April 22
Sherri Evonne Shepherd's Birthday
 


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