servings of this tonight. That whole thing was G-O-N-E GONE.

We added on a bottle of Kestrel Cab. Sauv. , an episode of Dexter and I'll chalk this one up to an excellent Friday night.

Tomorrow: EPIC FOOTBALL DAY! Huskies Vs. Ducks, Nebraska Vs. the Ohio State Uni.