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" For the past year, California-based father Jim has spent every Saturday morning bonding with his 3-year-old daughter Allie over pancakes. But not just any pancakes\u2014each week he comes up with a new theme and uses naturally colored batters to turn his griddle into a canvas. When Jim started his blog JimsPancakes.com for family and friends, his act of daddy-daughter bonding soon became an Internet sensation. We spoke with Jim, who says he was inspired by his own dad, who was also a funny-shaped-pancake creator, to find out how some of his favorite hotcake creations came to fruition.  Crab   This was Jim&amp;#039;s first attempt using natural food color, and he was pleasantly surprised by how well beet juice dyed the batter while keeping it the right consistency. Inspired by Captain Phil on the TV show Deadliest Catch, this creation is only missing the butter and plastic bibs.  Taco   While on a TV morning show in Sacramento, California, Jim made these Mexican-inspired bite-size flapjacks. All the pieces were made individually and the &amp;quot;taco&amp;quot; was assembled once they were all cooked. Naturally, syrup was a no-brainer replacement for hot sauce! Bacon and Eggs  When the family wants bacon and eggs but the fridge isn&amp;#039;t stocked, Jim whips up this next best thing, one of his favorite designs. He cooks the egg whites and yokes separately so the colors don&amp;#039;t run together.  Flowers  Allie&amp;#039;s love of flowers was the inspiration for this design. Jim used squeeze bottles to dispense the batter for the thinner stem sections and was assisted by his daughter, who requested purple sprinkles so one of the flowers would &amp;quot;sparkle.&amp;quot;  SpongeBob  Jim answered a reader&amp;#039;s special request for SpongeBob\u2014and it turned out to be a real crowd-pleaser! To color the batter, he added cocoa for brown, strawberry jelly for red and stale turmeric for yellow.  Golfing  On Father&amp;#039;s Day, Jim created this flapjack in honor of many men&amp;#039;s favorite hobby: golf. He began with the golf club, cooking it thoroughly so it was crispy enough to stand up. Then he made the putting green, but never flipped it while on the griddle. To keep it intact, he threw it in the oven for a few minutes before serving. Campfire and S&amp;#039;mores  On a family camping trip, Jim wanted to keep with the theme, so he prepared a campfire especially for Allie (who was a good sport and pretended to warm her hands over it). Of course, no camping trip is complete without s&amp;#039;mores, so he whipped those up too! Ferris Wheel  Using batter to &amp;quot;glue&amp;quot; the pieces together on a hot griddle, this was the most difficult pancake to date: Jim burned his fingers about 100 times while re-creating this popular fair ride. But he says all those burns were worth the huge smile on Allie&amp;#039;s face. His next mission? To create one that actually spins! Crane   Believe it our not, this constructed creation only took about 10 minutes to make, and was Jim&amp;#039;s first attempt at building a standing pancake sculpture. His secret to getting it upright was a &amp;quot;foundation pancake&amp;quot; at the base. He says Allie prefers princesses and unicorns, so she wasn&amp;#039;t too impressed, but we sure are! Turtle  Jim recommends this easy animal figure for readers to try at home for the first time. Not only is it fairly quick to make, but kids love it. The body is fun to design on the griddle, and the eyes are chocolate chips. Yum! All photos courtesy of JimsPancakes.com.  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.womansday.com/food-recipes/cooking-tips/tips/a8504/10-prize-worthy-pancake-creations-109581/>