As a family, we had a discussion about eating cleaner, healthier and simplifying our meals. We also decided that it would be fun to add some foods that  we might not eat here, but that other countries enjoy regularly.

Today I made strawberry sauce to spread on some English pancakes. Again, this is not a formal recipe, but more of a guide.

I needed to use up some strawberries we had that were going to go bad in a day or so. For some reason, we had two containers a little less than half empty.

First I cut off the tops and cut them up and threw then in a sauce pan. I added 1/4 cup water and 1/4 cup sugar. Next time I’ll probably add a little more sugar. I squeezed half a lemon into the pot and then set it to boil.

Now for the not so fun part. Stir, stir, stir, stir and repeat. While it’s bubbling along you must stir it so the sugar doesn’t burn. It is interesting to watch the sugars and citrus all break down and become one. And I should add that the smell is pretty darn good.

I cooked it for about 30 minutes. There’s no set time, just when you feel like all the sugars are broken down.

That’s it. It’s basically just a dump and stir. You can use blueberries, raspberries, apples, whichever fruit you prefer. You can eat it warm or cold. I just moved mine off if the stove while I mixed up the English pancakes.

English pancakes are not like American pancakes. They are not fluffy. They are very much like crepes. There are a lot of different recipes out there. I just read a few and then made my own.

I sifted about 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour and a pinch of salt into a mixing bowl.

Made a well in the middle and added two eggs.

Start pulling a little bit of flour into the eggs. It’s going to be a little sticky, but that’s ok.

Next I added 2 T melted butter and stirred it all together.

Now add 2 cups milk and whisk it all until it’s blended. You can also use a hand mixer or blender. It’s going to be runny. VERY runny, but that’s what you want. Let it rest for at least 15 minutes. If you want to make it the night before, you can. Just keep it in the fridge.

When it’s time to cook, have a stick of butter and a hot pan ready. Melt some butter in the hot pan and then pour about 1/4 cup of batter in and swirl it around until it’s VERY thin. Let it cook then flip it over. You have to judge when to do this. I wrecked the first two until I found the timing sweet spot.

Before it’s flipped.

After it’s flipped. You need to make sure the first side is set before you flip it or it will tear. These babies are really thin. Also, don’t forget to butter that pan between pancakes. I almost went through a whole stick.

I like mine folded into thirds, but you can eat then however you want. The traditional English way is with lemon juice and sugar.

And here’s the finished dish. I spread the strawberry sauce on top and sprinkled on some powered sugar.

The whole family loved them. There were no pancakes or sauce left. The batter makes about 12 pancakes.

Just remember when you’re cooking, no recipe is set in stone. Be creative. We like to try to use what we have. Some might be failures, but that’s ok. That’s how we learn. ❤