For the second time the Cookstown 100 has run in September.  It is normally held at the end of April and marks the beginning of the road racing season, but because of Covid-19 it has been held in September this year and last year.

The Cookstown 100 weekend is one of our busiest in the B&B - one where we could fill our rooms one hundred times over - but one of the best.
The same people come back year after year and have become friends.  We all love road racing and have that in common and the road racing community is a very good natured and friendly one.
There is always lots of friendly chatter over breakfast on the Sunday morning!

Road racing is a big thing here in Northern Ireland and the atmosphere at Coostown is really good and you really get to see the speed of the motorbikes up close.
Next year the Cookstown 100 will hit the one hundred year milestone, so, hopefully the Road Racing Calendar will return to normal and Cookstown, in its centenary year, will mark the start of the racing season to be followed by Tandragee, the North West and of course the Isle of Man TT

We love pancakes in this house!  In the B&B we offer pancakes, bacon and maple syrup on the breakfast menu and it is always very popular, but we eat pancakes almost every week with different toppings and not just for breakfast!

The recipe I use for pancakes (it's not really a recipe) was given to me by a good friend many, many years ago. Her pancakes were always amazing.  Most recipes start with the dry ingredients and add the wet ones but her advice was to do it the other way round.

I usually make a batch of pancakes with one pint of buttermilk, which makes quite a lot of pancakes!  I then freeze the extras.  Pancakes heat up beautifully, wrapped in tinfoil in a low oven.

 I mix one pint of buttermilk with eight eggs and a teaspoon of vanilla extract - always with a whisk, never an electric mixer.

To that I add soda bread flour, a cup at a time, until the consistency is right.  The batter needs to be quite thick, thick enough that when you spoon it onto the pan, it doesn't spread.  It can take anything up to four cups of flour.

Finally add sugar.  We like our pancakes quite sweet so I add almost a full cup of sugar but you can add more or less.

Preheat a frying pan or griddle over a moderate heat.  Brush the pan with melted butter or oil.  Spoon the batter onto the pan. You can use any size of spoon, depending on whether you want large, extra large or mini pancakes.  When bubbles appear on the top of the pancakes it is time to turn them and cook them on the other side for a few minutes.

I only oil the pan once, that way you get the lovely smooth surface of a bakery pancake!  I always use a cast iron griddle, one I bought years ago at a Pampered Chef party when they were all the rage!!

We all have our favourite ways to eat pancakes in this house - mine is spread with nutella, topped with sliced banana.  Hubby sticks with the simple life, just butter and sugar.

Pancakes, strawberries and maple syrup.                            Pancakes, bacon and maple syrup.

Pancakes and butter, Pancakes, apple sauce and cream.      Pancakes, nutella and banana

Breakfast has always been my favourite meal of the day.  I can't function without my breakfast and, for me, it is really important to provide a good, quality, freshly cooked breakfast for my guests.  We have a wide range of options available and guests can choose any one of them or they can mix and match through the options.

Cereal, yogurt and fresh fruit are always available.

Today, I want to show you some of the combinations you could pick - just to break away from the norm!

Scrambled egg, bacon and toast.  This is always a popular breakfast.

Scrambled egg, bacon and soda bread, either fried or toasted is a great alternative.

Poached egg, tomato, sausages and toast.

Poached eggs on soda bread.  One of my favourtites!

I think poached eggs are my favourite way to eat eggs.  At Manorview we have our own hens and although there is always great debate about how to poach and egg perfectly - swirl the water, add vinegar to the water - I think that when an egg is very fresh nothing needs to be done except drop the egg in boiling water and cook for three minutes.

Bacon sandwich with the addition of a fried egg

Taking the bacon sandwich to a whole new level.

Fried soda bread sandwiching bacon and a fried egg - otherwise known as an egg and bacon soda!