Jif Lemon Day

All images from We Heart It

In the UK, and a whole host of other countries around the world, today is Pancake Tuesday! Each year, for 30 years, I've been gorging myself on yummy, sticky pancakes on this very day. But why??

I was brought up Catholic so I've always been aware that officially, Pancake Tuesday (Shrove Tuesday) signifies the day before Lent (Ash Wednesday). I was never particularly interested in the greater religious connotations of things, so when I was ickle, this meant I got to stuff my face with pancakes, 'give up' something I really enjoyed - sweets, chocolate, fizzy juice - for what seemed like FOREVER and at the end of it all I was rewarded with stacks of chocolate Easter eggs. So I kinda got it: feast, fast, feast. But why the humble pancake?? Why not mountains of profiterole gateau like I had the other night? I suppose 'back in the day' a pancake was pretty decadent - you need sugar, eggs and butter or such like to make one and I'm sure your average single-end tenement dwellers would have thought this a pretty extravagent gesture.

Will you be whisking up a batch at some point today? What tickles your fancy? Fat and squidgy or thin and crispy? And what's your choice of poison for the topping or filling?

I'm a thin and crispy kinda gal with a light sprinkle of sugar and a good squirt of the old Jif lemon. Gotta keep the filling to a minimum to optimize room for maximum pancakes, OR, if I choose to keep the pancakes at a minimum, I go for the full hog: lashing of runny Nutella, chopped bananas, skooshy cream and a sprinkling of toasted coconut. Nom, nom, nom...