Shepherd’s Pie

Posted on March 17, 2021 by vanbraman

For St. Patrick’s Day this year I decided to have something different than corned beef to celebrate my Irish ancestry.

Marie Callenders, beef shepherd's Pie, St. Patrick's Day, Irish foodDuring my last trip to the grocery store I picked up a box of Shepherd’s Pie in the freezer section.

However, I failed to notice that it had beef along with the name on the box.

Marie Callenders, beef shepherd's Pie, St. Patrick's Day, Irish foodI did notice the beef when I pulled the box out tonight to prepare my Shepherd’s Pie.

A traditional Irish Shepherd’s Pie would be made with lamb instead of beef. However, the term is not always used consistently as for many foods the boundaries between food names are often blurred or have regional uses.

Cottage Pie, South Africa, Herderspastei, Shepherds PieWhen made with beef the dish would traditionally be referred to as a cottage pie.

Marie Callenders, beef shepherd's Pie, St. Patrick's Day, Irish foodHere is the Shepherd’s Pie after spending an hour in the oven. I let it cool before giving it a try.

Marie Callenders, beef shepherd's Pie, St. Patrick's Day, Irish foodThe pie tasted good, but was not as good as the cottage pie that I made several years ago, and definitely not as good as the ones I was served in South Africa during my last trip there.

See: Cottage Pie and Making Cottage Pie

I am not sure if I would be able to find a prepackaged Shepherd’s Pie made with lamb, but perhaps I can get some ground lamb next year and make a traditional Shepherd’s Pie for St. Patrick’s Day.

Steven

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More Oak Island Clues

Posted on March 16, 2021 by vanbraman

One of the interesting things about watching The Curse of Oak Island is how the potential outcomes change as new clues are found.

Curse of Oak Island, History Channel, Did they find anything?Sometimes the clues will support a current theory and provide evidence that they are headed in the right direction.

However, sometimes the clues will bring up new questions that will send them searching in different directions or toward a new theory or time period.

Curse of Oak Island, Mahone Bay, Nova ScotiaCurrently one of the major projects is following the course of a road through the swamp and trying to figure out where it goes. The artifacts that they uncover are sometime confusing. They may be from the wrong time period, or seem out of place.

Over time though sometimes the clues come together and make sense.

Oak Island, Money Pit, National Geographic, Curse of Oak IslandAt the same time they are still drilling holes in the area of the Money Pit and perhaps are following a tunnel toward the original shaft.

Will they ever find out how everything connects and find the treasure or why the Money Pit existed?

Of course, each week there is always a cliff hanger that brings you back for the next episode.

Archaeology, Archaeological Dig, Lachish, Dig, BucketsThis reminds me of working on an archaeological dig where we gather information as we search for answers as to what happened in the past.

As we find more and more information the story becomes clearer. As results of tests come back sometime the story changes with the new information. As data captured on the dig is analyzed further the story will also change.

The team prepares for the next season of digging with plans of where to continue searching for more information and they build on what they know from the past.

External sources are researched for more information that will help understand the finds.

Lachish, Tel Lachish, Late Bronze Canaanite Temple, Archaeology, InscriptionSimilar investigations also take place in our professional or personal lives.

I think of many projects at work where we have dug into facts to determine the causes of problems and how we are going to fix them. We have to sometimes mine the data to find out the root cause of a problem. Sometime the results are surprising or the facts will send us toward something we never thought would be the cause of the problem.

A personal example would be genealogy where often a tiny bit of information will break down a brick wall we have been working on for decades.

OK, my mind wandered from the original intent of this post but I will leave the title the same.

Just remember that sometimes a lot of hard work and analysis is needed to find what you are looking for. Whether it is something physical, or just an answer.

Steven

 

 

Posted in Archaeology, Canada, Culture | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment