Today in The Guardian: How to make perfect pancakes! Yummie!

How to cook perfect American pancakes

A stack of pancakes with lashings of maple syrup and strips of crispy bacon is the quintessential American breakfast

Felicity's perfect American pancakes. Photograph: Felicity Cloake

They may get confused about how to fry an egg and be blind to the delights of Marmite, baked beans and black pudding to help start the day, but in general our American cousins are Olympic-level breakfasters. Across the pond, just about anything goes, from a "heart attack on a rack" in a Deep South diner to spicy Tex Mex migas in Santa Fe. You name it, they'll have it for breakfast, preferably washed down with a bottomless glass of iced water and a vat of coffee.

For me, however, the quintessential American way to start the day has to be pancakes, dripping with maple syrup and criss-crossed with brittle rashers of crispy bacon. Kids in the Judy Blume books and Steve Martin films of my childhood seemed to live on these fluffy, saucer-sized discs (along with the equally mysterious meatloaf), yet the closest we ever came to them were scotch pancakes which, even at a distance of several thousand miles, were clearly the puny European weaklings in this particular transatlantic relationship.

Perhaps things are different now: Nigella certainly claims she makes up a batch for her children's breakfast at weekends, despite admitting that it's "undeniably a supermom-with-kids breakfast cliché". But what's the best recipe for aspiring domestic deities?

[...]

Perfect American pancakes

Felicity's perfect American pancakes. Photograph: Felicity Cloake

That aside, it's very difficult to muck pancakes up, however rusty your qualifications as a supermom, dad, or just cook. They're quick, easy, and absolutely delicious with Marmite. Honestly.

Makes about 10

45g butter
115g plain flour
115g fine cornmeal
¼ tsp salt
2 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 egg
300ml buttermilk
100ml whole milk

1. Put the oven on low to keep the pancakes warm, and cook or otherwise prepare any bacon or other accompaniments. Melt the butter and leave to cool slightly.


2. Put the flour, cornmeal, salt, sugar, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda into a mixing bowl.


3. Put the egg, buttermilk and milk into a smaller bowl and whisk to combine, then stir in 2 tbsp melted butter. Then add the contents of the bowl to the dry ingredients and mix briefly until just combined.


4. Put a heavy-based frying pan on a medium heat and brush the base with melted butter. Use a large spoon to dollop pancakes into the pan (you'll probably need to do this in at least 2 batches) and cook until they begin to look dry and bubbly on top: depending on the heat of your pan, this should take about 3 minutes. Flip over and cook the other side and cook for another couple of minutes until golden. Put into the oven to keep warm while you cook the remaining pancakes, unless you have customers ready and waiting.

5. Serve and devour immediately, while they're still hot.
Are these pancakes just like mom used to make – or a weedy British imitation? What do you top yours with, and which other American classics should we import?
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Kids, have you noticed that the British person who wrote this article seems convinced that adding Marmite to pancakes would make them better?! LOL! Remember our Marmite testing session???!!! LOL again!

Mrs P.

A short interview, by the boys

Theo  is native from France, he lives in Bengy He is in scientific terminal.

. His father is native English. His mother is French. He has a little sister. He has a family in England, he often travels to see them and he doesn’t like living in an other country.

He has a double nationality, it was never a problem in his childhood.

He speaks Spanish a little.

His English is perfect not mistake. It's normal for him to speak English so he doesn’t feel specially proud.

 He probably will speak English in his future job. He said “speaking English is not a drawback because it will help me for my future job”.

Thank you Theo for your collaboration

Another interview, by Guiz18

On the last Tuesday, May 29, 2012 in our High School , we interviewed bilinguals students from the school.

          Among these students there are English, American and South African people. They are in Fourth, Fifth and Sixth form. They all have english speaking parents.

So we asked them some questions like : " Did you suffer when you were little speaking English ? "

and they answered us : " Yeah, when French people laugh, when you don't know a word in English. "

They think that they'll probably use this advantage for their future when we asked them it : " Are you going to use English in your studies and future job ? "

I hope they realize that this is a real chance for them.

It would even seem that speaking two languages fluently would be good for memory.

The majority of students we interviewed felt more French than English, American or South African.

