Shrove Tuesday … Fat Tuesday … Pancake Day…Paczki Day …It’s all delicious!

So where I’m from, today is not about delicious donuts (shout out to our resident Polish lad  Nick Jakusz , who bought Paczki for the whole office and gave us a lesson on Polish grammar as well!)  In England today, it is all about the pancake … but not your kind of pancake … more like the French kind of pancake … what you call a crepe … we call a pancake.  As a child I loved pancake day … not just the eating but also the making of.   My mama would always let me flip the pancakes which I would do with limited success.  Many a pancake ended up on the floor and one in particular ended up on my dog … once he got over the shock of the flying pancake … he was very happy and enjoyed eating his first pancake.  Our pancakes aren’t fancy … they are simple but delicious.  We just sprinkle them with sugar and then squeeze some lemon juice on them… trust me … they’re so good.

So what is Pancake Day :  Well like Paczki Day or Fat Tuesday it is essentially the day before lent begins.    The date changes because Shrove Tuesday, the Christian observance on which Pancake Day falls, is always 47 days before Easter Sunday.  As lent is a time of fasting this day has always been associated with over eating.   (how many Paczki did you have today?!)

But why do we eat pancakes? … Pancakes became associated with Shrove Tuesday for a simple reason: their ingredients. Lent usually marks a time when we eat simpler food,(particularly in the past)  and we give up things that are sweet, rich and have dairy ingredients.  So what can you do with leftover eggs, milk and sugar … make pancakes of course.  So Pancake Day is super fun … but wow … that Paczki that Nick bought today was soooo good, I think I am kinda glad to be in Chicago on this day really … I mean look below … which one would you rather eat??