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Pancakes Shmankakes

I have tried, every year since I can remember, to make pancakes. Normal, thin, crepe-esque pancakes. Not the thick spongey Scotch/American ones. And let me tell you, I am not a crap cook! I'm actually quite good. I have friends who (I think) can testify to this! But the ability to make a batch of crisp, even, round yummy pancakes escapes me every year. Mine absolutely always end up as burnt fatty lumps of under-cooked-in-the-middle batter. I have tried everything....different recipes, different pan heats, different techniques. I don't think I've ever got it right. I don't get it. I make really *BRILLIANT Yorkshire puds.....aren't they supposed to be the same thing? 

 *modesty passed me by during life lessons...clearly! 

My mum used to make the most delicious, delicate pancakes. My brother and I just blindly took it for granted that every Pancake Day we would be shoving our faces full of sticky sweet sugar and lemon juice laden pancakes and we wouldn't even have to have proper dinner first or anything! It didn't occur to me that there would be some skill involved in the creation of these yummy, spherical treats. 

Imagine my surprise when, the first pancake day after having Gus, I faced the disappointing reality that pancakes are actually really not that easy. At least, not for me. I was picturing a fun evening of frying and tossing but NO! The reality was a rollercoaster of tears and anger and shouting and eventually just quiet disappointment. And that's a process that has been repeated every year since, as I just could not accept defeat in the face of something seemingly so easy! 

This year, however, I have given in. I have bought pre-made pancakes. My name is Jess Helicopter and I am a sell-out. But I don't care that I am a sell out because I am going to have a happy house of hungry Helicopters this evening whose craving for pancakes will be immediately sated within 10 minutes of me getting home! Hoorah! 

By the way, if I hear one more person tell me another "fail safe" way to cook pancakes....... THAT SHIP HAS SAILED. 


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