pancake day

today is pancake day, a national celebration in england; and as a child one of my favorite days of the year. traditionally it marks the night before the beginning of lent, but to me it simply meant we'd be eating pancakes for dinner.


the memories of this day are filled with the smell of frying oil, and a vision of my mother stood for hours at the stove, juggling two frying pans at once. the result: mountains of beautifully stacked, golden, steaming hot pancakes; for me and my seven siblings to devour. in our family it was required to have at least one 'savory' pancake first, which was usually filled with some sort of cream of chicken sauce, then we were free to go to town on the 'sweet' options: lemon + sugar, jam + butter, and golden syrup.

every time i say "it's pancake day" i'm reminded of this song from a popular show of my childhood:

wow, i remember that being a lot better back in the day!