Well, add another food to the list of things to eat on Fat Tuesday. Unbeknownst to me, the Brits have their own tradition. And that tradition is called Pancake Day. Pancake Day has the same intent as other cultural traditions of Fat Tuesday: gorge yourself on all the sweets and sugars you aren't supposed to eat during the 40 days of lent.
When my workmates told me of this day, I didn't believe them at first. As the potentially gullible and unknowing expat, I need to be wary of these sorts of things, and seriously, pancake day? It sounded like someone was taking the piss. However, as they excitedly proceeded to give me the recipe for "pancakes" (which were more like crepes than the fluffy buttermilk variety), I started to trust them. By the end of the day, I had called Dave to see if he was ok with having pancakes for dinner.
We still had Tim and Kelly staying with us. Dave and our guests sounded as apprehensive as I had been when informed of the name of the day. However, all doubt was cast aside when I got to the store and was able to justify that this was no practical joke on the American.
I planned my menu based on tips from the Brits. To start, we'd have a ham and cheese combo (heated in the oven with cheese on top). Then, and more importantly, for dessert we'd have two offerings. First, banana and nutella and second, because it is the traditional one to have, lemon and sugar.
Making crepes in a really big frying pan is not as easy as I thought it would be. After 5 or 6 failed attempts to flip a thin, twelve-inch round crepe, Kelly's softball-level hand-eye coordination came into use and we finally got on a flipping roll. In a short while, we were pancake making stars.
After preparing the main course and dessert, we four Americans feasted on pancakes. Surprisingly, my hands down favorite was the lemon and sugar one. It was absolutely incredible.
I'm feeling very inspired that I will make more pancakes (crepes) for dinner, now that I have all the ingredients. I probably just need a smaller pan since I can't fly Kelly back here to flip them for me. :-)
When my workmates told me of this day, I didn't believe them at first. As the potentially gullible and unknowing expat, I need to be wary of these sorts of things, and seriously, pancake day? It sounded like someone was taking the piss. However, as they excitedly proceeded to give me the recipe for "pancakes" (which were more like crepes than the fluffy buttermilk variety), I started to trust them. By the end of the day, I had called Dave to see if he was ok with having pancakes for dinner.
We still had Tim and Kelly staying with us. Dave and our guests sounded as apprehensive as I had been when informed of the name of the day. However, all doubt was cast aside when I got to the store and was able to justify that this was no practical joke on the American.
I planned my menu based on tips from the Brits. To start, we'd have a ham and cheese combo (heated in the oven with cheese on top). Then, and more importantly, for dessert we'd have two offerings. First, banana and nutella and second, because it is the traditional one to have, lemon and sugar.
Making crepes in a really big frying pan is not as easy as I thought it would be. After 5 or 6 failed attempts to flip a thin, twelve-inch round crepe, Kelly's softball-level hand-eye coordination came into use and we finally got on a flipping roll. In a short while, we were pancake making stars.
After preparing the main course and dessert, we four Americans feasted on pancakes. Surprisingly, my hands down favorite was the lemon and sugar one. It was absolutely incredible.
I'm feeling very inspired that I will make more pancakes (crepes) for dinner, now that I have all the ingredients. I probably just need a smaller pan since I can't fly Kelly back here to flip them for me. :-)
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