Don’t worry, I’m not about to start posting pictures of food and recipes on a regular basis. But today is different.

Because yesterday was different.

My wife, Kathy was up at 5am and out of the house at 6 to go to work. She’s a nurse and works part-time on an as-needed basis when she feels like it.  But this was the second day in a row on this case and I had Saturday to myself.  I went to the store to pick up milk and instead brought home the fixings for a meal I was going to create.  Sunday she shared this picture and comment on Facebook:

Corned Beef Potpie

We ate 1/2 of it and then she asked for a picture.

The man can cook! I came home from work yesterday to this amazing corned beef pot pie;It was stuffed to the max with veggies and a bit of swiss cheese. I must admit I grilled the chef a couple times asking him to show me the mixed veggie bag he used, but Scloho insisted he chopped and pre-cooked the carrots, potatoes and onions and then added peas etc. Impressed wife here! — with Scott Howard.

I responded with:

Scott Howard And because she wants the recipe… here we go. 1st off there was no recipe ahead of time, I just created it as I was going up and down the aisles of Kroger Saturday. We had leftover thin sliced corned beef and Swiss cheese along with some fresh shredded cabbage that we used for sandwiches on Christmas eve. Growing up, we had corned beef and cabbage frequently so this was a variation.

At the store I bought a bag of regular carrots, peeled and diced 4 of them. Also bought 8 small red potatoes and diced them too and boiled them for 20 minutes or so. I also used a bit of a jumbo sweet white onion diced and 1/2 cup of frozen peas that I tossed in the pot for the last 5 minutes. Drained it all and set aside. Also at Kroger bought a package of deep dish pie shells and a package of pie crust (for the top crust) Only used one of each so we can do this again. Biggest decision was what to use as a sauce and finally decided on this gravy mix which is also available in a gluten free variety.

Start filling the pie shell with some corned beef, a bit of swiss cheese, pile on the potatoes and veggies, pour on the gravy, add another layer of corned beef and Swiss and attempt to cover with a top crust. There was really enough to make two of these monstrosities. Bake in a 350 oven for an hour, then turn the oven off and let it sit inside the oven for a least an hour. I put it in the oven at 2:15. By 2:45 the aroma was filling the house and 3:15 the crust was brown so I turned the oven off. We didn’t pull it out of the oven and eat until 6:15 and despite her initial skepticism, Kathy enjoyed it! 

The gravy was a mix.

The gravy was a mix.

Now you can use this as a cooking lesson, but for me it was more of a relationship builder, than just a meal.

We’ve been married nearly 14 years and due to schedules, Kathy does most of the meal preparation. For a few years I would always have a Sunday meal ready for her when she came home from work, but often that was a frozen pre-mixed job that only required 20 minutes of cooking on the stove.   That was why she was skeptical.

Besides being tasty, the corned beef potpie I created enhanced our relationship.  It was a surprise for her, even a bit of a mystery since she has rarely seen me create stuff from “scratch”, although I have on a regular basis, but not often enough for it to be expected.

Keeping the mystery alive with good surprises is one of the keys to a lasting relationship!