ANIMAL PANCAKES

IT'S A GOOD THING there are illustrations for these pancakes in Betty Crocker's New Boys and Girls Cookbook (1965) because the directions alone are pretty sparse:

"Prepare batter for Pancakes as direced on package of buttermilk baking mix.

Form simple animal designs by pouring better for round pancake onto hot griddle; then with a spoon, add small amounts of batter for ears, tail, feet, etc.

Bake turning once."

The illustrations are quite simple, but putting them into practice took some getting used to. Your first attempt, like ours, may end up looking like a regular pancake sprouting spores instead of, say, a turtle. This is with the dexterity of an adult, mind you. We wonder what flapjack oddities the children who followed this recipe produced.

Be patient; you'll quickly get a feel for how the batter spreads in the pan. The advise to use a spoon to add small amounts of batter for the animal's limbs is very useful.

Now the fun begins. We couldn't seem to stop making pancakes and after making two animals we figured out a way to make our own little rabbit shape that we didn't need to copy from the book.

It's fun to see the finished product, crisp and golden brown. Finish your animal with chocolate chip or raisin eyes (we used raisins left over from the Bunny Salad recipe).

Again, when it came down to eating this recipe, it was bittersweet. The pancakes were delicious, but it was sad to see our little menagerie disappear.