Where did the expression Fat Tuesday come from? When did it start? I don’t remember as a child knowing Shrove Tuesday as anything but Shrove Tuesday.
Well thank goodness for Wikipedia! “Mardi gras is French for Fat Tuesday, referring to the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season, which begins on Ash Wednesday; in English the day is sometimes referred to as Shrove Tuesday, from the word shrive, meaning “confess“ You would have thought seeing as I spend so much time in France I would have made the connection…..
Maybe I did know it by another name, Pancake day. We ate our pancakes with sugar and lemon, simple and perfect. Still my favourite way to eat them.
Whatever you or I chose to call it, tonight it’s party time in Hastings, and I’ll confess that I’m going to the ball – Hastings Fat Tuesday 2012
Ooh you lucky lady – looks like fun! My Hastings & St Leonards are getting funky 🙂
It was fun, slightly crazy but fun, I think Hastings knows how to have a party 🙂
This will be fun, enjoy the festivities! But first…
What is the prep for pancakes with lemon and sugar? I have never heard of this before.
Sounds yummy! ~ Lynda
Hi Lynda, basically the pancakes are made like a crepe – thin and small, and then you put one on a plate, and sprinkle a little sugar on and a squueze of lemon, roll/fold it up, and then eat. I guess it’s pancakes at their most simple, and a great combination of sweet and sour. The French would add a touch of butter to the finished crepe, but we don’t tend to do that.
Easy! Doing this… for Dessert! 😉
~ Lynda
I hope you like them 🙂
I made them, and they were wonderful! I added an extra egg and made them very thin like crepes. Thank you for sharing! ~ L
Lynda, that’s fantastic! It’s funny as it isn’t really a recipe, but more of a mention about the whole Fat Tuesday thing, so I love it that you tried them 🙂 Claire
Have fun! Don’t pick up too many beads – people will talk! 😉
I just had to do a quick search to find out what beads meant 🙂 we had a great time, minus the beads 🙂
Wow – I figured in all your travels, you’d have hit New Orleans at least once…
It’s not the beads themselves – it’s what a girl does to GET them! 😉
You know I’ve only been to the States once, a gazillion years ago, at the tender age of 17, and New Orleans sadly wasn’t on the visit list. It was a big enough shock coming from Europe and not being allowed to drink or do much else for that matter!
Hmmm, I think I need to get practising for next years Fat Tuesday and “earn” some beads 🙂
Enjoy the ball; your mask looks lovely. I didn’t make any pancakes this year and I am regretting not doing so as I read your description of eating them lemon and sugar. Yum!
We didn’t manage to have any traditional ones either! I think we will have to make up for it another day 🙂
I agree…hard to beat lemon and sugar!
Looks like I’m in good company 🙂
In my area, it’s called Punchki Day (Paczki in Polish from where the custom and name is derived) for those fattening fried donuts with jam or custard inside sold in all the bakeries. 🙂
I love blogging, the things I learn are fantastic. Donuts sound delicious!
The donuts are also referred to, rather jokingly, as gut bombs, for the calories in fat and sugar a person gets from eating them. You have to pre-order them at the bakeries because they unsolicited ones are snapped up quickly by earlier shoppers. My brother picked up a couple of dozen, I’m guessing, and my SIL offered to have him drop off a few for me, as I hadn’t placed an order but I declined as I have almost a dozen Indian sweets (burfi, ladu, jalebi) in my fridge from a weekend Indian feast I cooked up. 🙂 So many calories
Have a good time tonight! Sounds like fun!
It’s dealing with the day after that’s not so much fun, just not as young as I once was and the recovery from a late night takes sooooo much longer!
Beautiful mask. Have fun!
Thank you, I feel I cheated a bit by buying one, if I’d been more prepared and creative I could have made my own. Oh well, maybe next year
I didn’t get my pancakes today and now reading your post I’m so craving them!!! Nice photos!! Enjoy!!
Thank you, we actually ended up eating out at a local Indian restaurant and ate Indian savoury pancakes called Dosas! delcious, but I too want my pancakes at home now !
It does seem to be the time to indulge. I cooked Indian food on the weekend and still have fridge full of gulab jamun, rasgulla, jalebi, burfi, ladoo etc. 🙂 Who needs pancakes too? Check out my LJ for pictures.
Oh wow, Indian sweets are often VERY naughty indeed, all the sugar and fats, but heck it’s still winter and we need the energy 🙂
“it’s still winter and we need the energy”
I like your way of thinking very much, even though it’s been a very mild winter in my neck of the Canadian woods. 🙂
Mild or cold we still need the comfort food 🙂
Gorgeous mask!
Thank you, it’s such a vivid green, I couldn’t resist it !
Love the shot of the peacock feather alone, Claire. Beautiful. Had it not been for your blog I would not have known it was Ash Wednesday today, but I could use a bit of austere eating or more exercise…
Oh dear I’m not sure I like the idea of austere eating so I think I better get exercising !! Claire
Perhaps moderation in eating would be a better description — cutting down on portions may do the trick, but I suspect moving more is in order for me (I just spent a long weekend singing and eating and getting no exercise at all).
Ah but I’m sure your spirits were lifted by the singing. It’s something I’d love to do, but frankly is best left to the confines of the bathroom!
Sounds lovely. And I’d definitely make up the pancakes any time.
They are so simple and in my mind perfect. I hope you get to try them like this. Claire
I’m sure you had a great time at the ball.
Oh we did Karen, it was a fun night, lots of live music in the pubs in the Old Town, catching up with friends plus a couple of lasses of red 🙂
We didn’t eat pancakes on Tuesday, trying to cut down the carbs, but we’ll have them on the weekend and make up for it. That Ball sounds like fun.
The party was great fun, I think we’ll have our pancakes at home this weekend too 🙂
I always knew it as Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday, but first heard of Pancake Day this year. My daughter skyped me from Edinburgh and they were celebrating Pancake Day there and we put two & two together. We have a lot of Polish ancestry in our town so there is a tradition here of eating Paczki like a previous commenter mentioned. It all did inspire me to make pancakes for dinner (that and my youngest just got braces and wanted soft food)!
Aw braces hurt for the first few days, I remember that, so pancakes sound perfect. To be honest it is known as Shrove Tuesday, but for the non-religious it has become pancake day. either way it’s a great excuse to eat pancakes 🙂