Englishmum

I thought I'd give you all a 'heads up' as Easter is so early this year.

It's Shrove Tuesday next week (Tues 5th) and Ash Wednesday the following day, so you often see people wandering around with ash on their foreheads.

Don't forget to get in some lemons or lemon juice for your pancakes if you're out buying groceries in the next few days!

Here's a nice little information page (including a pancake recipe) from a junior school in Kent:

http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch...ms/shrove.html

PS: MOTHERING SUNDAY is also early this year....another little bit of info I found on the junior school's website is that in the UK, it's always on the 4th Sunday in Lent....so this year it is on Sunday 2nd March!

http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch...er/mothers.htm

jumping doris

We have a houseful of US teenagers booked in for their first experience of Pancake Day!
We did Bonfire night for a group of my daughters friends last year. We taught them all how to say "ooooohhh and ahhhhhhhh" as the fireworks went off.

meauxna

My husband culturally abuses me.. I still don't really know the significance of pancakes for Shrove Tuesday.

But I've been squirreling away this pancake mix from Trader Joes that is for those thin Swedish style 'cakes and was just dreaming of lemons for them the other day.. is this my time/place perfection?

And WHY are we eating them? Or do we wear them on our heads?

Bluegrass Lass

Never heard of Shrove Tuesday, but then, my OH's family isn't Catholic. My mom's family is though, and they've never talked about a Shrove Tuesday.

Guess I'm missing out on something..

jumping doris

It isn't just a Catholic thing. Infact in the UK, for many people, it has nothing to do with religion any more. It's just pancake day.

A bit like Mardi Gras....Fat Tuesday.. but without the carnival. We just content ourselves with a squeeze of lemon and some sugar.

Bluegrass Lass

Ok. Interesting tradition. I wonder how pancakes got associated with the day before Lent starts? I just asked OH about the lemon thing. This is the first I have ever heard of putting lemon on pancakes. Are we talking lemon juice squeezed on them? Or lemon juice in the batter?

cindyabs

"Perhaps the best known one is Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day, which heralds the beginning of fasting in Lent. On this day (so the historians say) there were feasts of pancakes to use up the supplies of fat, butter and eggs - foods that were forbidden during austere Lent. "

Englishmum

What Cindyabs said. (Mardi gras = Mardi is the French word for Tuesday, Gras is the French word for fat). Basically, you fatten yourself up before the onset of Lent. In practice, many people 'deprive' themselves of something they normally like during Lent, eg. they might give up eating chocolate. Then of course, as soon as it is Easter Sunday they eat lots of chocolate again!

As for the pancakes, we Brits have very thin pancakes and cook them quickly on both sides until they are crispy...so we 'toss' the pancakes in the air to turn them over. After they are cooked, the most usual way to eat them is to sprinkle some sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice on top - the sweetness and tartness/sourness of the lemon is delicious. Some people might use jam or Nutella, or some people prefer savoury pancakes. My mother-in-law would roll hers up and inside them she would have cooked cold chicken chunks and make a white sauce.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/news_and_e...ncakeday.shtml

Jaxbar

Bloody Hell British Expats and they dont know what Pancake Tuesday is!? Its a British tradition.

Lemon and sugar is the favourite but loads of other toppings and many restaurants make it a special. I'm sure even Blue Peter used to do recipes.

http://www.caferouge.co.uk/latest.php

Bluegrass Lass

I'm not a Brit, but my OH is. But he's never mentioned any pancake tradition, and neither have my in-laws.

Never heard of these traditions before now. I'm interested in the traditions that some do around Lent and Easter. My family has never done anything special or specific for Lent or Easter even though I grew up Christian (specifically Baptist). Except for going to church on Easter sunday and doing an egg hunt. And none of my friends do anything either. I've never understood the reasoning for Mardi Gra - always figured everyone just wanted to party before Lent started.

You guys taught me something tonight.

jumping doris

THe pancakes are very thin and the size of a small dinner plate...nothing like US pancakes, more like a French crepe.

We always have savoury ones, filled with scrambled egg. Sounds vile but is lovely if the scrambled egg is soft. Then we have more with sugar and lemon juice squeezed on.
When I was in school we were taught how to cook and toss pancakes.
Then I usually decide I will give up red wine for lent but by the next day I realise that was a hasty decision.

NC Penguin

That pancake is not the type of pancake eaten for Shrove Tuesday. The British pancake is more like a crepe.

Juswus

thank you for the heads up about mothers day...it's always difficult to remember as it's different over here. I hate that I cant get a card that says "MUM" and they all say "MOM" urgh

Xebedee

Please pay attention:

These are pancakes (aka, plain crepes)
They are light, quite thin and a bit bland in and of themselves.
Traditionally, you
1) sprinkle sugar over them,
2) squeeze lemon juice over the sugar
3) roll them up as is shown.
Do try them, they are really delicious and not as stodgy and sweet as the hubcaps you get at IHOP, etc.

I do them as dinner on pancake day. Nothing else - just as described.
Not complicated with bacon, lettuce, ketchup, syrup, mayo, sausage gravy, or steamrollers.
Just a ton of them.

agedgrandad

This is what my wife and I also learnt many years ago