My father used to be a bird watcher. A twitcher. He met my mother, a farmer's daughter, at Scottish dancing classes and they fell in love. When I was born several years later, I was named Robin after the robin my dad used to put food out for every morning. When I was born I had my umbilical cord wrapped round my neck and was quite blue, and my dad reckons I'm lucky I wasn't named after a Blue Tit. So, when I bought I'm A Cuckoo at the weekend the lad behind the counter gave me a handful of badges and suggested that I could cover up the word "Cuckoo", to make it any bird or animal I want. "I'm a Robin" would be quite appropriate. And when I went home on Sunday I gave a badge to my dad and he was very pleased with it, attaching it to his gardening coat so he could wear it outside and maybe fool a few blackbirds. Well, today is Shrove Tuesday, and once again we think of that rarest bird of all, the shrove. Shroves used to roam all over this green and pleasant land, their feet big and floppy and their beaks long and thin. But now the lesser striped shrove is no more, and the greater spotted shrove, although alive and well in some remote parts of the Highlands, is rarely seen outside the zoo. Now the ancient tradition of Shrove Hunting has been banned, and making the traditional Shrove Pie could get you arrested, the most popular food on Shrove Tuesday is the pancake. I've already got my flour and eggs together, and I'll be making some as soon as I get home. And after I've sprinkled on the lemon and the sugar I'll say a little prayer for the poor old shrove. ++++++++ pancakes ++++++++ Ingredients 120g/4oz plain flour pinch of salt 2 eggs 210ml/7fl oz milk 90ml/3fl oz water 1 tbsp vegetable oil Method 1. Put the flour and the salt in a bowl and mix. 2. Make a well in the centre and crack in the eggs. 3. In a separate bowl mix together the milk and the water. 4. Beat the eggs into the flour with a wooden spoon and gradually beat in the milk and water mixture to get a smooth liquid the consistency of cream. 5. Stir in the oil and allow to stand for 30 minutes before using. +++++++++ Pour the mixture into a hot frying pan with a knob of butter until the base of the pan is covered. Always toss the pancake in the air to turn it over. Don't cook them for too long. I remember a woman called Huckle from the local youth club got us to burn our pancakes one year cos she was worried we'd all get salmonella. They weren't good. Don't do it. Robin _________________________________________________________________ Tired of 56k? Get a FREE BT Broadband connection http://www.msn.co.uk/specials/btbroadband +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister@missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo@missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "peculiarly deranged fanbase" +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "frighteningly named Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +-+ "sick posse of f**ked in the head psycho-fans" - NME June 2001 +-+ +-+ Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa +-+ +-+ Snipp snapp snut, sa var sagan slut! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+