Pancake meetings

Yesterday we had a meeting.  Half of our group is in North America, and now there are only three of us left in London for a few weeks.  I offered to have Val and A over to mine for a brunch and then have our business talks afterwards.

To me, nothing says brunch like pancakes!  While our coworkers enjoy Denny's and Tim Horton's, we had homemade pancakes.  It wasn't a bad trade :)

Now today, I'm off to a farewell party for a couple of friends moving to Africa for Bible school.  I volunteered to make a dessert, and I'm thinking of making a rich chocolate cake called Black Magic cake that has one cup of coffee in the batter.  I'm making a mocha icing as well.  

It's funny how much I've come to enjoy being in the kitchen.  I've always enjoyed baking, but cooking felt like a chore.  Making an entire meal, even just for one person, took too much effort.  Perhaps it's the communal aspect of cooking for friends that has inspired me.  Now, I like finding new recipes and making something successfully.  It's great to share it with loved ones.  The challenge now is to manage to take it on the bus with me!  

It is also fun to see the reactions to my food.  Most people here do not do a lot of cooking or baking.  I remember in my previous flat, one of the girls I lived with came into the kitchen after I had made chocolate chip cookies.  She looked at me in shock.  "You can make cookies?  I've never known anyone who makes cookies!"  

While her attitude still makes me giggle, I have heard repeats of that.  Most desserts are bought at the shops.  Among my circles in London, I think I'm getting a reputation as "one who cooks," which makes me laugh!