PANCAKES

These are really simple to make. You can eat them with lemon and sugar as a dessert, or with maple syrup or jam for breakfast. My children have tried many times to flip the pancakes over and they are only now getting the hang of it.
You need:
-1 glass of plain flour
- 1 glass of milk
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
-  a tablespoon of sugar
- 1 pinch of salt
- butter
You also need a non-stick pan (preferably very small)

Mix well all the ingredients except the butter (either by hand or with a hand held mixer). Heat the pan (medium to high heat) with a bit of butter on top  (the size of a hazelnut more or less). When the butter is melted pour enough of the pancake mixture to coat the pan. After 2-3- minutes (when you see bubbles appearing over the surface of the pancake) turn the pancake around with the help of a spatula or by flipping it over your head if you dare it. Wait for another minute and serve immediately.
The children can -and like to- do all this pretty much on their own provided you supervise it closely as they can burn themselves when turning the pancake around.

BEEF STEW

     This is comfort food at its best.

You need:

1 kg diced beef
1 (medium size) onion

1/2 green pepper

1/2 red pepper

2 carrots

200 gr peas (frozen is fine)

1 bay leaf

a little bit of parsley

salt and pepper

1 glass of white wine

1 glass of water

oil

Cover the base of the pan with oil. Salt and pepper the diced beef, add it to the pan and let it fry until it is golden. Take it out and put it aside. Cut the onion (in approx 1 cm slices) and the peppers and carrots (in chunks - see picture) and fry them for 5 minutes in the same oil where you have fried the beef. Add the beef back to the pan and throw in the bay leaf. With a pester and mortar mince the garlic and  parsley until it becomes a fine paste. Add the glass of wine to the mortar and add this garlic infused wine to the pan. Let it all boil to get rid of the alcohol for 3-4 minutes and add the glass of water. As soon as it is boiling again reduce the heat, cover the pan and let it all boil for 40 minutes approximately (if you see that it becomes too dry add a bit more water) Finally add the peas and let it boil for another 10 minutes until they are tender. Serve with plain rice or with crusty bread.

The kids love this dish. They helped with it all but they still need some encouragement to touch the row meat...