Shrove Tuesday

Today is the traditional feast day before the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday. Lent - the 40 days leading up to Easter was traditionally a time of fasting and on Shrove Tuesday Christians went to confession and were "shriven" (absolved from their sins).

New Orleans has Mardi Gras {Fat Tuesday} ~ undoubtedly one of the largest parties on Earth.

Detroit has Paczki's ~filled dough treats; one pastry alone contains about 420 calories and more than 25 grams of fat.

Here in the UK.....we have PANCAKES!! - In past times it was the last opportunity to use eggs and fats before embarking on the Lenten fast and pancakes were the perfect way of using up these ingredients. The pancake has a very long history and featured in cookbooks as far back as 1439.