Now it is Lent, but before we entered the solemn liturgical
season we celebrated Shrove Tuesday with PANCAKES!
The story goes:
A housewife of Olney forgot the time as she was cooking a pancake
supper. Realizing she was
late for service when she heard the church bells, she rushed out the door
frying pan and all flipping her flapjacks as she ran.
Keeping with
our Anglican tradition, we joined the town of Olney and other English towns in
celebrating Shrove Tuesday with pancakes, pancake races and various other
pancake contests. Aurora thought
this was terrific fun. Plus, it
meant she had pancakes for supper and enjoyed a complete syrup trifecta: French toast for breakfast, apple waffle
with peanut butter for lunch, butternut pancake for dinner.
After dinner, Dad and Aurora raced around the apartment with
frying pans. Aurora giggled and
giggled and giggled as she ran.
Adeline squealed with excitement.
They flipped pancakes in the pans or at least tried. Then the two moved on to trying to toss
their pancakes into their pans.
Huge bouts of laughter followed each toss. Aurora laughed because she landed a throw; she laughed
harder when she missed one. By the
time they tried tossing pancakes with their eyes closed, Aurora could hardly
speak for all the giggles. Then we
switched to a sort of shuffle board and, of course, enjoyed more laughing.
Alas, Adeline and I had to excuse ourselves from the fun as
the itty bitty got pretty upset that the pancake I handed her was for
photographic purposes only, so instead we ate some mashed up banana. Meanwhile, Dad and Aurora played
various games that she made up such as
“Hey, Where’s My Pancake?”
We played a little past the beginning of bedtime routine,
but it is hard for me to interrupt such fun. By the time we were ready for bath, Aurora’s pancake had
been played into pieces.
Winter Squash
Pancakes
1 c winter squash, cooked & puréed (buttercup, pumpkin,
butternut – listed in the order of my baking favorites, but use whatever squash
is handy)
1 1/2 c buttermilk
2 T melted butter
2 T melted coconut oil
2 egg
1 c white flour
1 c whole wheat flour
2 t baking powder
½ t baking soda
4 T sugar
1 t salt
1 t cinnamon
½ t powdered ginger
pinch nutmeg
Beat buttermilk, butter, squash, and egg in a mixing
bowl. Mix together the flours,
baking soda, baking powder, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients
and stir until just combined.
Lightly butter a griddle and heat pan to a moderate heat, then lower
heat. Drop a spoonful of several
tablespoons worth of batter onto the griddle. Bake until the cakes are full of bubbles and lightly brown
underneath. Flip cake and brown on
the other side. Serve with berries. Yum, yum, yum.
