Milk is one of those ingredients that lactose-avoiding people like myself seldom appreciate until it's gone. I don't drink milk, and I don't put it on cereal, so I don't really think about its existence until I cook with it. I do, however, eat mashed potatoes, so when my roommate showed up with a box of instant mashed potatoes for our shepherd's pie, I was torn between wild excitement, confusion, and disappointment. The wild excitement was because I absolutely love mashed potatoes. The confusion was due to the fact that my previous mashed potato experiences usually involved both potatoes and mashing. My roommate's promise that this strange box of powdery flakes would transform into a mass of creamy goodness left me skeptical. To top things off, the catalyst these flakes demanded was milk, which we were completely out of (hence the disappointment).
That's when I got to thinking. Milk makes me sick, but so do many other things. Perhaps we could substitute one sickening product for another (witness my logic at work). We didn't have milk, but we did have a giant carton of heavy whipping cream I'd bought to make mousse with. My roommate and I chuckled evilly as we poured a thick, calorie-laden cup of cream into the unsuspecting potato powder. At this point, something miraculous occurred. The cream not only did its job, it went above and beyond. It transformed those potato flakes into the most amazing mashed potatoes I'd had in a long time. I think this supports the theory that the more calories you pour into something, the better it's going to taste.
Just thought I'd torture you with a picture of the finished shepherd's pie. |
My dried rose. |
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