Firstly let me apologise for neglecting my blog for some time - life just got in the way! I hope to resume with my posts from now on.
As Shrove Tuesday is nearly upon us I had to give you my super easy pancake recipe using self-raising flour and with no resting time before cooking. When I was a small child growing up in a slate quarrying area of north Wales, we used to go around the village singing a rhyme which begged people to give us pancakes. My grandmother used to tell us which houses to omit as they were dirty!! This is my loose translation of the old Welsh rhyme.

Please will you give me a pancake?
My mouth is drooling for pancakes.
My mother's too poor to buy the flour
And my father's to ill to go out to work.
Food for the dog
Food for the cat
Please will you give me a pancake?

PANCAKES

This is the basic recipe but I always make double the quantity as they freeze so well

Ingredients
1/2 pint whole milk
4 ozs/100grams self-raising flour
1 egg
butter for frying

Method
Place ingredients (not the butter) in a food processor and  blend until the mixture is really smooth. If you haven't got a processor an electric hand mixture could do the job.

When the mixture looks like double cream transfer it into a jug (which can be used to pour the mixture into the pan) or into a bowl (where you can use a ladle to transfer the mixture to the pan)

At this stage  - get organised! On a tray near your hotplate you will need:- your jug or bowl of batter and a ladle if using; a block of butter and a knife; a palette knife or whatever you're going to use to flip the pancakes; a dinner plate to put the cooked pancakes; also a damp cloth and some kitchen paper could be useful.
Place a knob of butter in a small non-stick pan (I keep one specially for pancakes and omelets). Place the pan over a high heat to melt the butter- you need a really hot pan so wait until you see a blue haze rising before adding any mixture. Don't burn the butter!

Pour a little of the mixture into the hot pan  and swish it around using your wrist so that it covers the pan in a THIN layer.

The pancake is ready to flip over when the surface appears dry and small bubbles appear. I like to use a palette knife for this purpose. The second side cooks very quickly. When ready pile onto a large dinner plate.

Remember to use a small knob of butter to cook each pancake and you will find that after about the second or third pancake you can turn down the heat a notch or two as the pan is then able to hold sufficient heat to cook the remaining mixture. You'll often find the first pancake doesn't work out too well - this is because the pan isn't tempered  (brought up to heat) It can always be the cook's treat or give it to the dog!
This time I'm only going to show you the simple way of serving your pancakes for Shrove Tuesday (and perhaps the best). Roll up each pancake and serve spread with butter, add some sugar, maple syrup or golden syrup and a wedge of lemon.

I usually cook pancakes when I have the time because you have to stand and watch over them the whole time but I find it quite therapeutic. My family call me the Pancake Queen!! I then freeze them - one on top of the other - no need for anything to separate them. They peel away from each other very easily and heat up successfully in just a few seconds in the microwave. Out of the basic mixture you should make 12-13 pancakes - this shows you how thin they should be,

In the 60' and 70's we used to mix the batter with a wooden spoon and if the mixture developed lumps, we used a rotary whisk. We heated them up between two enamel plates in the oven (but they became dry) or more successfully by placing the enamel plates over a saucepan of boiling water. Most of them were eaten hot from the pan - delicious!