Fry the pancakes until they’re lightly browned on the bottom. That should take 2 to 3 minutes. You can tell by lifting one up with a spatula and peeking, but if it’s not brown and you have to do it again, choose another pancake to lift.

Once the bottoms of the pancakes are brown, flip them over with your spatula and fry them another 2 to 3 minutes, or until the other side is brown.

Lift out the pancakes and drain them on paper towels. Serve hot off the stove if you can, or keep the pancakes warm by placing them in a pan in a warm oven (the lowest temperature that your oven will go) in single layers between sheets of aluminum foil.

Serve with your choice of sour cream, applesauce, cherry sauce, blueberry sauce, or apricot sauce.

Yield: Approximately 24 small pancakes, depending on pancake size.

CHERRY, BLUEBERRY, AND APRICOT SAUCES

1 small can pitted cherries, blueberries, or apricots

1 small jar cherry, blueberry, or apricot jam

Hannah’s 1st Note: It doesn’t really matter how large the can of fruit or jar of jam is. If you want a lot, buy large cans and jars. If you don’t want so much, buy small cans and small jars.

Drain the can of fruit, reserving the juice. You may need it later to thin your sauce if it’s too thick.

Place the canned fruit in a food processor with the steel blade or in a blender. (If you’re using cherries, it’s a good idea to squeeze them a little when you put them in to make sure they’re all properly pitted.)

Process or blend until the fruit is pureed. Transfer it to a bowl and let it sit on the counter while you…

Heat the fruit jam. You can do this by removing it from the jar and placing it in a microwave-safe bowl to heat in the microwave. You can also put the jam in a small pan over medium heat on the stove and stir it until it’s melted. (If there are whole cherries in your cherry jam, you might want to cut them up a little. Then again, big pieces are nice, too. The same goes for some apricot jam—it may have large pieces, too.)

Add the melted jam to the bowl with the pureed fruit. Mix it all up thoroughly. Let it sit on the counter to cool, and then check for consistency. If you think it’s too thick to drop onto the top of a hot potato pancake, stir in a little of the reserved fruit juice.

Store your sauce in the refrigerator in an airtight jar or container, but remember to take it out to warm to room temperature an hour before you plan to serve your pancakes.