Today is Pancake Day in the UK otherwise known as Shrove Tuesday, which is the day before Ash Wednesday and therefore the day before Lent begins. It is the one day of the year where it is obligatory to eat pancakes and therefore they have no calories. Or at least that's what I like to believe! Pancakes are eaten on this day as Lent is a period of fasting, during which only the plainest foodstuffs may be eaten. Therefore traditionally, rich ingredients such as eggs, milk, sugar and flour are eaten immediately prior to the commencement of the fast and pancakes and doughnuts were a great way of using up these things. The word shrove is a past tense of the English verb "shrive," which means to confess and therefore Shrove Tuesday gets its name from the shriving (confession) that took place immediately before Lent and is not an old English word for pancake as someone once tried to convince me! Note, just because someone speaks with authority does not necessarily mean they know what they are talking about!
I like my pancakes with lemon juice and sugar and I promise faithfully that I will then give them up for Lent. After all, they get their calories back tomorrow!
12 comments:
Hmmm ... pancakes ...
Had some on Saturday but you can never have too much of a good thing :-) (Next step - convince the mirror of that too)
I love me some pancakes!!
a restaurant chain around here is giving away free pancakes all day today
HA! We had waffles tonight. Is that allowed?
OMG, you've totally made me crave some!
Thanks for the explanation. I had fish yesterday, a Parmesan encrusted tilapia filet, primarily because I don't like pancakes.
Cheers.
YUm Yum Yum...That picture looks like some very special Rolled Pancake....! You have explained something to me I had never known before, and I thank you for that my dear B-K....! I love the isea that Pancakes have no calories that day...lol!
Is that your reflection in the fork?!
I didn't have a pancake this year... not that I'm supposed to have them anyway, but one is always nice with sugar & lemon :)
Nikki-Ann, I got the pic off the net and didn't notice the strange reflection until afterwards! LoL! I didn't have pancakes either in the end as I was too tired to cook them.
I have my pancakes lurking in the cupboard ...
Didn't manage to find any in our rather depleted Mall when I went hunting there on Tuesday but Tesco's came through yesterday :-)
I should write this down for next year. Can't miss the day when pancakes have no calories!!
I have hot X buns already.
Shrove Tuesday is a day of celebration as well as penitence, because it's the last day before Lent. Throughout the United Kingdom, and in other countries too, people indulge themselves on foods that traditionally aren't allowed during Lent.
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