Eye on London - Flipping books and reading pancakes

Monday February 27^th 2017
Food and Drink

London from the inside Monday 27th February - Sunday 5th March 2017

Finally March, the month that promises to come in like a lion and go out like a lamb, and rarely disappoints. British Summer Time officially begins at 1am on the last Sunday in March - warmer weather and more daylight hours for after work/school activities. Until then we have Pancake Day and World Book Day to get us through. Have a flipping great week!

PANCAKE DAY

Tuesday 28th February is Pancake Day, or to give it it’s official name - Shrove Tuesday. Also known as Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday, it’s the day to use up all your fatty foods before Lent.

The Perfect Pancake Recipe

This should make about 10… sieve 125g plain flour, make a well in the flour and crack in two eggs and pour a little milk. Start to whisk with a fork bringing in a little flour and keep gradually adding milk and whisking until you get a thin mixture (about 300ml of milk). Make sure the pan has a bit of oil in it and is quite hot before you pop a bit of mixture in it. Remember the first one is always the ‘failure’ / practice pancake and toss with confidence!

Our Five Fave Toppings and Fillings

Sugar and lemon (obvs)

Maple syrup, apple, and pecan

Nutella and more Nutella

Ham and Emmental cheese

Spinach, bacon and mushroom

The Parliamentary Pancake Race

It’s the 20th year of this famous race in which MPs battle it out for charity to be the best pancake flippers and racers. It’s at 10am in Victoria Tower Gardens, Westminster and it’s free to watch.

WORLD BOOK DAY

The 2nd March is the 20th World Book Day. Schools, bookshops and supermarkets across the city are taking part in a bid to inspire you to pick up a book, get down to your local bookseller, discover new authors and raise money for charity.

Five Books We’ve Enjoyed Recently

Half Girlfriend by Chetan Bhagat

Barbarian Days, A Surfing Life by William Finnegan

Songs About A Girl by Chris Russell

How Bad Do You Want It? by Matt Fitzgerald

The Twits by Roald Dahl

EYE ON… HARINGEY

There are 32 capsules on The Coca-Cola London Eye, representing the 32 London boroughs, so each week we explore a different London borough.

Haringey or Harringay? Is it so good they named it twice? Harringay is actually an area in the London borough of Haringey.

Best bookshop: Big Green Bookshop

Best place to read on a sunny day: Downhills Park

Best place to start writing your novel: Hornsey Library

Most famous author that lived locally: Ian Rankin

Best place for pancakes: Cafe Tramp

ON THIS DAY… 3rd March 1982

The Queen opens the Barbican Centre for Arts and Conferences in the City of London. Happy 35th birthday Barbican!