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We love spring - the longer days, the odd warm day, the Daffodils and Snowdrops etc. Spring also brings with it a whole host of traditions, from Spring Equinox to Easter, St Patrick's Day, Mother's Day and many, many more.
Pancake Day/ Shrove Tuesday
Tuesday 1st March is Pancake Day - we love this great excuse to have pancakes whenever we want them - be it breakfast, lunch, dinner or dessert. There are so many recipes available, we will leave it to the professionals to share their recipes, here's one of my favourites.
One of the things that infuriates us though is the supermarkets use of pre-,made pancake mix. Pancake mix is only milk, eggs and plain flour. We do not need to buy a pre-made mix which is inevitably sold in a plastic jar. It's a waste of money and literally creates waste 'cooked' up by companies to make us consume more.
Okay...rant over. Now we're all on board for making our own pancakes, let's explore what Shrove Tuesday is. I always think that we should know why we celebrate something, even if we don't necessarily believe in its origin or meaning.
Why Do We Celebrate Pancake Day/ Shrove Tuesday?
Shrove Tuesday is the day before Jesus went into the desert to be tempted by Satan for 40 days and nights (lent). Traditionally people would fast for these 40 days, and therefore ate up anything that may go stale over that period - eggs and milk. Traditionally meat wasn't allowed to be eaten on Shrove Tuesday either. The Monday before Shrove Tuesday is also called Shrove Monday or 'Collop' Monday, which was the day people would traditionally eat their meat and would save the fat for their pancakes on Shrove Tuesday,
Sustainable Ideas To Observe Lent
So after eating a tonne of pancakes, will you observe lent? We always try, but usually don't succeed for the whole 40 days. We've been thinking about things we could give up that would be beneficial to the environment, and came up with these ideas:
Give up buying food with plastic wrapping
Give up unnecessary spending
Give up buying clothes for 40 days
Switch to a soap bar instead of liquid shower gel, shampoo or conditioner
Reduce electricity use for 40 days
Give up fast foods or takeaways
Go vegetarian/ vegan for 40 days
Use public transport for 40 days
Give someone a lift for 40 days
Make your own meals from scratch
Try a digital Detox. If 40 days is too much, how about every Sunday?
Do any of these take your fancy? Would you join us in giving up one of these things that would also help the planet? Which one will you try? We would love to hear how you get on and will be keeping you up to date with how we're going!
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As always, hoping you, your family & friends are safe and happy,
Enjoy the pancakes!
Keelly & Arianne xx