Animal Pancakes: An Arnold Family Tradition

When Uncle Awesome and I were children, we could depend on three things when we visited Mamaw:

1. She would have saved her coins for us to divide between us when we arrived.

2. She would let us use her cow pitcher that poured milk from its mouth.

3. She would make us animal pancakes for breakfast.

It was inconceivable to us that any of these things would not happen.

After Bear and Bug attained pancake-eating age, Papa decided to carry on the tradition with the new generation. It has become something they look forward to every time Papa is around. They plan several days in advance what animals they are going to request. I try to steer them toward pancake-friendly shapes (beetle, snake, turtle) and away from the types of animals that Daddy Shortbread has been known to request (Portugese Man o'War).

Mamaw, in recent years, has admitted to me that she had a sort of "all-purpose" animal shape that she used with slight modifications for every one of our requests. We were so awed by the concept of anything other than a round pancake that we delightedly accepted whatever she handed us on a plate.

Now Papa, as some of you may know, has a tendency toward being a somewhat freakish perfectionist. No all-purpose animal-ish blob for him, no sir. Behold, the wonder that is Animal Pancakes, the Next Generation:

Elephant Pancake:

Bear with Lizard Pancake (and plastic model):

Bug with Moose Pancake: