Pancakes are bad for your health

Snippet from today's Evening Standard

More than 250 people will end up in hospital today after cooking Shrove Tuesday pancakes,
the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents revealed. About 200 children will
be burned by hot frying pans. Common accidents include badly-flipped pancakes landing on
someones hand, burning fingers on hot metal pan handles, and people setting
their clothes alight after getting too close to the cooker.

Giving up foods: but not wasting them
In the old days there were many foods that observant
Christians would not eat during Lent: foods such as meat and fish,
fats, eggs, and milky foods.

So that no food was wasted, families would have a feast
on the shriving Tuesday, and eat up all the foods that
wouldn't last the forty days of Lent without going off.

The need to eat up the fats gave rise to the French
name Mardi Gras; meaning fat tuesday. Pancakes became
associated with Shrove Tuesday as they were a dish that
could use up all the eggs, fats and milk in the house
with just the addition of flour.

The origin of pancake racing
Pancake races are thought to have begun in 1445.
A woman had lost track of the time on Shrove Tuesday,
and was busy cooking pancakes in her kitchen.

Suddenly she heard the church bell ringing to
call the faithful to church for confession.
The woman raced out of her house and ran all the way to church;
still holding her frying pan and wearing her apron.

Well, I survived unscathed, no burns etc, just a little red faced from standing over a hot pan for 2 hours - it's amazing how many pancakes 4 people can eat! (Pity my poor mother, she had 6 kids with voracious appitites).
They were delicious!

did you have savoury ones first?
we had ham, cheese, and spinache pancakes for main course, and lemon, orange, banana and sugar ones for desert.
Loverly!

Jon,
Was this what you meant to make, or was it a Roadrunner variation? Roadrunner variation: substitute the ingredients in a recipe for anything that comes to hand, no matter how unlikely.
By the way, pancakes freeze very well.

no, no, I intended to make ham, cheese and spinache pancakes.
Mrs R really likes them, and this is what she asked me to make.

Clover, lemon, sugar ... hmmm.
Then for some reason, I made chocolate rice krispie cakes for an 'after' afters.
Go figure.

JonR Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> we had lemon, orange, banana and sugar
> ones for desert.

Must have been tricky picking the bits of sand out!

Just icing sugar and orange on our pile of pancakes - though th'usband added maple syrup too

Another handy tip: You can make them all in one go and keep them warm by putting them in tin foil on a heatproof plate over a pan of simmering water

Tip (too late I know, but any day can be a pancake day) for any ultra-lazy food lovers like me:

Try 'Staffordshire oatcakes' - actually a pancake made with some oat flour - available from Sainsbury's in Borough High St (in the back right hand corner, just before you get to the bread) but sadly from very few other places except Neal's Yard Dairy where they are twice the price. Warm under the grill, a minute or so on each side until the damp rubbery texture has disappeared (but not a moment longer). Lovely with just butter on, or any filling/topping that takes your fancy. Mine fave is fruit and lashings of Creme Fraiche.

Sainsburys oat pancakes are yum admittedly - introduced to them thanks to Jo - but a little on the thick side. For Pancake Day more of the thin, flippable, crepe variety.
Yes, I did savoury first, stuffed with a mince/onion etc. mixture, rolled then covered with a white sauce (think canelloni) but for pud (whether with lemon & sugar, ice-cream, bananas, chocolate sauce or "crepes susette" think keep cooking ad hoc 'till appitites are fulfilled - which, when you have a few strapping lads is quite a while (about 6 each!) Hence the red face!

Edited to add that between us we did all those fillings but personally went for boozy crepes suzette with vanilla ice -cream, Yum, yum, yum!

Normally give up booze for Lent but it's way too early this year. Was Mr P's Birthday today so Parma Ham & Melon, Beef Wellington, Chocolate Birthday Cake, lashings of bubbly, red wine, Armagnac etc. then Valentines Day on Mon. What's a girl to do? Either have to give up booze a week late or something else - but what?



Edited 2 times. Last edit at 10 February 2005 4.26am by Plum.