Shepherd's pie for Mommy!

Baby 1!

My hubby has been awesome (all the time, of course) but especially during the last two years as I've gone through grad school. Currently, we're waiting for graduation day! Only two days away! Yeah, sure, I still have one internship this summer, but I'll be done in approximately two months. Not bad! I'm so excited to have my parents, sister, father-in-law, and his lady here that I'm having trouble sleeping!

As we await family's arrival, I'm homebound studying for my Praxis exam, which actually occurs in less than an hour! I'm purposely blogging so I don't overstudy and turn my brain to mush. What better distraction than discussing my amazing hubby and the Mommy's Day dinner he made this weekend!

So Ken made me dinner from beginning to end while I studied on Mother's Day. And yes, I am a mommy. My kids happen to have four legs each, but whatever! He ended up with a delectable variation on Shepherd's pie- with coffee! Whattttt?? Yep! Deeeelicious I might add.

Baby 2!

What he did was the usual cooking up of veggies and homemade mashed potatoes (my FAV). I'm simplifying because the fun part is in the coffee roux. So when he made the roux, he added some coffee to the usual vegan butter, flour, and chicken stock. The coffee really gave the pie and earthy, deep taste. Combined with the lightness of the veggies, I was really impressed! Hubby thought it was slightly heavy on the coffee, but I disagree. I am a coffee addict and connoisseur after all. To top it all off, he broiled the ramekins for a bit, toasting and browning the mashed potatoes on the top. I was starving at this point, so waiting for them to come out of the broiler was torture.

This meal was almost vegan; he added margarine and 1/2 and 1/2 to the mashed potatoes. That's OK, I forgive him. They were magnificent. My hubby is quite the cook, and I think we've started a tradition on Mommy's day! He cooks, I enjoy :)