Flippin' 'eck!

It’s Pancake Day, so happy birthday to my lovely German Shepherd dog Jazz, who now lives in the great dog paddock in the sky but is never, ever far from my thoughts (even though she travelled skywards over a decade ago). Later on (or to be precise, tomorrow – I’m too hungover to make a good batter today) I’m going to make Pepperpot Beef pancakes, as invented by my mum and dad when they owned the Everyman Bistro in Liverpool. PB is actually just a slightly more exotic version of savoury mince, made with green peppers, garlic, red wine and a sprinkle of dried chillies. As you can probably imagine, it’s great on top of rice, but it’s also an excellent pancake filler, and a nice little trip down Memory Lane for me.

I loved the Bistro years. They ended when I was around seven and we moved to Wales, but I’m pretty sure that hanging out in the kitchen with the chefs when I was but a tiny crumb planted the seeds of the fascination I have with food today. It was in that kitchen that I first tasted proper French bread (with butter and Lyle’s Golden Syrup, no less), chilli con carne (even though I was supposed to be vegetarian) and pasta that didn’t come in a tin. Here too I was introduced to the delights of Leonard Cohen, Dionne Warwick and – I must ask my mum how this happened! – Liberace, not forgetting, or course, The Beatles. And in this instance, I use the term ‘introduce’ literally. I once held an art exhibition in the Bistro bar (precocious, moi?) and sold a Crayola sketch of a princess in a castle to Paul McCartney (or it might have been John Lennon) for 4d. Whichever Beatle it was, I wish I’d either kept the coins or got him to sign my sketch and hand it back – after all, I’m sure it never went on to be hung on the walls of a mansion. But still, the memory is priceless (even though I don’t remember much about it, and much of what I do recall is based on hearsay).

Gosh, I’m experiencing Bistro memory overload now – when I’m feeling a bit more lively, I’ll probably ramble on the subject some more. But for now, all I want to do is watch daytime TV and keep my fingers crossed that Poncy and Chancer – the two dogs we’ve just put a reserve on at Bath Cats and Dogs Home – really are going to become official family soon. I don’t want to tempt fate by getting too excited about this yet, which is why I’ve kept quiet about the plans so far. But hey, watch this space! And may all your tossing escapades be successful.