Shrove Tuesday

Today is Shrove Tuesday or Pancake tuesday a.k.a. Mardi Gras. Traditionally, on the eve of Lent (40 days of abstinence which starts tomorrow for all ye non-Christians or lapsed ones for that matter!), it was important to use up all luxury goods in the kitchen and top of that list was FAT (hence Fat Tuesday) - So pancakes are made on this day in every family home in Ireland. And every kid who is lucky enough to have a Mum who makes them, comes rushing home from school, eats very little dinner so that that they can consume as many pancakes as possible... ....preferably more than their brothers or sisters 'cause that's half the fun.
I keep the tradition going and invite anyone who is around to come and flip pancakes with us. Here is the basic recipe in case you want to join in. A note to my American counterparts, these are crepe style/thin pancakes so a lighter version that the Amercan breakfast pancake:
Ingredients for about 20 pancakes:
8 oz/220 g plain flour - sieved
pinch of salt
4 eggs beaten
18 fluid oz/450 ml of 2% milk
4 oz/100 g butter
Sugar
Fresh lemon juice
Put sieved flour and salt in large mixing bowl and slowly add eggs stirring as you go. Beat in milk bit by bit - mixture transforms from a frightening lumpy mess to a smooth batter with persistent beating. You can do up to this stage in advance and leave in fridge. when ready to use, melt the butter and add about 4 tablespoons of the melted butter to the batter mix. Keep the remaining melted butter on the side and use it to oil your frying pan.  You must start with a really hot pan and add about half a cup of pancake mix and swirl around the pan till the pan base is coated all over (7 -8 inch pan). Again going with tradition, the first pancake is usually a flop even before it is flipped but once you ditch the failure you go on to make beautiful thin pancakes one after another. Once you see bubble coming up and pancake can slide around pan when given a shove, it is ready to be turned over and cooked on other side. Some peole like to flip the pancake in the area, i take the conservative approach and ease it with a spatula. You can always encourage others to cook their own as it can get tedious being the principal pancake master. However, it is worth bringing the traditions to the wide circle of friends who did not grow up with Shrove Tuesday. to serve, sprinkle liberally with sugar and add lemon juice and serve/eat immediately.