Happy Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday!

Fat Tuesday is a day celebrated by many with rich foods and frolic before the beginning of the Lenten season. Ash Wednesday is always a somber day bringing the true meaning of Lent into perspective.

Shrove Tuesday/Fat Tuesday also goes by another name. I reported this last year, but it bears repeating, today is also Pancake Day! Shrove comes from the word shrive, meaning to do penance and be absolved of sins. The day marks the beginning of Lent in the Christian calendar and pancakes became a way of using up rich foods, like eggs, milk and sugar, before the 40 days of fasting that follow.

While Lent is often thought of as a Catholic tradition, it is a Lutheran one as well. We too celebrate Ash Wednesday. I found great humor in a post on Facebook today where a friend was giving up Mean People and Beets for the Lenten season. I agree, it is good to give something up, to take the time to think about what Christ did for us.

Tonight we are going to have pancakes, rich, pancakes filled with either pecans or blueberries with the Pearcy family tradition of peanut butter and syrup on top.

There is much I am sure to do penance for and if I can’t think of what I have done, I am sure my spouse, mom and children would be glad to remind me. Whether you pour the rich batter at home or a diner, whether you dish up a piece of King Cake and Mardi Gras with the best of them, celebrate the day.

These days since I lost my father a year ago, I am big on traditions and Holidays. Life is too short, celebrate the coming of spring, the tooth fairy, your child or grandchild’s part in a play, whatever the reason, kick up your heels and have on heck of a Fat Tuesday before the Shrove part sets in!