On vacations: We hit the sunny beaches where we occupy ourselves keeping the sun off our skin, the saltwater off our bodies, and the sand out of our belongings.
Erma Bombeck

So I am poking around in my “gee I’m bored what to cook”  folder and I find a recipes for two new Mikey will like it recipes, well maybe not the cake so much , but an easy shepherd’s pie.  What really caught my eye originally was a shepherd’s pie grilled cheese sandwich , WOW two winner dinners for Mikey!  Link below:

“i am a food blog”

http://iamafoodblog.com/shepherds-pie-with-roasted-garlic-cream-cheese-mashed-potatoes/

Naturally I made a few changes to the recipe, but nothing too drastic.  I added the corn from 2 corn of two ears of corn, 3 medium carrots, 1/2 large sweet onion, 1/2 of a container of chicken stock concentrate, and 1/2 of a bulb of roasted garlic.  I made a version of roasted garlic mashed potatoes and used the other half of the garlic bulb in that as well as mascarpone instead of cream cheese, parmesan,  and 1/2 + 1/2.  I don’t know why I don’t like cream cheese in mashed potatoes, but probably one of those over the top sour cream and cream cheese recipes that someone served that was a whipped gooey gluey mess instead of real mashed potatoes.

3 Idaho baking potatoes, peeled and quartered boiled in salted water until soft and good enough to mash with a large fork
3 tablespoons of real butter please
A few fresh chives, chopped
chopped parsley (dried parsley is okay)
about 1/4 cup of 1/2 + 1/2, adding just a little until you get a nice consistency
4 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan
2-3 tablespoons mascarpone or just a little additional butter and 1/2+1/2

Drain the potatoes when they are cooked through and return to the cooking pot, add butter and break up the potatoes with the large serving fork, season with a little salt and pepper and continue to blend and mash adding in the other ingredients until smooth or as smooth as you like your mashed potatoes.  I like to know that real potatoes were use and I don’t overly mash them…I can still see flecks and tiny pieces of real potatoes in the mash.