The Absentee Travellers returned and I have to say did it with a Boom Bang Flourish!, Umm Minus points for being a day late, but Many Many plus points for what was in the end a magnificent entry. Seems like we have to up our game! All Himself has come up with is Him artist, Me Model ( Nude), No Thank you!

We made it to the golf course, found the car, it worked, we found the route, found a car wash, found the golf course and it was like Millionaires Golf, Perfect! Couldn’t have been better! Even remembered how to hit that little white thing ! All good !

For part of our Russian Adventure, I made Blini. I cheated a bit as I had made the batter a couple of weeks ago, and then changed my mind and froze it instead. Not a problem there as it freezes well. I made half a dozen or so of Blini and then precooked the rest as Crepes, or pancakes as they are know in English.

In France, or at least in the mountains, there are two types of Crêpe, there are those that are sweet, served with jam, chocolate, Nutella cream etc and those that are savoury, or Crêpe salée. These are usually made with buckwheat ( Sarrasin ) flour, which is a bit grey in colour. Despite its name Buckwheat, it is not a grass and is not related to Wheat., it is in fact related to Sorrel, Knotweed and Rhubarb ! But as you can see from the photographs it is sold as Flour.

To make the pancakes is straightforward.

1. 300 gms buckwheat flour
2. 2eggs
3. +/- 900 mls milk
4. Pinch salt

Put the flour and salt into a food processor or bowl, put the eggs with half of the liquid and pour in with the motor running, continue to add liquid in a drizzle until the mixture is of a pouring consistency, it is better to err on the thick side as more liquid maybe added, but more difficult to thicken.

This maybe made and left covered for several days in the refrigerator or frozen as I did. Himself always makes normal Crêpe when the grandkids come to stay and he will make a ” Job Lot” of the mixture ready for use the following days.

Heat, preferably a Crêpe pan but obviously a frying pan will do, smarmed with a THIN coating of butter and when it is really hot, pour in some of the mixture and swirl it round to cover the pan, if it is too thick it will not swirl properly, too thin , will swirl well but difficult to flip. When the bubbles start to solidify then if you are daring, toss the pancake, if not using a spatula, flip it over, just for a few second to finish cooking. Remove with a spatula and put onto a plate. Repeat and stack the pancakes. If making Blini, there is a Blini pan, but otherwise just pour in small amounts and repeat as above.

I served my Blini with cream cheese and smoked salmon, but I used the rest of the mixture to make some breakfast Crêpe for Himself before golf ! Something to help his concentration, but I think he needs more than that !