Today is Shrove Tuesday, and you know what that means!

[pokemon_master]

IT'S PANCAKE DAY!! Not sure if you have it in the states, but in the UK everyone has pancakes today in celebration of Pancake day!

There was a tradition too: Pancake races. People (tradionally, housewives) would go around the Village looking for ingredients to cook pancakes with; cook the pancake and then race around a course fliping the pancake as you go!! Then the person had to kiss the bell tower keeper (Hope for no hunchbacks.. LOL) and would be declared the winner! It was nice; but got banned for safety.

Hope everyone eats a lot of pancakes!! I know I will!!

 

[aprncess]

Yes and the International House of Pancakes (IHOP) is giving everyone who walks thru their doors a free stack of pancakes today. The benefit is for low income families, that cannot afford books, so they would like for you to make a donation.

It is also know as Fat Tuesday!!

 

[Jaina]

Lol, and I randomly had pancakes this morning without knowing I was participating!

 

[mssocks]

How cool! I never knew that!

I am of Pennsylvania Dutch background - we call it "Faschtnacht Day". Not sure I spelled that right. Basically, Night before Fasting - for Lent.
All the ladies used to do all their baking that Tuesday. So we would end up with sticky buns, doughtnuts and fresh homemade bread. Yum!

I'm a little foggy on the why - whether no yeast or fat was to be used during Lent or no baking at all.

Anyway, eat a doughnut or go buggy!

 

[Maleficent2]

WOW you learn all kinds of neat stuff here!

thanks for the thread the only thing I knew was "Fat Tues" the other facts are really new to me and neat to know...I am even married to a Brit and did not know that Poke!


Mal

 

[marypops!]

can't wait for my pancakes

i have toffee apple pancakes frm marks and spencers mmmmm (they make the best food in the UK and have been voted the number one best retailer by greenpeace so the only shop i actually like over here is marks ) (don't know why though)

 

[wdeversole]

I'm a little foggy on the why - whether no yeast or fat was to be used during Lent or no baking at all.

No fat and no eggs during Lent, not sure about the yeast - lots of cultures used to follow that. People would use them all up baking on Shrove Tuesday.

Pancakes in England
Ponczki (jelly doughnuts) in Poland
Krapfen (doughnuts) in Germany

Those are the ones I've heard of - I'm sure there are more ..

By the way, does anyone know how that PRUNE ponczki made it into my box of raspberry ones ??

 

[VirtuallyMe]

It is so interesting to see how so many have traditions that are very similar.

Mardi Gras- is also Fat Tuesday- and the German Population in Louisiana will call it Shrove Tuesday- so the term is familiar here as well.

But here you have mostly the French heritage that give you Mardi Gras- most are very used to the "New Orleans" version of the holiday- with beads, dabloons, parades and parties. But the rural communities hold what is called

Courier (spelling?) Du Mardi Gras- basically they get dressed in costumes- not as flashy as the New Orleans and other modern/city Krewes - get on horses and ride around their community- they stop at farm to farm and have a small party at each farm- there they collect the ingredients to make a gumbo- live chickens get chased around but things like sausage, onions, and rice are also collected. But they have to do some sort of trick/favor for these ingredients and usually the horsemen have bands that also join them. Usually the people from one farm join the ride and go on to the next- so that the group of riders and those following gets larger and larger. Eventually they end up in a central location where the chickens are slautered and gumbo is prepared- the party continues late into the evening with lots of dancing and rowdiness.

For the "old" Catholics this is the final party until after Easter- there are no weddings, baptisms, birthday parties (although this isn't really followed) or other celebrations during lent- most Private Catholic Schools cease any dances as well pushing things like Prom into very late April or Early May to avoid the season.

So for them- Mardi Gras is a last celebration before the fasting and prayer of lent.

Now the New Orleans Style Mardi Gras- actually came from real royalty who would dress in costume and act the fool for the day and would also give to the poor- this is where the idea of the parade throws (beads, dabloons, etc) comes from. Each City has its own traditions with how they carry out their local Mardi Gras Celebrations- but New Orleans is by far the most formal for its royalty. The tradition of royalty continued in Louisiana when land owners/rich adopted the royal positions. I think I heard on the news today that one Krewe in New Orleans spent about $1 million on parade throws this year and another $2 million on costumes, floats, and celebrations.

