Pancake Day

Big Al’s Little Tales: Big Al and the Pancake Day Palaver

Pancake Day is my absolute favourite day of the year.

No wait, hang on

Except for Christmas Day

And my birthday

And Easter

Oh, and my best mate’s birthday – they’re always cool

And the first day of the summer holidays

Oh, and any long-weekend really.

Okay, but after them Pancake Day is my absolute favourite, because…

I love pancakes!

You know those ones that Mum makes and they’re just right

Nice and round

No bubbles

Lovely and brown and smooth

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Delicious.

You can put anything you want on a pancake

Berries with melted chocolate and cream

Oooohhhhhh!

Tasty.

Strawberry jam or honey or just

Lots and lots of sugar.

But that’s not for me.

Nope, there’s only one way to eat a pancake.

Wait till Mum flips it and it slides around the pan

Nice and brown on both sides, that’s the way

Wait as an air bubble makes the middle rise up

And Mum pushes it back down with the spatula

Look out

Pheewssshhh!

Hot steam escapes from the sides as the pancake flaps like a flag in the breeze

Sizzle sizzle sizzle

Wait just a bit longer as Mum grabs your plate and

Flops one edge of the pancake onto it and slides the rest off the pan

Now!

While it’s still hot!

Golden Syrup.

That’s what you need

And not the type that’s in a squeezy bottle – that’s just cheating

You need the stuff in the metal tin

With the lid that you have to pry open with a spoon

Pop! Goes the top

In goes the spoon

Twirling round and round and round

Gathering more syrup

Pull the spoon out

Laden with its gloopey, golden, gooey, goodness

Quick!

To the plate before you spill any

But you always do.

And here’s the secret to the perfect pancake

SSSSHHHHHHhhhhhhh! You don’t just drop the spoon and spread syrup any old where

Oh no, you wait…

First, a slow trickle of syrup eases its way from the spoon and GLOOOOP!

Lands in the middle, then, quickly – before it pools – move the spoon in spirals

From the middle of the pancake to the edge

Round and round

Twisting and turning

The trickle’s getting faster

You’re running out of syrup

Closer to the edge

The trickle’s getting thinner

It’s piling on top of itself until finally

It’s one long

never ending

beautiful sweet sticky

tiny thin river of

gold.

Delicious.

Now, you could stand here forever

Waiting for the last of the syrup to trickle off the spoon

But the smell from the plate is wafting up your nose

And your belly’s starting to rumble

Your mouth begins to water

So you take your finger

Place it on the spoon

And scoop the pool of syrup

Straight into your gob!

mmmmmmmmmmmMMMMMMMMMMM!

Next, a quick squirt of lemon juice and its

Time to roll

You curl up one edge of the pancake

Feeling the warm sweet sticky syrup on your fingers

And begin

curling it over

pushing the syrup and the juice as it tries to stream away

but you keep going

catch it all up and its done

there’s your pancake

perfect.

Ready to eat

With warm golden gloopy gooey goodness

Glooping from the ends

MMMMMMMMmmmmm!

Gobble Gobble Gobble Gobble Gobble – gone

And that’s the worst thing about pancakes

They go too fast

Now I have to wait for my sisters, Dad and Mum to have one

Mum always goes last

I don’t know how she does it, I’ve just had one and I can barely wait for the next.

I lick my lips

Mmmm! Syrup

I lick my fingers

MmmMMM! Sticky

I look at my plate

I look at Mum

I look at my plate with all the leftover syrup and juice pooling in the middle

I look at Mum again.

I lick my plate

I can’t help it

I run my tongue all over getting the absolute last sweet sticky drop in my chops

And on my nose

And on my chin

Never mind – that’ll do for dessert.

I pull the plate from my face

Satisfied.

Mum doesn’t look happy

‘no more of that thank you – you look like a pig’

A happy pig I can’t help thinking.

And so we wait

Me and my sisters daring each other to drink the lemon juice straight from the lemon-shaped bottle

‘you go first’

‘no you go’

 ‘okay okay I’ll go’

Up to the lips – back down again.

‘you didn’t drink any’

‘I did’

‘didn’t! – I want to see you squirt it in your mouth’

OK then, I lift the bottle up to my mouth,

open up and

squeeze

But my sister squeezes too!

It goes right in the back of my throat and all over my tongue, and over my lips and on my

chin and down my face

GGuuucckkQQuuuueewwww!!!

My eyes are watering

My face feels like its been turned inside out

EEEEWwww!

‘I’ll get you!’ I say ‘I’ll…

‘IF YOU KIDS DON’T PACK IT IN THERE’LL BE NO MORE PANCAKES FOR ANYONE – DO I MAKE

MYSELF CLEAR?’

‘Yes Mum’

‘Sorry Mum’

My sister pokes her tongue out but I don’t take the bait

All I do is sit there

quietly

and wait

Today is a very special day

Because I have a promise made by Mum

When she makes my last pancake

I get to flip it on my own.

Well after what seemed like the longest time

Waiting for Lou

Waiting for Helen

Waiting for Dad

Waiting for Mum

(although I didn’t mind waiting for Mum)

She passed the pan to me.

‘OK’ she said

‘its hot enough

Just pour in the mix’

So I did

Plop

In it went

Splashing

SSSpppwoooosshhh!!!

And Sizzling

Sizzle pizzle dizzle

And Bubbling

Blub blob blip!

‘Now’ she said

‘Tilt the pan so the mix covers the bottom’

So I tilted the pan

And the mix slid all over the bottom

Around the sides

Like water in a bath when you push yourself

From one end                           to

the                                                   other

Pancake mix lapping at the rim

Then hardening like skin on

chicken soup.

Mum checked it with a spatula

Lifted the edge

Pushed down the bubble in the middle

Phhhheeeesssshhhtttt!

Hot air escapes.

‘Now very gently, flick the pan

Just a little flick of the wrist

Lift the pan

Gentle flick

Turn the pancake over

Got it?’

O-kay. I can do that

I’m ready.

I give my arms a shake to loosen them

I link my fingers and crack them

I tilt my head from side to side like they do on TV

I shrug my shoulders

I’m ready.

Gentle lift

Gentle flick

It’s all in the wrist…

I put one hand on the pan

Oh warm

I put my other hand on the pan

I spread my legs

I’m ready

And I yank it high above my head

Woooooossshhhh!!!

The pancake leaves the pan like a rocket

Run

Duck

Hide

Family diving everywhere

It sailed over heads and across the table

Then

Spppplllllaaaaatttt!!!

It hit the ceiling

On the far side of the kitchen

Where it sticks.

We all watch

Breathless.

Then slowly

Oh so slowly

It begins to peel

It’s like Mum is checking the edge with an invisible spatula

Catch it!

Quick catch!

I run!

It’s peeling faster!

I reach!

It’s starting to fall!

I slip on pancake mix! The pan drops!

So I do the next best thing

I stick out my foot!

Splat!

Hot pancake on my sock!

Eeeeewwww! Gross!

I still eat it though.

It tastes great because I made it.

The bits of sock don’t bother me

You can eat pancakes with anything.