Six Steps to Happiness

This day had a soul-crushing start. First the ice storm,

Grape vines in back garden.

Compost bin sealed shut.

then to add insult to injury, Isabel ignored my advice about not wearing her Valentine sweater all the way to the point where her elbow broke through a thin spot.

This would have been SO much easier to repair if the hole weren't there. (Yes, Valentine has the same lace and cable pattern as this, but it predates it. Alison Green Will and I have had a chuckle over it. The stitch pattern can be found in several stitch dictionaries. Hers is much lovelier than mine, which was my first design.)
I wasn't in the mood to work on my project for publication. The day was cold, grey, and miserable, and I was angry, depressed, and miserable. What to do?

Here's my 6-step self-help programme:
1. Make a fire in the fireplace. Always brightens a cold, wet day.
2. Add a half hour of baroque music.

3. Drink a large mug of strong, hot tea.

4. Notice that Isabel had changed to a sweater made entirely by herself.

It's Maree, by Julia Trice from Twist Collective. Isabel did all the calculations to work out the adjustments for her size without any input from me. This is Isabel, computer geek, not knitwear model. I'm fond of both versions.
5. Don't knit. Spin something in jewel colours.

6. Make tortiere for dinner. OK, so this is traditionally served at Xmas, and we hardly ever eat red meat, but if ever a day called for something out of the ordinary, this is it.

Tortiere

lb ground pork

lb ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped

1 clove garlic

½ tsp salt

dash pepper

½ c water

¼ tsp crushed celery seed

1 large potato, grated

pinch cloves

bay leaf

oil pastry for a double-crust pie

Preheat oven to 400F. Brown the meat and drain off the fat. Add remaining ingredients and cook uncovered for 20 min. While the filling is cooking, make the pastry. Remove the bay leaf, then pour the filling into the bottom crust, place top crust over it, seal, and prick with a fork. Bake for about 40 min or until golden brown. Allow to cool for 10 min before serving. Good with ketchup and braised red cabbage.

BTW, when we were living in Washington, DC, we almost never ran into meat pies, whereas they're a staple here. Are meat pies more a Canadian thing? Thoughts?