Shepherd's Pie with Ham

Hey everyone. Once again, I apologize for not blogging in a while. Especially with the holidays, time just got away from me. As usual, I will try to blog more in the upcoming days but we will have to see how things go.

A while ago, David and I were looking for a new recipe that used ham and potatoes. David wanted a shepherd's pie sort of thing but I had never heard of one made with ham. I figured it was possible but you'd have to alter most of what was in it to make it taste right (in my opinion). I googled for one and found this recipe. It turned out great! David did most of the work because Baby was not cooperating and needed more attention. The only thing I would change from his recipe was the amount of black pepper he put in the potatoes. He didn't measure but it got kind of spicy. Well, I don't know if spicy is the right word but it was just too much pepper.

As we normally do, we made a couple changes to the recipe. First, we didn't put the cream cheese in the mashed potatoes. We didn't have any on hand and we don't really like the texture it gives them. Second, we used water instead of broth as a time saver (we don't buy broth. We sometimes have bouillon but then you have to boil water and stuff). Third, we used cream of chicken instead of cream of celery. In our small town, I don't think the grocery store even carries cream of celery. We have VERY limited cream ofs. I think everything else, including the directions, remained the same.

This recipe did take a while, especially because we didn't have leftover mashed potatoes so we made them from scratch. I think it was worth it but I would wonder if you could prep it ahead of time and put it in the fridge before baking. I will also mention that it tastes great leftover too!