Here in Louisiana Mardi Gras is a holiday- just about state wide- most public schools close for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of the week and many private Catholic schools close the entire week- the school systems both private and public also serve no meat on the Fridays of Lent and if school is in session will not serve meat on Ash Wednesday (tomorrow) either.

Not all of Louisiana is French (like I mentioned above) and not all are Roman Catholic- but much like Christmas for many it has also become secularized and doesn't hold the religious significance for all- but is just a time to party.

Now- another thing- at Midnight on Mardi Gras Day- everything ceases- even in New Orleans- the crowds are shooed off the streets in the quarter and not long after midnight it can often be eerily quiet for so much revelry that previously occurred. I always found it funny to meet the people who drove into New Orleans or other areas for Mardi Gras and don't arrive until mid day on Tuesday- by that time most of the activities are over lol...

I really found it interesting how PKMan said that for the pancakes the women go around the town to get ingredients to make them... very neat.

 

[pokemon_master]

To let everyone know, I manage to eat about 5 pancakes before my parents insisted I stopped. Oh well, there's always next year!!

I love Pancake Day; It's one of my favorite times of the year. Along with Easter, My Birthday, Christmas.. LOL

 

[tolkien7]

No fat and no eggs during Lent, not sure about the yeast - lots of cultures used to follow that. People would use them all up baking on Shrove Tuesday.

Pancakes in England
Ponczki (jelly doughnuts) in Poland
Krapfen (doughnuts) in Germany

Those are the ones I've heard of - I'm sure there are more ..

By the way, does anyone know how that PRUNE ponczki made it into my box of raspberry ones ??

We eat hot cross buns here. New England thing? Don't know. I didn't have any today because I have to fast for a test.

 

[Peri]

Yes, pancakes for dinner tonight - we celebrate Shrove Tuesday every year! YAY
Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, which is a fasting day. And lent means fasting each Friday, no meat or fat. We eat eggs, though, unlike above person. Have a great Lenten season!

 

[Pixie_Dust]

That is so cool! Thanks for the story

 

[LisaInNc]

another off topic thread. Can you stop! There are other places on the Dis for off topice discussion.

 

[Tishke]

Thanks for the thread Pokemon. It was a really interesting read and since there is nothing new going on in VMK, it gave us all something to talk about. It's nice being able to talk freely here among friends

 

[cteddiesgirl]

Cool! Maybe that's why I was craving pancakes for dinner tonight.

Unfortunately, I don't think I have the ingredients to make them and can't get to the store to get them.

But I wish everyone a wonderful day!

 

[Captain Brain]

I never knew anything about this until I saw this thread and the Ash Wednesday thread.

I had no idea what Lent was, isn't it a Catholic holiday?

 

[Tishke]

Yes, Brain...Lent is a Catholic holiday. However, with the popularity of Mardi Gras more people are observing it than ever before.

 

[Captain Brain]

Oh Ok, I live in the middle of nowhere so no one here knows anything about it.

 

[purplegoddess]

holy cow! i had no idea about pankcakes and all these other things! the only thing i really knew about was throwing beads at people LOL!

nor did i know about the meat not being served in schools on friday (in Lou anyway) and what not! how very interesting. VirtuallyMe thanks for sharing so much info! and thanks to everyone else too!

happy party claws!

 

[silvrstrfx]

Lol I am of the school that celebrates everything ... that's why there's a party just about every day I knew it was Pancake Day because me and my friend LOVE to eat pancakes and found it hilarious that there is a day for it...

Although I agree that the off topic threads may be a little offensive and annoying to people... could we maybe have a subforum to this forum? I don't know if that's possible. Because it sounds like we'd like to talk about off-topic things now and then, but want it to be with our VMK friends and not to all dis people... but want to respect the people who are here for VMK only. Mods?