Apparently, instead of Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day, as it's more commonly known, lots of countries (well, Brazil, France and Sweden anyway) call today 'Fat Tuesday'. I quite often have a fat Tuesday - and Wednesday Thursday and Friday too. Come to think of it, the weekend is generally pretty rotund as well. There really is only one less indulgent day of the week for me and that's Meagre Monday; the day I re-start my diet (over and over) *sighs* One day, preferably before Easter and the avalanche of chocolate, I will manage to shift that second stone (the other three around pensionable age at this rate). I'm not really very good at moderation or self-restraint especially when it comes to resisting the mouth watering appeal of sizzling batter.
I failed miserably yesterday to explain the concept of Lent to S. At 10 years old the idea of abstinence and penance seems thoroughly bonkers whereas the doctrine of pancakes with sugar or syrup is a religion in itself and observed diligently; though I think both girls actually believe the option of lemon juice is a legitimate part of their five-a-day.
In the Little House we have a tradition of having pancakes for tea whenever someone in the family has been to the dentist. This practice has been extended to include the orthodontist (bless him) and so we can be assured of a fattening treat at least once a month thanks to H. The rather loopy idea of combining pancakes with dentistry was a suggestion made to my mother when I was very small by a dear little old lady that attended my family's church. Whether she put such an idea into our heads as a result of some denture dementia or genuine mischief I'm not sure, but it's a tradition that's been adhered to for at least 40 years and I feel quite sure that our girls will need little encouragement to carry it on.
This morning we had a houseful of girlies with four extra for breakfast (three sleepover guests and one early morning arrival) and so The Wonderful Man decided to treat us all to American style pancakes. The batter was much thicker than the English variety and it made super fluffy offerings. We decided on an interesting hybrid of Golden and Maple Syrup to accompany them - perfect.