eric carle's pancakes

Strange but true: I learnt how to make pancakes from a children’s book.

It looked too irresistibly easy. Somehow, when the recipe appears in a children’s book, it just seems so simple.


Moreoever, the illustrations in Eric Carle’s “Pancakes, Pancakes!” were irresistibly appealing.


The recipe per se comes from the famed illustrator himself, who notes in an afterword that if he hadn’t made a living from drawing children’s books, he would have become a chef.

Just a cup of flour, a cup of milk and two eggs and he swears it makes yummy pancakes.

We tried it out this morning, Day and I, while Dee and her papa were snoring away. (Oh it had to involve Day. He’s the one who’s been hearing about how the boy in the book goes around collecting the ingredients for him mama to cook the pancakes.)

He got a real kick helping me to pour the flour and milk and eggs into the bowl before stirring the batter with a spoon.


Me, I got a big kick from watching my batter sizzle into a paper-thin crepe in the butter-lined frying pan.


A dash of maple syrup and Day, fork in hand, grabbed his plate before pronouncing (like the boy in the book): “Mama, I know what to do now!”

So do I. I have visions of pancakes with banana and ice cream and strawberries. Suddenly, my culinary universe has expanded.

* My camera is still spoilt. Pictures taken with small and not-so-good camera.