Pancakes?
On Tuesday?
I drove past the United Church of Canada
building in Elk Point today and noticed it was their annual Pancake
Dinner. Why pancakes? One of my aunt's used to serve us pancakes just
about every time we visited. I always
thought it was because they were poor as church mice. I guess I thought the United Church was poor
and needed a little cash in the coffers.
Well for the first time in my life I was
wrong. (I'll confess that after tomorrow). Guess what today is? It's Shrove Tuesday. Yup.
Shrove Tuesday! If you are a
non-conformist Baptist like me you are in the dark. Shrove?
The expression "shrove" comes from the word 'shrive', meaning to "confess". Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash
Wednesday (duh!), therefore it is the day before Lent. This is the day you "pig out"
before the fasting of Lent. Sounds good, right?
Wikipedia informs us that "pancakes are associated with the day
preceding Lent because they were a way to use up rich foods such as eggs, milk,
and sugar, before the fasting season of the 40 days of Lent. The liturgical fasting emphasized
eating plainer food and refraining from food that would give pleasure: in many
cultures, this means no meat, dairy products, or eggs. In Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom,
Ireland and New Zealand the day is also known as "Pancake Day" as it
is a common custom to eat pancakes as a meal." [1]
I told Deb I'd cook
tonight 'cause she has to go out. Guess
what? I'm cooking moose burger meat
loaf. We're having Meat Loaf Tuesday.
Tomorrow we fast!
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1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrove_Tuesday
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