Pancake Day - Shrove Tuesday

Shrove Tuesday - the day before Ash Wednesday, the day before the start of Lent. Some call it ‘Fat Tuesday’, and there are various traditions around the world involving food eaten today. In Sweden they eat Semla - a delicious cardamom bun filled with cream and almond paste. Here in the UK we eat pancakes (the thin crepe-like ones) and we call today ‘Pancake Day’. Sometimes we even have ‘pancake races’ though I’ve never taken part in one.

I usually cheat and buy ready made pancakes, but decided today that I would attempt my own. I haven’t made pancakes for many many years and I don’t really have the right pan, so I wasn’t too impressed but they tasted ok and maybe I’ll improve with practice! The one on the left is topped with sour cream and lingonberry - a nod to my Swedish friends. The one on the right is the traditional English lemon and sugar.

And what did I do while I was eating them? A FaceTime with Sweden! And THEY were eating a Semla!