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6 Of The Best: Facts About Shrove Tuesday


Pancake
Day is the Tuesday before the beginning of Lent. Originally a religious
festival, it's now also an excuse to get out the frying pan and cook up
a feast.
Here are a few facts about Pancake Day that you
might not know...
Around the world...
Shrove Tuesday - or Pancake Tuesday - is known as Fasnacht
in Germany (night of the fast) In Italy it is called Carnivale
(from the Latin for 'goodbye to the flesh') and Mardi Gras
(literally 'Fat Tuesday') is celebrated in places as diverse as New Orleans,
Brazil and Australia.
How did it start?
Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday, the first day
of Lent. Traditionally, families would use up their luxury foods like
milk, sugar, eggs and butter, before the 40 days of fasting began.
Why shrove
Tuesday?
The word shrove comes from the ritual of shriving.
People would go to church and confess their sins to a priest, who would
grant them absolution. The shriven individual would then be in a pure
state, ready for the Lenten period of fasting and abstinence.

Skipping
and flipping
On Shrove Tuesday in Scarborough, locals enjoy the customs of
Ringing the Pancake Bell and Shrovetide Skipping.
Long skipping ropes are set up across the promenade and up to 10 people
have to skip at once! At St. Columb Major in Cornwall, rival villages
play Hurling the Silver Ball, using a ball of applewood
covered in silver. Meanwhile, pancake races take place in Winster (Derbyshire),
Bodiam (East Sussex), and Olney (Buckinghamshire).
How to make pancakes

Ingredients: plain white flour: 8 oz, unsalted butter: 1 oz, milk:
1 pint, small pinch of salt, 2 medium eggs
Method:
Mix the ingredients together to make a smooth batter, which should be
the consistency of double cream. Some cooks like to rest the batter for
at least 30 minutes before using it. This lets the batter relax and the
starch molecules have time to expand.
Then
cook the pancakes in a hot frying pan until golden brown on both sides.
Ideally the pan should be non stick; pancakes taste less oily when you
don't have to add anything to the pan beforehand.
To toss or not :
If you don't want to toss your pancakes, just slip a plate over the pan
and upend the pan quickly over the plate. Slide the pancake back in the
pan to brown the uncooked side.
Good things to put
on pancakes
Traditionalists favour lemon juice and sugar but you could also
try golden syrup, cinnamon, maple syrup, jam, fruit, yoghurt or even Marmite!
Alternatively, why not adopt a continental
approach and go for cheese, ham and mushroom or cream cheese and spinach.

awesome fact there dawn I never knew this. I know about Lent, never heard about this
Thanks for sharing

me niether

6 Of The Best: Facts About Mother's Day

Well mothers day is coming soon

Will
you be treated to breakfast in bed, followed by a luxurious lunch, this
Mothers' Day? Are you looking forward to a hand-made card from your toddler...
and will it make you cry? Or are you hoping your slothful student will
have remembered to phone Interflora?

When is it?
Mothers' Day, or Mothering Sunday, falls on the fourth Sunday
in Lent. So it's three weeks before Easter Sunday. It's also known as
Laetare, or Mid-Lent Sunday.
... and if you're
not British?
Mothers' Day is always celebrated on the second Sunday in May in Australia,
Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Cyprus,
Czech. Republic, Denmark, Fiji, Finland, Germany, Greece, Holland, Hong
Kong, Iceland, India, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg,
Malaysia, Malta, New Zealand, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Slovak,
Republic, South Africa, Swaziland, Switzerland, Taiwan, Trinidad, Turkey,
Uruguay, USA, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe.
It's not tied into the church calendar as it
is in the UK.


How did it start?
Traditionally, 16th century servants were given time off to return
home and visit their mother, often taking a small gift or posy of flowers.
Better-off servants would bring a special mothering cake. At the time,
most young people in service lived away from their families and welcomed
the rare opportunities to spend time with them.
Earlier still, the Ancient Greeks held spring
celebrations in honor of Rhea, the Mother of the Gods. Rites in honour
of Cybele, the mother of Classical Roman gods, lasted for 3 days.

Blooming
expensive
According to the Flowers
& Plants Association, there were a whopping 3.7 million mixed
bouquets bought for last Mothers' Day! In
addition, 394,000 bunches of roses were bought, 294,000 bunches of tulips,
293,000 bunches of freesia and 93,000 foliage plants.

35% of adults buy flowers for their
mums (or for their children to give to their mothers) on Mothers' Day.

Not good news for mums with hayfever.
It's good to talk

Research by Unicef has found that the average mother spends over 3.5 hours
on the telephone to her children per week.