Pancakes

America, WAKE UP and heat up that frying pan, for today is Pancake day!

As is tradition in the UK, the day before Lent starts (Shrove tuesday, fat-tuesday, mardi-gras, or whatever you wish to call it), we make a point of using up all the butter, eggs, etc that are all banned during this period of fasting, and what better way to use all these up than by making pancakes. Well, if you are going to do this properly like me, then I don't simply use up any left-overs, I go out and buy more ingredients, lots more ingredients to be exact. And then I cook.

Now listen up, Pancakes in the UK are somewhat different from the US variety...

US pancakes are exactly what it the describes itself to be, a cake in a pan, thick and fluffy.

UK pancakes would be better described as a paper thin sheet of batter, cooked for no more than a few seconds each side; it is not thick and definitely not fluffy. Basically, a french crepe or a thinner version of a flour tortilla.

Sounds tasty doesn't it. That's because they are.

The beauty of these pancakes is in their versatility. They can be made sweet or savory depending on taste, ice-cream, salsa, chicken, roast veg, take your pick. And if you are still hungry after all that, then your next pancake is only about a minute away.

As for me, I get very excited about Pancake day. I will eat it which ever way you prepare it: hot, cold, sweet, savory, flat, rolled. I'm easy.

Tonight, we are going to a friends house for a Pancake party. Plenty of fillings are on offer apparently. I must admit though, all this talk of Pancakes has my sweet tooth come to the fore and therefore I cannot wait to sample the delights of a Pancake filled with a healthy helping of Ben & Jerry's ice cream! Mmmmmmmmm! Pancakes!

Many people (myself included) think that Pancake day should be a national holiday; for some reason the powers that be disagree!!

Incidentally, this time last year, when Danielle and myself had just started dating, she refused my offer of Pancakes on Pancake day as she failed to understand its significance. Wow, that was almost a dealbreaker for me...! After much explaining about Pancakes Danielle came round to the idea (albeit about a week later), lucky for us otherwise our relationship might have turned out little crepe.

More info about Pancakes can be found here

AC