Do you ever just have bad days? Of course you do. Everyone does. My fishing guide had one the other day. This year he is not really my fishing guide. He became a real fishing guide as he needed a job. The job options up here in Almost Canada are rather bleak so he was more or less forced to work on the ice. He now brings others to fish, thus we do not get to fish. Something that is none too thrilling for our hobby of ice fishing which we are both quite passionate about. But what can you do? He needed a job.

This job is different from his previous accounting desk type jobs. He likes this job well enough but like all jobs, things set you off. You get grumpy. He called me on his way home with a grumpy & annoyed tone the other day. Our conversation was brief. He had a long day.

All his days are long actually. He gets up at 4:30 and working 12 hour days (or longer) is the norm. Consequently, I make dinner. I always made dinner before but now it is more of a necessity. I don’t mind. I love making dinner.

When he called me I had planned on making individual pot pies with biscuits. A comforting, warming dish common in Minnesota this time of year. This one would be super easy and all my ingredients were readily available. I had leftover duck already shredded, I had biscuits for the crust, and I had cream of chicken soup, cheddar cheese, herbs, and a bag of mixed veggies in the freezer for the filling.

The veggies consisted of corn, green beans, carrots, and peas. And here lied my dilemma…peas. He hates peas with a passion. I love peas and I love them in my pot pie. Needless to say he does not enjoy them at all in food. I knew today was not the day to be serving him peas. I actually burst out laughing in the kitchen imagining his reaction if I were to serve them to him. Funny to me but not to him most likely. So I set about removing the peas from my filling. It wasn’t that difficult. I just tried to scoop portions for his that didn’t contain many peas and then removed any stray peas.

When he came home and saw mini pot pies for dinner he looked pleased. When I served him his plate and put mine before me he said, “mine looks different”. I responded, “That’s because I picked out all the peas from yours.” A smile appeared on his face. And then a smile appeared on mine. We then enjoyed what little time we had left before he went to bed.

While I know that picking out peas did not cure his grumpiness completely it did lighten the mood. It is a reminder of how much I care for him. A small thing that reminds me that things aren’t as bad as one might think if all you have to do is take the time to remove some peas.

Individual Pot Pies* (serves 4) 

*Note that I do not know who came up with this recipe first. I know that biscuit companies have this almost exact recipe listed on their websites but I also know that I didn’t learn it from them. I’m not sure where I learned it. I think it is one of those recipes that everyone comes up with at some point.

• pack of 8 refrigerated biscuits (or make your own)
• 1 1/2-2 cups shredded meat (I used duck but chicken works just fine)
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1/2 tsp each oregano & thyme
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (use more if desired)
• 1 bag mixed vegetables or use what you have on hand (about 2- 2 1/2 cups veggies)

Preheat oven to 375F. Grease 8 muffin cups.

Cook veggies according to package directions. Place meat, veggies, soup, cheese, and seasonings in a large bowl. Mix well. Take biscuit dough and stretch each biscuit until about 1/4 in thin. The circle should be about 5-6in diameter. Place biscuits in greased muffin cups. Fill with filling until about the top of the muffin cup. Fold sides of biscuit over filling. Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown.

Heat excess filling on the stove or in the microwave. Serve pot pies with the additonal filling.

(Picture is of my pies, the ones with peas. My fishing guide’s pot pies looked the same but contained only corn, carrots, and green beans in terms of veggies)