Last year we made a special Bento Babies lunch in honour of St Patrick's Day, but this year we have tried something different. 

So simple but so effective!

I adore these crackled eggs.

Easy to make and a guaranteed wow factor when you serve them. Try red versions for a Spiderman party ;)

Take an egg and boil it for 8-10 minutes. I use a handy plastic timer that shows you by colour when a hard boiled egg is done. Best £1 in the bargain home ware shop Proper Job I have ever spent.

When boiled, drain and leave to cool for 5 minutes, so that you can handle them without asbestos fingers. 

Take 3 large squares of cling film or a freezer bag would work just as well, I just ran out!

Drizzle a good measure of food colouring over your egg, about one teaspoons worth.

Wrap up your egg and colouring and gently roll it along the worktop, plate or chopping board. Tap ever so gently as you roll, to allow the egg shell to crack rather than break it completely.

Leave to stand for 30 minutes to allow the colouring to really take effect.

Unwrap, wash under cold water and peel.

And there you have it! A marbled egg to celebrate St Patrick's Day.

Warm it or serve cold.

This post was completely inspired by these cute 50p egg cups I spied in the charity shop window!

Other people's junk is my blog post inspiration :)

Linking up with the fabulous Me and My Shadow! 

When I started blogging about food a good while ago, my inspiration was flowers. And nothing has changed.

The house is full of anemones (my favourite hint hint) after stumbling on a sweet gardener in Cheddar who sells his home grown flowers for £1 a bunch! There are 16 stems in each bunch. 16 anemone stems people! 16!

And the stunning vibrant red ones have inspired today's post.

The ultimate pancake recipe.

To make your batter mix you need flour, eggs, milk and salt. You can find a master recipe here or use a pre made mix that you just add water to like this one. Yes it's cheating but who cares?!

My tip is to pour your mix from a height into a hot oiled pan. Form your shape then turn the heat down to medium. Last year we made hearts :)

This year it's all about the anemone inspired recipe, so as your pancake mix is cooking toss in a sprinkle of chopped strawberries and desiccated coconut and then drizzle with balsamic glaze. I topped mine with a light dusting of icing sugar too.

Delish.

I love the pops of red in the pancake and the richness of the dark black balsamic. Just like the centre of the anemone.

What are you making today?!

I love the principle of open sandwiches.

Perhaps it's because we stuff ours too full to pick up with our hands ;)

Hearty for a cold Spring day, this recipe is easy to prepare and warms you up nicely.

I used a seeded soda bread loaf to balance the meat. Soda bread has a denser texture and we love the rawness of the flavour.

Cook your piece of steak according to taste. I like to splash a little Kikkoman soy sauce in the griddle. Watch it sizzle. Add your mushrooms and sliced tomato to the pan so they cook in the juices.

Layer up your soda bread slice with a spread of butter or margarine, chopped strips of steak, tomato and mushrooms. Sprinkle with macro leaves and shoots. Drizzle with balsamic glaze and serve on a bed of salad leaves.

You can find the macro leaves in the salad section of most supermarkets. They add a little bit of intrigue to a regular salad.

A rustic treat that you want to pull apart with your fingers. You could toss a few pumpkin seeds over the top for extra crunch too.

I might try it again with caramelised onions marmalade.....yum scrum!

Linking up with my favourite Food Linkys #recipeoftheweek and #TastyTuesdays