So next week is a little of a food-scoffing showdown with Shrove Tuesday (bring on the pancakes) and Valentines Day (chocolate and champagne, don’t mind if I do). I think I’ll be rolling my way to the weekend!

As things are going to be hectic with stripping out the shop (oh the romance of it all) I decided to get ahead of myself and go for pancakes a week early. Mind you, pancakes can never be too early in my book. We tend to have them all year round, usually as a savoury meal, rather than a sweet option.

Now ladies and gents of a certain age, here comes the memory flashback…. Little Chef Jubilee Pancakes!

Image Source © www.insearchofheston.com

These are beyond a doubt the most nostalgic food of my childhood (well these and cheesy triangles – does anyone remember them, or is it just me?) I always remember Mum taking my brother and I to the Little Chef, on the A45 near Coventry, on a Saturday afternoon after swimming or trampolining. We would always have burger, chips and beans, followed by a Little Chef lollipop. I don’t remember actually having pancakes; probably because we never finished our lunch. But I do remember that when  Granny Vi was with us, she only ever wanted the Jubilee Pancakes. I remember looking at it longingly on the table menu, the thin, golden pancake filled with plump glossy cherries and a slab of bright yellow vanilla ice-cream; I also remember it never looking like that when Granny’s arrived at the table.

But still, the sight of a Jubilee Pancake brings back so many memories – memories of carefree Saturday afternoons, the excitement of going out for lunch, the best brother you could wish for, my amazing Mum, my most awesome Dad and my beloved Granny Vi – her pleated skirts, her black handbag, going to the salon with her whilst she had a perm and sneaking a little ice-cream off her plate when she wasn’t looking.

Over the years, the A45 Little Chef has gone through a number of changes – it changed to a Super Burger, then an OK Diner – a really cool American 50s retro place, and now it’s the excellent Mumbai Blue, which brings my memories full circle, as it’s become my Brother’s favourite restaurant and the only curry that he’ll eat!

So as I was saying, I decided to make the pancakes a week early. It was a really lovely sunny day as well, so I like to think that my Granny was watching over as I flipped the pancakes. Without any cherries or ice-cream in the house, Jubilee Pancakes weren’t on the cards, but I had a few strawberries left over from the weekend’s baking in the shop and a little whipping cream from the pina coladas. And this is what happened…

I have a trusty pancake recipe but for these pancakes I decided to use Nigella’s American pancakes and stack them high! We’d only one egg left, so I dropped one from the recipe, but they were still light and fluffy, and I cut out the sugar to keep them a little more diet friendly. The recipe is published in How to Be A Domestic Goddess and at Nigella.com (clicky linky please).

With the strawberries, I made a coulis and whipped the cream up a little. The coulis is pretty simple, so I won’t pop the recipe here. But for those wanting to know, I hulled and quartered the strawberries (about 150g), popped them in a saucepan with 15g caster sugar and heated them over a low heat until the strawberries had given up their juices. I then strained them with a sieve, pushing the pulp through for a nice red sauce. SO good!

After a stack of pancakes for a late lunch, I really didn’t feel like having much for supper this evening, so for Ian’s supper I used the last of the batter and made savoury pancakes, stuffed with ham, cheese and onion. They of course would be as equally good with a squeeze of fresh lemon (no Jif here) and a sprinkle of sugar.

I’m linking these Nigella Pancakes with Strawberry Coulis and Cream to Forever Nigella #23 hosted by Urvashi of Botanical Baker. This month’s challenge is to blog any Nigella recipe with the theme ‘nostalgia‘. Forever Nigella is organised by Sarah at Maison Cupcake.