Over the weekend my Mexicans came to stay, I still call them My Mexicans even though they now live in London. The Smallest was born in Mexico and as such has a Mexican passport ( as well as a British one) and so he can really be labelled My Mexican, despite the fact that he has forgotten all of his Spanish, his first language. The other two were educated in Spanish for several years so hopefully it will stick somewhere in their brain!

We really love having them come and the weekend was started for the big kids at least by a visit to the Theatre.

We took them to see School Of Rock, which was great fun. We had seats up on the side so in fact we’re very near the stage and could see everything very clearly, and on top of that, they offered a VIP package , which I got for the kids, and it was well worth it. The theatre had cordoned off a part of the foyer, we had our own corner, the kids were given a delux box of crisps and a drink to start with and were asked what flavour ice cream they would like for the interval! Special indeed! The show ( I was rather sceptical at first) was great and the kids in the show, were amazing, both of the guitarists, ( boy and girl who could swing her bunches as well as play the guitar) the keyboard player and as for the young drummer, well!! Along with the girl backup singers, they really were a School Of Rock!

A few visits ago, I decided to make them a menu, so they could choose their won breakfasts! More or less , the first words the eldest ( he is 11) said to me were”Nana, are you going to make us a menu for breakfast?” But of course was my reply.

So here is their menu:-

1. Fruit,raspberries,blueberries,mangoes
2. Yogurt
3. Eggs any style, boiled, fried or scrambled

1. Bacon
2. Sausages
3. Sausage rolls
4. Baked Beans
5. Pancakes, French style with topping of choice
6. Cereal, Museli, ( not for Alfie)
7. Pastries, cinnamon rolls or croissants
8. Porridge
9. Toast and homemade jams

Orange juice, red or orange, grapefruit juice, tea, coffee, water

And the winners were? The eldest chose, pancakes with scrambled egg, normally he would have had them with bacon as well, but at the moment his school project is to help Save the Planet, so meat is off the agenda! However he did manage, 3 eggs scrambled along with three pancakes. Our lovely Tess, the younger of the big kids, chose pancakes with maple syrup and bacon and the little Mexican, just a pancake with brown sugar cut up like a Pizza! All had Orange juice, I had bought blood orange juice as well, but they were less than keen, though maybe it was the colour more than the taste.

Popi, is the man in charge of pancakes, although the eldest has the recipe off by heart and can make them equally as easily, but it was to be Popi to don his apron and get pancake making! Their Mom, makes the pancakes without added sugar, whereas for me it depends if they are sweet or savoury , but even the sweet version only has a relatively small amount added.

Basic Pancke mix ( Crêpe)

1. 250grm/ 9 oz plain four
2. 30 grm/1oz caster sugar ( sweet pancakes)
3. Pinch salt
4. 4 eggs
5. 900mls/ 1.5 pints milk ( more if needed)
6. Some butter for cooking

I always use a food processor to make my mix and start by placing the flour into the bowl, adding the sugar if using, close the lid, switch on the machine and add the eggs and milk all at once and mix for a couple of minutes only to make a smooth batter. Pour the mixture into a jug and check the consistency, it should pour like double cream, no thicker, if too thick add more milk.

When making pancakes it is by far easier to have a dedicated pancake pan, the sides are almost flat so making it easy to turn or flip the pancakes. Using a piece of paper towel smooth a small amount of butter over the base of the pan and let it get hot, pour in a smallish amount of batter and swirl it around the pan. If the mixture is too thick it will not swirl properly. It can often be the case that the first pancake cooked will not be so good, the pan needs to be seasoned first of all, but after the first one you need to work fairly quickly, a smear of butter, heat, batter swirl , wait until the top is almost dry, flip over for two seconds , tip out and stack.

You can use plain pancakes to make savoury and the combinations are endless, however in the mountains it is as always a combination of cheese, potatoes, ham and cream along with an egg or two, but my favourite is goats cheese, honey and walnuts. Usually in the mountains again, they will make their savoury Crêpe using buckwheat flour, but white flour works as well.

It is also interesting to see how people eat their Crêpe, fold it over and cut into chunks, leave it flat and cut it into pizza type slices, or make it all come out even, eating your favourite bits in turn. Our lovely friend ( the skiing buddy of Himself) has a very different approach. He chooses the Crêpe that has an egg in the middle and eats all of the Crêpe surrounding the egg, none of this smushing the egg, keep it whole! When he gets to the egg, he carefully slides out the remaining piece of Crêpe leaving the egg glistening, waiting to be eaten! And then? He manages to slide the egg onto his fork, into his mouth and sublimely devour!