HALLOWEEN PANCAKES!!

The other day (probably my bum day) I was flipping channels and landed on the Rachel Ray show. They were doing a segment on this guy who is an artist and does these amazing pancake creations for his little girl. I was hooked. The dude (whose name is Jim, by the way) was crazy good, and it actually looked like something I could do here with my girls.

And well... you know I had to try.

I went out and bought the condiment bottles he used ($1.50 at Wal-Mart), my favorite pancake mix, some food coloring, and I was good to go. (By the way, Jim uses more natural elements to color his batter, such as cocoa powder, jams, and berries. But #1) My crew wouldn't touch a pancake if it was flavored, and #2) the food coloring is so much more vibrant.) You just need to make sure the batter isn't lumpy or too thick to come out of the little nozzles.

Belle and I decided to do Halloween pancakes and began with a pumpkin. We did the pumpkin outline, including the stem, first, and then we came back inside and did the face. Once the face set up a little, we filled in our pumpkin with more orange. (By the way, you can sign up for Jim's newsletter to get much better tips than I can give. Sign up and check out his blog here.)

Once we flipped this little guy, this is what we got. Belle actually gasped out loud when she saw it. I thought for our first attempt ever, he turned out pretty cute.


Estella Dru decided she wanted a black cat--I did the same thing with that one. I drew the outline, including the ears, first. Then I added the face, and once that set up, I filled in the back (you can go over the top of everything) with more black to fill in our black cat. I decided to make separate whiskers so E Dru could add them herself.


And Jeb chose the ghost! I made letters that spelled "Boo" to go along with it. Remember, if you do letters, make them backward because you'll be flipping them.

They added a little syrup and chowed down. The kids thought it was so neat and are already brainstorming about what we can do next. I have a feeling we'll be making lots and lots of pancakes in the very near future. Thanks, Jim the Pancake Man. We had a great time. There's nothing better.