Three Beautiful Things 03-13-2022: Cooking Shepherd's Pie, Today Was IPA Day, I'm a Joke at Bracketology (and It's A-OK!)

 1. Christy assigned Debbie to make a vegetarian shepherd's pie for Monday's family dinner, but Debbie and I switched assignments. I had fun chopping and sautéing vegetables, mashing potatoes, using clam stock to cook lentils and using it again to make the shepherd pie's "gravy". I stored everything in the refrigerator to assemble into a shepherd's pie for Monday, but later in the evening Debbie and I received notice that dinner is canceled because of illness in the family. 

2.  I had fun slowly, deliberately working on food preparation. I also had fun slowly, deliberately drinking three different beers I split with Debbie. To begin, I popped open that powerhouse crowler of pFriem's Triple Hazy IPA and Debbie and I very slowly worked our way through its 32 ounces of juicy, orange sherbet-y, kind of boozy warmth together. It took us quite a while to finish off this crowler out of respect for its 10.5% ABV. 

Having finished the crowler, we then split a pint of another Triple Hazy IPA, a favorite of ours, called Pour Decision from Sparks, NV's Revision Brewing. I cooked. Debbie watched programming on Acorn TV. We yakked a bit. I cleaned up the kitchen. We ended our several hour session by splitting a pint of Modern Hipster IPA, a Double Dry Hopped IPA brewed at Evil Twin Brewing, North Haven, CT. 

Taking our time, savoring these beers, enjoying the variety of juiciness these IPAs served up was really fun and relaxing.

3. I will fill out a men's basketball bracket sheet for the NCAA Tournament again this year and submit it to Sharann and Doug and, once again, sit back and watch it fall apart. It's mind boggling. So many teams are good. A single elimination tournament brings so many variables into what might happen in any given game so that luck, the way referees call a particular game, teams being unfamiliar with each other with short time spans to prepare for their opponents all complicate the process of picking winners. It would be so much easier if skill and talent were the only factors determining whether one team defeats another, but that's not the case in this best of all sporting events. So, I'll bravely, humbly fill out my bracket sheet, have zero expectations of success, and enjoy the games once they get underway on Tuesday.