For our first meal back from Traverse City, pickings were pretty thin, as JT and I did a pretty good job of drawing down our larder prior to our leaving for vacation. We had a few different kinds of potatoes and a couple of lamb loin steaks. So I whipped up some mashed potatoes (potatoes, cream, buttermilk, sour cream, salt and pepper) paired with pan seared lamb steaks (sea salt, course ground pepper in a cast iron skillet). The steaks were thin, so I cooked them only a minute on each side on really high heat. While that was going on I roasted some peefy little asparagus sprouts with tomatoes. The bought the asparagus at Publix – they were so sorry I wish I had of got some kind of greens instead. While I mashed the potatoes, I let the steaks finish off the heat, but still in the pan for about 2 more minutes. Then I sauteed a finely chopped shallot in the skillet for about 1 minute, and mixed in a little butter, vegetable stock, brandy and balsamic vinegar to make a sauce for the lamb. Quick and easy, and pretty tasty, too. Check out the recipe here.