And when we asked them on the question of what is missing in France they replied with a laugh " Pork pies "

To finish, I think they will succeed in life by exploiting what nature has given them even if today we can learn to speak English.

             (they're right, pork pies are delicious! Mrs P.)

Another interview, by our very own Jules (who's also bilingual...when she wants!)

On May 29^th 2012, I've interviewed Margot W.

I asked her a few question about her second language speaking which is english .

Since she were born Margot speaks french and english so she is bilingual. In her family her mother and father speaks english, her father comes from South-Africa whereas her mother comes from France.

For nationality, Margot has the French one but she would like to have the south-african one too. She expected to do it later when she will be older.

(and this, pupils, is the South African flag!- Mrs P.)

After asking her questions about her origins, I asked her questions about her childhood.

Margot didn't suffer during her childhood speaking two languages.

She has now a very good accent and a lot of vocabulary but sometimes and even more now, she looks for her words but it's normal when you don't speak a language everyday.

To finish my interview, I wanted to know what impression Margot had about being bilingual at school so I asked her if the english teachers wanted her to do more than the other pupils. After asking her this question, she looked at me, laughted and replied that it is sometimes true that the teachers want more results from a bilingual person because it is more easier for this person in this subject.

Later, when Margot will be older, she may go live in South-Africa for a year or two just to see how life is other there but she doesn't want to spend her all life there.

Margot is a 16 bilingual girl who speaks very well english and she is proud of it .

Nana is leaving us...

...and we wish her good luck in her new life!

Come and tell us about it on the blog: we'll be delighted to hear from you.

And this is to cheer you up:

We all know it's your favourite band!

Now you can read AND listen to an interview on this blog!!!!

Last Tuesday, Nana, Jade, Cockatoo, Destiny and Fafa interviewed Claire, a bilingual student in our school. We asked her some questions about her culture and differences between her country and ours.
Here you'll find the recording (well done Destiny!):


                                                            


and below, the transcription:


• What languages do you speak ? • I speak French and English.
• How long have you been speaking two languages ? • Hum...every since I was little.
• Who in your family speaks English ? • Everyone except for my relatives that live in France.
• Were you born in France or elsewhere ?
• I was born in America.
• Where exactly ? • Orlando, Florida.
• What nationality do you have ? • I have two nationalities so, I have the French nationality and the American nationality. So, I'm both.
• Is there something in your family's country of origin that you would like to have or find in France ? • Oh, yeah, lots of things. Just like there are lots of French things I would love to find in America .
• Did you suffer when you were little speaking English ?
• Hum, no I did have some learning problems but that was more about me and after my language.
• Do you sometimes mistake English and French when you speak ?
• Yeah, that happens me a lot. When I was little I was explaining a game to my cousins who are french and I went thought an entire complex explanation of the game only to realize at the end that I was talking in English!!!
• Do you feel proud when you speak English ?
• Hum...no,no. I just feel like I'm talking! (laughs)
. • Don't you think that sometimes the teachers ask you more than the others ?
• It depends on teachers, generally I think they kind of …......... my mood, to see whether to call on me, or not, but usually they just let me do my thing and be involved when I want to be involved.
• Would you like to live in your parent's native country ? Do you intend to live there one day ? • Well, I'm living there but I don't intend spend the rest of my life. So I wanna travel and not seller down too much.
• Are you going to use English in your studies and future job ? • I have no idea but I hope so, I really hope.
• What are the drawbacks of speaking English ? • I can't really think of any, you know, other their not bring able to go to countries that don't like America.
• Do you feel different from other pupils ? • Hum, it depends. I mean it's definitely kind of different to have two different cultures. See both sides and see what's good and what's bad, that other people don't necessarily see.


THANK YOU !!!

Thank you Claire for your cooperation.

Interviews with Bilingual pupils- part II

This interview was conducted by Agie:

On 29^h May 2012, we interviewed, with the class, some people from our high school. These people were different but they had a common point: they were bilingual.

The first student that I interviewed was Eva S.. Born on 13^th November 1996 in Bourges, she has always lived in France. However she speaks English and French; not since she was born but almost: she learnt these two languages at the same time. Indeed, all her father's side of family comes from England. As a result, as her brothers and sisters, she has a dual nationality: English and French.

