How to | Improve Your Pancake Toss

Illustration by Kavel Rafferty

There’s still time to sneak in a bit of pancake day training…

Easy wins

Use a non-stick pan, and don’t add too much oil. Brad Jolly, a chef with the World Record for most tosses of a pancake in one minute (140), says you don’t want too thick a batter and should wait until air bubbles form before tossing. Shake or tap the pan to loosen, then slip the pancake towards the side before you flip.

All in the wrist

Grip the handle close to the edge of the pan. You want a flick of the wrist rather than involving your forearm, or whole arm. Gordon Ramsay says to “push away, and flip back up with your wrist.”

Employ science

Dr Mark Hadley, of Warwick University’s Physics department, estimates that to get your pancake up to half a metre in the air, you need to launch at 3m per second. Pan-handling practice Mike Cuzzacrea – who runs marathons while tossing pancakes and has over three decades of records to his name – practises daily. He uses his maple tree to judge flip height (we don’t know if maple syrup is his topping of choice). He also trains toget “the arm strength and the right technique ... I practise the movement bending up and down.”

Be inventive

Even Mike relies on more than skill. To help his pancakes survive marathons, he glues a few together and wraps them in plastic. Not something we advise if you also fancy eating them.

These instructions for improving your pancake tossing skills come from our March Miscellany pages, which are always full of topical information and seasonal silliness.

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How to | build a dry stone wall

Yearning to impress with a traditional craft? Hold our tea. We’ve got just the thing.

Obviously there’s a tiny bit more to the ancient craft of dry stone walling, or we’d all be building them, but here’s a simple explanation of the basics. Maybe keep your first attempts low and slow. The Simple Things accepts no responsibility for broken toes caused by collapsing granite.

• Source stones from a quarry, or ask at a gravel or sand pit. You want a mix of sizes.
• Dig a trench. Put down your first layer, using the largest stones.
• Use more biggies to make your ‘wall head’ ends. You’re actually building two walls in a standing up ‘A’ shape, wider at the bottom than the top, linked by ‘through’ stones.
• Carefully build up layers on both sides of the base, going from largest stones to smallest upwards. Place stones lengthways, keeping the layer as even in height as possible. Each stone should overlap a gap in the layer below (like in a brick wall) Add smaller rocks to fill in.
• Roughly every metre, add long ‘through’ stones to link both sides of the wall.
• Finish up with large, flat stones placed upright as ‘copping’ or ‘capping’ stones.

If that has whetted your appetite and you’d like to learn more, visit The Dry Stone Walling Association’s website where you can sign up to residential courses in dry stone walling.

You’ll find more miscellaneous fun and facts in our Miscellany pages of the September issue, in shops now.

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More from our September issue…

How to draw a realistic portrait

You may not be quick on the draw, but these suggestions will help you make your mark

Portraiture is hard, especially if you know the person – it’s easy to notice if the likeness isn’t spot on. Suffice to say, you won’t become Leonardo overnight, but if you want to improve your skills, using this process may be helpful...

• Forget what you think you know about the face. Don’t bother about the details initially – consider the whole head. Lightly sketch out the structure of the head first, using an H or HB pencil: focus on the areas where bones are nearest to the skin: that’s cheekbones, brow, forehead, chin and jawline.

• You could draw a very light line down the middle of the face to centre the nose, and another for the eyes so they don’t go wonky later.

• Shade in the shadows with a softer pencil (something like a 3B). Again, go lightly. You could take a photo and change the filter to black and white to help you work out where the shadows should be. Keep blending, using your finger or a smudging tool.

• Finally, add the details, such as the eyes and lips.

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How to breathe a bit better

Learn to fill your lungs more efficiently

Check yourself

• Put one hand on your chest, the other just below the ribcage.
• Take slow, deep breaths and see which hand moves the most.
• It should be the one on your ribcage – meaning you are using your diaphragm to breathe, rather than your chest. Chest breathing makes your body stressed.

Then practise

• Get comfy on a bed or chair, with loose clothing.
• Sigh out through your mouth – it’ll relax your shoulders and neck muscles.
• Take slow, gentle deep breaths down to the bottom of your lungs. Breathe in through the nose and out through the nose and mouth.
• Slow your breath down further, checking that your ribcage is still moving more than your chest.
• Aim to practise for five minutes each day. You can also use it to relax any time you get tense.

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How to make yourself smarter

Quite easy – if you’re a gum-chewing, coffee-guzzling daydreamer with incredible self belief...

Short term: 
Drink coffee after a task. Boosts your chances of remembering it (also works with chewing gum or doodling while you do it).

Listen to music you like. This increases dopamine levels, in turn thought to improve cognition.

Daydream. Daydreamers do better on tests than their more focussed peers. 

Long term: 
Exercise. Increases the level of a protein that helps in growing new neurons.

