Apple Pancakes - Just scrumptious

Recently at a festival I encountered a pancake stall, well crepes if you want to be pedantic, and they had many flavours from savoury tuna melts with cheese and spinach to the super sweet Nutella and banana (I know most people love that but I hate it!)

Anyway, one of the options was 'Apple Pie Crepe' so I went for it, and it was the business! Best pancake ever, simple enough to rustle up for breakfast and also easy to glam up for a dinner party dessert (I can see myself on Come Dine With Me serving this up...)

I paid careful attention so that I can share the recipe with you. If you are in a mood to be fast, you could use pancake mix and/or apple sauce. If you are feeling more 'Nigella' go for the batter made from scratch and your own stewed apples.

So either mix 2 heaped tablespoons of flour, eggs (2) and just over half a pint of milk with a dash of olive oil to create a batter .... or mix up a batter mix.

Have to hand either home stewed apples (diced cooking apples, a tiny bit of water, boil for 20 minutes or until soft, add sugar to taste)  .... or some apple sauce, the sort they sell in jars to have with pork works fine. (I used a jar this time as our apples aren't ripe yet)

You will also need some oil, some brown sugar and cinnamon.

Add some oil to the frying pan and start cooking the pancake, turn it once and spread apple across one half of the pancake, sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon.

Fold the pancake in half, covering the apple. Fry slightly to warm the apple then fold again. serve with marscapone cheese (my favourite!) or icecream, or fresh cream.

Delicious! Why not add some brandy to the apple for a decadent after dinner treat!

I am proud that my daughter can cook

I like cooking and I like baking. I don't tend to watch TV shows about it but I like to be in the kitchen and rustle up something tasty. I don't get all worried about expiry dates (see a post where I ranted about them here) and except for cakes, I am pretty relaxed about measurements and quantities. I'm the sort of cook that bungs things into a pan, slops in some water, uses measurements like 'a knob of butter' and 'some flour'.

I think I like that 'knob of butter' is so common in the uk it's on packets of things. It seems so official pic.twitter.com/pj7Kqomv8Q
— Tattooed_Mummy (@tattooed_mummy) March 22, 2015

I have been pleased to have DD help me cook since she was old enough to stand on a chair and see the counter top. It's great to start early, teach about hand washing, why we can't lick our fingers (!) while cooking and why we should tie our hair back when using the gas cooker. Knife safety, fire safety, all great learning topics while you bake too. We used to make cupcakes (buns?) together often when she was a toddler and we still make them now - she just does most of the work now that she is 15. (while I'm on clearing up duty) She has grown into someone that likes to cook too - and she is also a big fan of TV baking, somewhat in love with Mary Berry and inappropriately fond of Paul Hollywoods kneading technique!

She can cook pancakes using 'some flour, an egg or two and some milk and a splash of oil'.

Pancake making

She can poach an egg (almost as perfectly as I can), fry eggs, scramble them, make omelettes...lets just say she is good with eggs.

Fried Egg muffin

She can make pastry (much better than mine - she has cold hands) , cook pies, biscuits. She can make pasta bakes and whole meals from scratch. She knows how to mash potatoes and how to prepare vegetables.

Cake

Peach, parma ham, and mozzarella pizzas with rocket

And all this makes me proud, particularly when her friends come round and she cooks. I hear them saying to her that they are not allowed to cook or that they don't know how to. Dd has told me that several friends don't do any cooking at all at home - reminding me of my own friend who left school without the first clue how to cook - once ringing me to get advice on fish fingers and finally marrying a man who could cook, which was just as well!

Do your children cook? What age did you (or do you plan to) start cooking with your children?

Because you need to start them young, nothing nicer than finally realising you have a child that can cook you breakfast and bake you a birthday cake.

Here's some we made earlier (last weekend). Happy Easter!

Easter Biscuits

Easter cakes

Organic September - Pancakes!

I was asked to help Waitrose celebrate Organic September. Waitrose are supporting the Soil Association's 'Small Changes, Big Difference campaign'.

They challenged me to add some organic products into my daily menus. Luckily they sent me some vouchers to help with the change. But I was pleasantly surprised to find that not all the organic options cost more, or if they did, not too much more.

This evening for example I had some Organic yoghurt, they were on offer, so that 8 pots of yoghurt were £3 (I haven't eaten all 8 yet, though they were so nice I did eat two)

But yesterday we started with a bang! Straight in with a proper treat and some proper cooking!

I love making pancakes, but I never ever measure the ingredients, well, I count the eggs but I'm not sure that is the same as measuring...I have taught DD to cook in this way too - I suspect any family recipes will have to be passed on by the 'teach the next generation' method, writing them down is hard...

So here is my recipe: I use 'some' organic flour (Duchy no less, probably ground by royalty), two organic eggs (laid by the Prince himself - Duchy again - those hens must be the most pampered in England surely?), some Organic milk, and a splop (technical term) of organic sunflower oil.

So into the pan my mix went. And then when perfectly cooked - I served the pancakes with banana and maple syrup.

An excellent start to my organic week I think. Oh and I opened a bottle of really nice Organic Italian Wine at £7.79

I could give it up ... if I wanted to

Last year I wrote about Lent and what importance it may have in this modern world. (You can read that post here)

This year I decided to give up something for Lent. And it was a sudden decision but came of lots of earlier thoughts and talking with a friend at work. 

My friend is vegetarian, I have lots of vegetarian friends (ooh get me! "I'm not vegetarian-ist , some of my friends are vegetarian" ) so I know they are not all weirdos and oddballs (they are but not because they are vegetarian, more because they are my friends...a whole 'nother post - do I like weirdos or make people weird by knowing them?) 

Festival Vegetarian Curries I have known

 

Anyway ...  a while ago you will remember that my vegetarian friend loaned me the fabulous Veg Every day cookery book by Hugh FW (Read that post here) and I've been eating more and more vegetarian meals, so when yesterday we talked about kids, and pancakes, and Shrove Tuesday and then Lent and she asked 'what are you giving up?' I thought about it and said "I don't know, nothing probably" so her reply "Why not give up meat!" made me realise that I could - I could give it a go for 40 days ... that's doable right? 

Mr tumble is excited by Lent! Are you?

 

What are doing for Lent? Do you ignore it? Join in? 

Author's note : I only eat meat about 3 times a week and usually less BUT the longest I have ever gone without bacon is 30 days. Pray for me.