Fat Tuesday Celebration

I love breakfast food. I savor the syrup-collecting pockets in blueberry waffles and I jump at the opportunity to make French Toast with orange zest and cinnamon. But nothing is better than stack of hot, glorious pancakes! Fond memories of my childhood often include a Sunday afternoon with mom’s Bisquick pancakes, regular Aunt Jemima syrup, plenty of butter (good German roots on the Schnell side of the family!), sausage links, and a big glass of cold milk.

My love of pancakes gets me salivating over the pancake dinner on Shrove Tuesday, coming up on February 21. “Shrove” is a lesser-known English word meaning “to confess our sins and to do penance for them”. It’s appropriate that we enter into Lent on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday with the right mindset. At some point in history, human weakness dictated that a somber Lent should be preceded by indulgence; in other words, bring on festivities and rich food! Christians claimed they were just avoiding waste and “using it all up” before the fasting began. Right! This celebration led to Shrove Tuesday being better known by the name “Fat Tuesday” or “Mardi Gras” in French. Traditionally, meat, eggs, milk, and sugar were ingredients that people abstained from eating during Lent. Therefore, the meal most associated with Fat Tuesday is pancakes and sausage!

Let’s celebrate! We are going to have a Shrove Tuesday/Fat Tuesday Celebration at St. James Church on Tuesday, February 21st at 6:00PM. There will be eating, celebrating, and playing games in the Parish House downstairs (The Gathering space). All ages are welcome! Please consider signing up for the cooking crew or the cleaning crew, or donating a few dollars to offset the cost of the meal! This will be a joyous and delicious way to come together as a community and celebrate before the season of Lent begins.

Robert Wilson