Sexual Abuse, Virus, Crêpes.

There’s an article running on CBC at the moment talking about sexual abuse and the Scouts, the Scouts are apologising and saying cover ups did exist, etc. etc. So now we have all these Catholic ministers accused as well as Scout masters, and I am tending to wonder, did it all really happen? I find it difficult to believe that so much of it went on without anyone knowing about it. Makes me wonder how many people have jumped on the bandwagon once one or two scandals were revealed. Its like the sex scandal with Tiger Woods, suddenly all these women come out of the woodwork saying “I had sex with Tiger too” like saying I’m an easy mark. It happens to politicians as well, suddenly when one scandal breaks, dozens of women rush forward to assure the world that they too were abused in one way or another. Their little moment of fame. Maybe I’m wrong and there all these perverts and abusers running around, but I find it hard to credit that its all true. You’re telling me that all of these children had such lousy relationships with their parents that they couldn’t say anything at the time?

After working on my computers for a while, I can now rest assured that my laptop is virus free. I have a technician from At Your Door Computers who comes here and does a great job on fixing stuff. However, my evening has got a bit short so I can’t do much of a blog.

I love Crêpes Suzettes, I think they are one of the best desserts ever invented. My father always said we should bottle the juice and sell it. Absolutely gorgeous. I think I have told the story where once Matt and I were making them in the UK and we ran out of a lot of the ingredients and our own crêpe sauce was virtually pure alcohol, they tasted pretty good too, hic. Shrove Tuesday is known as Pancake Day in the UK and by pancakes we mean what are always called crêpes over here, pancake being more like flapjacks or Welsh pancakes. We always used to have our pancakes with lemon juice, butter and sugar, yummy. I haven’t done that in years, I really should do so as I enjoyed them so much. You can, by the way, make a stack of pancakes, or crêpes if you prefer, layer them with grease proof paper and freeze them. They keep quite a while and are excellent. We used to do that all the time when we had our catering business in the States.

Crêpes suzette

James Martin: Sunday Kitchen

A classic French dessert that always impresses. You can make the crêpes in advance and finish the sauce just before serving.

 

Ingredients

For the crêpes

• 125g/4½oz plain flour

• 1 free-range egg

• 1 tsp melted butter

• 300ml/10½fl oz milk

• butter, for frying

For the sauce

• 50g/1¾oz unsalted butter

• 1 orange, zest and juice

• 2 oranges, juice only

• 1 lemon, zest and juice

• 3 tbsp caster sugar (North American sugar is fine enough)

• 2 tbsp orange liqueur

• 2 tbsp brandy

Preparation method

1. For the crêpes, place the flour into a bowl. Add the egg, melted butter and milk and whisk to a smooth batter. Set aside for at least one hour, preferably overnight.

2. Heat a frying pan until medium hot, melt a little butter in the pan, then add a ladle of batter and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan. Cook for 1-2 minutes, then flip and cook for a further minute.

3. Slide the crêpe from the pan and place on greaseproof paper. Repeat with the remaining batter, layering the crêpes with greaseproof paper as you go. The crêpes can be chilled or frozen at this point and used later.

4. For the sauce, heat a frying pan until hot, add the butter, orange zest and juice, lemon zest and juice and the caster sugar.

5. Cook for a few minutes until just thickened and bubbling, then remove the pan from the heat.

6. Fold the crêpes into quarters and carefully lay into the hot sauce. Return the pan to the heat then add the orange liqueur and brandy and flame to burn off the alcohol. (CAUTION: Keep your face and hair away from the flames. Do not leave the pan unattended.)

7. Cook for a couple of minutes until the crêpes are heated through.

8. To serve, spoon the crêpes onto serving plates and spoon the sauce over the top.

Have a great weekend, its Family Day on Monday here, President’s Day in the States.