So, I asked her some questions to know more about her feelings.

Let's see what she answered:

The first thing that I wanted to know was if she sometimes mistook English and French when she was speaking; and she told me that it didn't happen often but it could sometimes when she was speaking English. She also said to me that she was proud to speak English and that she didn't feel different from other pupils. Then, I took the opportunity to ask her if she had plans to use English in her studies and future job: she thought three seconds and replied « probably ».

 Moreover, she explained to  me that she would like to live there and that the things that she would like to find in France were... the English sweets! To finish, I was wondering too if there were any drawbacks of speaking English and she said « they aren't really any apart... maybe from the English class! » but she didn't give me more precision.

Finally, I wanted to compare some of her answers with these of another student, Julie. Both of them were of English origin thanks to their father's family, were born in France and spoke English and French since they had learnt to speak.

They didn't have the same point of view though. About the question on the missing thing from England, Julie agreed with Eva: laughing, she answered « real jelly beans! ».

On the other side, countrary to the final « no » of Eva's answer after the question « did you suffer during your childhood speaking English? », Julie told me « yes , other people always said that I couldn't speak English when I didn't know a word ».

To finish, they one more time agreed when I said « do you also think that the teachers ask you more than the others? »; both answers were « yes ».

[that's true, but we have good reasons- a teacher]

I think this interview was a good idea. I discovered that even if there were both bilingual, they could feel different and have different thoughts. It was really interesting to hear them talking about it.

Thank you Eva for your cooperation.

Interviews with Bilingual pupils - part One

The first interview was conducted by Gaëlle:      

I interviewed a girl, from my school, whose mother is American.

What languages do you speak?
I speak french and english and little bit german

 How long have you been speaking two languages?
 It's since I was a child that I've known how to speak.

Who in your family speaks english? . Everyone!

Were you born in France or elsewhere? . I was born in France.

What nationality do you have?
.American et French.

Is there something in your family's country of origin that you would like to have or find in France?
 Oh yeah! I would like to eat a cheese-steak here! It's a sandwich with meat, cheese, onions and it's hot.

Did you suffer when you were little speaking English?
No, not at all

Do you sometimes mistake English and French when you speak?No, only when I was in pre-school.

Do you feel proud when you speak English?
No, not really because its normal for me

Don't you think that sometimes the teachers ask you more than the others?
Oh yes, I think so! They should be regular with everyone.

Would you like to live in your parents' native country? Do you intend to live there one day?
Yes, I will probaly live in America one day.

Are you going to use English in your studies and future job?
Uhh ... maybe...!

What are the drawbacks of speaking English?
Everyone asks you how to say this? How to say that?

Do you feel different from other pupils?
No, just in English.

Thank you Julia for your cooperation!

Better late than never! "My school", by Livia!

Hello, I’m in a High school in the center of France.
The architecture is basic but when there is a good weather we can enjoy the nature .
I say it because is very uncommon that a High school has a large area of green space.
Furthermore, we can meet different personalities: hippies , fashion victims ..
I think being to whom we are withnessing are identical in the other establishment ,
But the "poles" were set up to practice specialties such as art and theater

I like this diversity !

NOW DO YOU WANT TO COME TO MY SCHOOL ?

If only I were in London!!!!!!!!!!!!

I could get one of these delightful "Jubilee souvenirs"!!!

My ice-cream servings would get a royal touch... 

A Jelly dessert  would be a work of art!

and the last but not the least:

Cute, aren't they?

Mrs P. (not ashamed to admit her taste for "kitschy" things!!!)

And you reader, do you like kitschy stuff ? (remember, you can remain anonymous in your comments !!!)

My school, by Onche-Onche

In this school:
On the positive side:
I did encounter new, very good friends
The teachers are proficient
 there's a good atmosphere to work
The school helped me become independent
 there's a good environment.
Negative:
There are a lot of weird people
Be careful with "stuff" flowing easily
The schedules are not always appropriate.

I think this school is good, not exceptional, but good.

It's a long week-end of celebrations!

Enjoy your 4 days week-end, English friends and long live your Queen!

And you reader (yes, I mean YOU!), would you like to live in a monarchy?