House: Ravenclaw | Year: 1 | Category: Drabble | Prompt: [Food] Pancakes/Crepes | Word Count: 751 (including translations)
o . o . o
All Fleur wanted to eat was crêpes. Sweet crêpes with chocolate and homemade jam, or savoury crêpes with ham and cheese, it didn't matter. With Victoire, she had craved anything with nutella - stuffed beignets, toasted paninis, ice cream with nutella drizzled across the top. And then with Dominique she had wanted all the rich French stews - coq au vin, boeuf bourguignon. Perhaps it was because she was a winter baby. But now this one only seemed to want crêpes.
Fleur sighed and began pulling the ingredients from the pantry - flour, eggs, butter, milk, sugar… she set each on the counter, humming to herself as she moved. Her grandmother had taught her how to make them when she had been a little girl. Gabrielle was just a baby, and Fleur remembered holding her in her lap as she tore chunks of the sweet crêpes off and stuffed them in her mouth. They had tasted so good. Her mouth started watering at the memory, and she sped up her movements a little.
"Maman!" Victoire called, running through the house.
"Dans la cuisine," Fleur replied, waiting for the patter of little feet to join her.
"Maman, j'ai faim," Victoire pouted. She was adorable when she sulked, her lower lip poking out and her eyes big and watery. Her silvery hair was falling out of its braid, flyaways dusting the sides of her cheeks.
"Veux-tu apprendre à faire des crêpes?" Fleur asked, reaching out and smoothing some of Victoire's hair back.
"Oui! Oui!" she squealed, jumping up and down excitedly.
"Alors, va chercher ta soeur," Fleur said, and Victoire immediately scurried away.
A few minutes later, Victoire returned, practically dragging a sleepy Dominique by the hand. The younger girl rubbed at her eyes, and Fleur scooped her up in her arms before she started to cry. Victoire was always a bouncing ball of energy, but Dominique could quickly dissolve into a weeping mess when she was tired. Fleur rubbed her back soothingly as Victoire pushed one of the chairs from the table over to the counter and climbed on top of it.
"Bon, mes petites," Fleur began. "First, we need to melt the butter, and then we add in milk and flour, and eggs. Do you want to crack the eggs?"
Dominique and Victoire both nodded excitedly, and Fleur carefully handed each of them a small, brown egg.
"Now you have to be careful, okay?" Fleur instructed, pulling a bowl close to them. "Gently hit the egg on the side of the bowl, like this." She took another egg and showed them what to do. "Then when you have a little crack, you pull it apart and let the inside drop into the bowl. But be careful not to get any of the shell in, yes?"
Both girls nodded and did as she had showed them, and only a little bit of egg yolk ended up outside of the bowl.
"Perfect. Now, Dominique, you help me measure out the flour and milk," Fleur continued. "Victoire, you are going to mix everything together as we add it, okay?"
They added all the ingredients and mixed the batter together, flecks of flour and thin paste spattering the kitchen walls and counters. Squeals and giggles of joy echoed through the small space from the two little girls, and Fleur could feel her unborn child flipping happily in her belly as she laughed. While she cooked the thin pancakes, Victoire and Dominique gathered bowls of fresh berries from their garden. When they had finished, they sat at the kitchen table, kicking their small feet through the air and grinning in anticipation.
"Voilà!" Fleur announced as she set three plates down on the table with one crêpe each - there were more on the counter, but she didn't want the girls to get too far ahead of themselves.
They piled berries high on their crêpes, and when they were done, Fleur drizzled a bit of nutella on top, and helped her daughters fold their crêpes properly. She watched them giggle as they nibbled at the snack, teasing each other as berry juice and chocolate stained their cheeks and fingers. Fleur leaned back happily, a wonderful new memory taking shape alongside the old one - both featuring two sisters and delicious crêpes.
o . o . o
Translations:
Maman = Mom/Mommy
Dans la cuisine = In the kitchen
j'ai faim = I'm hungry
Veux-tu apprendre à faire des crêpes? = Do you want to learn how to make crepes?
Oui = Yes
Alors, va chercher ta soeur = Okay, go get your sister