No Masterchef

A cold day with swirling snow was one for staying indoors and watching the Masters snooker (a one-sided affair with Shaun Murphy racing to an unassailable 5-0 lead over Neil Robertson) before preparing a shepherd’s pie for tea, however my usual mastery of the dish deserted me: I forgot to include the peas with the mince so had to simmer them separately; my swede, despite being boiled for almost an hour, would only combine with the potatoes once extreme violence was perpetrated on it with the masher, and even then the resulting volume looked a bit short and needed a comb-over technique to produce a complete layer over the meat; finally, having put it in the oven and started the washing up, I discovered the grated cheese was still in the grater; it is possible I was distracted by the radio commentary on Man City losing to Arsenal but I did eventually manage to rescue a good result (unlike Man City and Neil Robertson).