The Great Valentines Day Pancake Experiment

I'm not a particularly handy, crafty, artistic, or do-it-yourself person. Not for lack of desire, but because that gene seemed to have skipped me. I've tried and failed miserably at knitting, sewing, and [insert any do-it-yourself activity found on Pinterest]. I do, however, love pancakes and can find my way around the kitchen pretty well. So, when I saw some ideas for heart shaped pancakes last week, I knew I was going to attempt them as a Valentine's Day breakfast for my family.

I whipped the pancake batter up the night before, and Valentine's Day morning I hopped out of bed (a rarity for this night owl) excited to make delicious, perfectly shaped heart pancakes. Entertaining visions of appearing in the next Martha Stewart Living issue, I transferred the batter into plastic condiment bottles, added red food coloring to half the batter, and heated up the pan.

The first pancake turned out a little awkward, but it was the first pancake after all, and the first pancake is never very good. Then the fun started. The batter kept getting clogged in the bottles. First I tried to clear it with a toothpick, then a bamboo skewer, then I started sawing off the top of the bottles with a serrated knife. This last step, in turn, took away any precision I may have had, thusly creating red and white pancake explosions.

Several pancakes ended up somewhat heart shaped...albeit the kind of "hearts" you would find in a Modern Museum of Art. And, my daughter really enjoyed her breakfast. (I'm completely ignoring the fact that she would have enjoyed any shape/color/variety of pancakes just as much.) It only cost me two condiment bottles (which couldn't be salvaged after I sawed the tops off), 20 extra blood pressure points, and 45 minutes of my life. Next year, I think we'll go out.

And, if my husband is reading this, yes, you told me so.

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