Preparing for a Pancake Day kitchen session always makes me nervous. Little hands want to get involved and that’s all very lovely but someone has to scrape the pancakes from the kitchen ceiling and, funnily enough, that’s usually me.

I have two children who love to get involved in cooking. In particular a 6 year old boy who wants to splash whatever he can get his hands on into the mixing bowl. Combinations of Marmite, sugar, vanilla essence, flour, grated cheese… you name it. His little eyes dance with glee as he thinks of another ingredient to add. Meanwhile I’m stressing over the fact that the end result will inevitably end up being tossed in the bin. Wasteful and expensive.

Such culinary fun needs to be managed. Neil, MD at From You to Me, recently took his 5 year old daughter Mila, on a wonderful parent and child cookery course. They had a great time making and shaping pasta and creating delicious sauces. To me this success was down to two things: a) a third party to manage and control the child, and b) someone on hand to thoroughly clean up afterwards – at least two hours in my experience.


Nevertheless, as Neil found, and as I have experienced during certain family successes in the kitchen, experimenting with food is a very bonding experience and Shrove Tuesday is a great excuse to go for it. Just one more tip. Stick with sugar and lemon.