Eat brain-friendly food. Food with Omega-3 fatty acids like fish, as well as B vitamins (think green veg, milk and shellfish), are believed to be good for brains. 

Clean your teeth properly. Having no teeth is linked to lesser cognitive abilities.

Really long term: 
Stick around. Over subsequent decades, IQ scores have been getting better and better – so, thanks simply to when you were born, you’re probably smarter than your great grandmother.

And a super easy short-term fix... 
Studies have shown that just believing you can be cleverer actually makes it come true.

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How to build a swing

Branch out with this playful addition to a garden

You will need:
Wood that’s at least 2.5cm thick, avoid pine and damaged wood
Poly twist rope
Handsaw
Sandpaper
Drill

1 Find a thick, living branch, parallel to the ground.
2 Cut your board to measure 45 x 25cm and sandpaper it.
3 Drill four holes a little bigger than your rope width in each corner of the wood, 2.5cm in.
4 Cut rope into two lengths twice the height of the swing plus 3.5 m.
5 Take a piece of rope and double it over so cut ends are together.
6 Holding the looped end, place rope over branch and then thread the two cut ends to secure the loop against the tree branch. Repeat with the second bit of rope – the same distance apart as the holes on the seat.
7 Thread lengths through the four holes and adjust for height.
8 Tie each length in a figure eight stopper knot under the swing.

More practical and playful suggestions in Miscellany, every month in The Simple Things!

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How to make mosquito repellent

Persuade mozzies to buzz off with this natural spray

You will need:
Small spray bottle
Distilled or boiled water
Witch hazel or vodka
Vegetable glycerin
Essential oils, one or a combination of the following: lemon, citronella, tea tree, rosemary, lavender, mint or eucalyptus

1 Mix your water and witch hazel (or vodka) in the ratio 1:4.
2 Transfer to your spray bottle, leaving space for shaking.
3 Add a tsp of vegetable glycerin and 30 drops of essential oil (essential oils shouldn’t be applied directly on the skin – and keep kids away from them too). 
4 Give it a good shake before use. You’ll need to reapply every few hours.

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How to become an expert stone skimmer

You may not beat the world record of 88 bounces but you can give it your best shot 

Pick your pebble

Even the novice spinner can improve their chances by seeking out flat, round and smooth stones. Scientists have proved that stones of roughly 5cm in diameter fare best (it’s down to their surface area). Record holder Kurt Steiner recommends a weight of around 100–200g and a thickness of 6mm.

Find your entry point

Another previous record holder advises keeping the first bounce close – aiming for splashdown within 4.5 metres of the throwing point.

Give it a spin

Spin the stone as it leaves your fingers.

Let’s get technical

Those clever scientists have proved you need to ensure there’s an angle of 20 degrees between the stone and the water and that it’s launched at a speed of at least 5.6 miles per hour. How you actually use that knowledge out in the wild, we’re less sure of, but you’ve got until 27 September, the date of this year’s World Stone Skimming Championship near Oban in Scotland, to figure it out. 

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How to prevent travel sickness

Putting these tips in motion can take the edge off suffering

Go gingerly
Ginger is the most trusted traditional remedy. Have it a couple of hours before travelling. Try popping a fresh slice between your teeth and gums, or nibble on a real ginger biscuit .

Take your position
One bonus of track sickness: making the call on where you sit. Go for the front seat in cars so you can see out, likewise the window seat on planes.

Eyes on the horizon
Motion sickness is caused by a conflict between what you see and what your ears – which help with balance – sense. Help your brain cope is by fixing your eyes on a stable object. Or go the other way and keep them closed.

Listen to music
Distract yourself by relaxing to calming music. But avoid reading or checking your phone as they disturb that whole eyes/ear thing.

But ultimately...
Some people are more prone to motion sickness, including women who’ve had kids and, it’s been said, introverts... 
 

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How to talk like Roald Dahl

Don’t be biffsquiggled – the Oxford Roald Dahl Dictionary decodes Dahl’s brilliant word play

With the new Spielberg BFG film getting rave reviews, we thought you might like to learn to talk like the big friendly giant and co. Here goes!
 

phizz-whizzing (adj): splendid

plussy (adi): full of life and energy

rommytot (noun): talking nonsense

rotrasper (noun): horribly mean or nasty person

scrotty (adj): when you feel sad and gloomy

swashboggling (adj): unusual

whoopsy-whiffling (adj): splendid or marvellous 

hopscotchy (adj): happy

horrigust, muckfrumping (adj): unpleasant, unwelcome

lickswishy (adj): a delicious taste

biffsquiggled, gungswizzled (adj): confused or puzzled

buzzwangle (noun) – a silly or far-fetched idea

delumptious, delunctious (adj): very tasty, delicious

dogswoggler (noun): someone who is very silly

gropefluncking (adj): something difficult to explain

grunion (noun): grumpy person

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