Chess, Piercings & Pancake Cake.

Wow!! It's been a loooong time since I posted anything. Over a year! This time I promise I'm back for good...sorry for the Take That pun.

Ok, so let's get straight into this... 

I was thinking the other day about things we collect, by we I mean me. Picture frames (that I never use), empty wine bottles (these are special bottles though). One is from the year hubby and I met, another is from the year we got together and the green bottle is a special birthday bottle - all Hungarian wines...

...jars...

...jars...

...and more jars.

vases, jars, cups, tote bags.









This was brought on by the fact that we are trying to have a clear out of our house, mainly our sons room. He's a bit of a collector too...



...Lego, Superhero mini figures, money boxes (mainly because of my mother!) and more recently (and more impressively) chess sets.

This collection started in 2010 when my cousin started to teach Luke to play draughts and chess. My Dad found out and got all excited as he has a lovely light wood chess set stored away in their loft. I remember my sisters and I messing about with it whenever it was set up in the front room.

Whilst we were in Disneyland Paris my Dad spotted a Star Wars chess set and insisted on buying it for Luke.

That Christmas Luke challenged my Dad and Michael, one of my brother's in law, Michael gave up after the game went on for an hour...Luke's getting pretty good. 
I'm hoping Dad digs his set out at some point so that it can be added to Luke's collection, which grew a couple of months ago.

 My parents were house clearing for a friend and they found this beautiful hand carved Hungarian chess set.

One Saturday morning Luke started to teach me to play...I won...but only because he was telling me where to put the pieces, if I had to play on my own I would have no idea what I was doing.

I've also been collecting a few things myself over the last year...piercings...ear piercings that is...and recipes from Pinterest. I'm completely addicted to Pinterest, amongst other things...Breaking Bad (oh my word I love that show!), Dexter (again, I love that show!), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the TV series), Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Candy Crush...the list goes on.

 I love my ear piercings...unfortunately I now have an earring addiction.

So, back to my biggest addiction. Whilst scrolling through Pinterest I found this recipe for a pancakes. It's one of Jamie Oliver's - http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/eggs-recipes/pancakes-usa-stylie - but I turned it into a cake after seeing a photo on Tumblr of a pancake birthday cake.

Ingredients:
3 large eggs
115 grams plain flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
a pinch of salt 
140ml milk

If there's one thing I love it's making breakfast on a Saturday morning, no rush, no fuss just some nice relaxed cooking.

Method:
Separate the eggs, whites in one bowl, yolks in a larger bowl.

...to sprinkle or not to sprinkle...I sprinkled...

Add flour, baking powder to the egg yolks, gradually add the milk until a smooth batter is formed.

Using an electric whisk, beat the egg whites and salt until stiff peaks are formed.

Fold the egg whites into the batter gently, I pour the batter into a glass jug. It makes it easier to pour into the frying pan.


                                       

You only need a smidgen of vegetable oil in the frying pan, just enough to coat the base so the pancakes don't stick.

I pour enough batter into the frying pan to make 2 small pancakes.

When large air bubbles come to the surface of the batter I flip the pancakes. For the other side, I usually allow about 1 or 2 minutes for them to cook. 

                                                           

 Needless to say my boy loved them...

...I have to admit so did I. With some strawberries, blueberries and a little whipped cream (or greek yoghurt for a healthier option)...they're scrumptious.