Some of us first became acquainted with Sherri Shepherd on TV as
Sergeant Judy on Everybody Loves Raymond. Others may have got to
know her as Ramona Platt on Less than Perfect. Others as Angie
Jordan on 30 Rock. Some of us may have first seen
her in 2005 in films such as Guess Who and Beauty Shop.
A more fortunate few Los Angelenos may have first fallen in love
with her from her stand-up appearances at the Comedy Store and the
Laugh Factory.
On September 10, 2007, after several guest his appearances on The
View, Barbara Walters asked to be Sherri to be a permanent co-host.
Soon It was as if she was a regular in Boston's Cheers,
because everybody knew her name - even Prince who was visibly shaken
when he appeared as a surprise guest on The View and left the
stage hurriedly when Sherri screamed out in an ecstasy probably more
commonly associated with The Rapture, “I have wanted to make love
to you for my whole life.”
Some some of her co hosts initially may been a little
uncomfortable with her outspoken, born-again Christian viewpoints on
life and history. Her somewhat conservative beliefs created considerable
press only a week after she became a permanent co-hosts when she stated
that she didn't "believe in evolution. Period." In her
autobiography Permission Slips, Sherri reflected "It's learn as
you go on The View. At least I am old enough to handle it. No
matter what I do the rest of my life, some people are only going to
think of me as that lady who's "as dumb as a 3rd grader." The audiences and critics quickly came to love her
as evidenced by her winning her first Emmy for Outstanding Talk Show
Host in 2009.
But it may be Sherri's pragmatic and often brutal honesty in addition to
her humorous perspectives on the lessons learned from her life
experiences that makes her so loved by her fans as is demonstrated in
Permission Slips. Here are
a few examples:
On Dating:
"So write yourself a permission slip to date
a man who likes your laugh and realized that your desire for George
Clooney is healthy and patriotic"
On Losing
your Virginity:
" Write yourself a permission
slip to lave a disappointing first time story. If we all started
admitting that loosing our virginity sucked, maybe our daughters will
postpone their first time a couple of years"
On Raising Children: "Write yourself a
permission slip to humiliate your children as you were humiliated.
C'mon. Why should they be spared?"
On Saying
Something Dumb: "So write yourself a permission slip to say the
dumbest thing in the word. "Cause, thanks to me, no matter what you say,
it will be the second dumbest thing in the word."
So to celebrate Sherri's birthday, watch
Beauty Shop while enjoying a
serving of the eponymously named Shepherd's Pie with Sherry which is an
evolution of a 200 year old English recipe originally made with mashed
potatoes.
|
Shepherd's Pie with Sherry
|
Ingredients |
|
1 pound ground chuck beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 large cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced
1 TB salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1 TB Worcestershire sauce
2 TB flour
1/3 cup beef broth
1/3 cup sherry |
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 cup frozen peas, unthawed
2 cups shredded hash brown potatoes
1/3 cup finely sliced green onions with tops)
2 cups finely-shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp Sweet Hungarian paprika
|
|
Instructions
|
1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Place ground beef, mushrooms, onion, garlic, salt, and pepper in a
large heavy skillet. Sauté, breaking up
ground beef, until the juices have almost evaporated.
3. Stir in Worcestershire, then flour. Cook 1 minute, stirring often.
Add beef broth and sherry, stirring to combine,
then heavy cream. Simmer until gravy thickens. Pour into
glass baking dish. Let cool slightly, then sprinkle
green peas evenly on top of beef.
4. In a mixing bowl, combine hash brown potatoes, green onions, 1 cup of
the cheese, salt, and mayonnaise.
Spread evenly on top of beef layer. Spread remaining cup of
cheese on top and sprinkle lightly with paprika.
5. Bake about 45 minutes until cheese has melted and is slightly
browned. Let rest 15 minutes before serving
Serves 4 |
© 2011 Gordon Nary and Tyler Stokes |