My Shrove Birthday Party.

Today was my 51st birthday so just for kicks I went to the Shrove Tuesday Pancake dinner at the local Methodist Church and had some pancakes, sausage and apple sauce. It was really fun I invited 9 of my good friends, my husband and my Mother to join me at 5:30. We sort of hijacked the pancake supper and made it into a birthday party. No one there seemed to mind at all. It was a lovely sunny day here but cold. We have about 7 inches of snow is all but the nights have been quite cold. It felt great to get out of the house I have cabin fever I think from such a long hard winter. I stayed for the communion service afterwards which was very lovely.

Bannocky Day

Scottish Cockfight 1785

In parts of Scotland, Shrove Tuesday is called Fasten's E'en, or Bannocky Day, but these days is not celebrated much, though cockfighting used to be common.



A crowdie, or dinner was traditionally held on this day. A ring was put in the basin or porringer of the unmarried people, and whoever found it had an omen of marriage. Then the Bannich Junit, or ‘sauty bannocks’ were brought out. They were made of eggs and meal mixed with salt to make them ‘sauty’, then baked on a gridiron. Some article was mixed with the dough, and whoever got it in his bannock would be married within a year. Bannich brauders were dreaming bannocks and contained a little soot; the baker had to bake these in silence. Each person would take one, slip off silently to bed, lay his or her head on the bannock, and be assured of dreaming about his or her sweetheart.

Bannocks Recipe

Before we start perhaps I should give you an idea what a traditional Scottish Bannock is. Quite simply it is a cross between a chewy oatmeal cookie and a biscuit. Best served fresh from the oven (clearly allowing to cool slightly) on its own, or split and toasted . Excellent for breakfast or with a cup of tea. Bannocks are best the day they are baked.



Highland Hearth by Edwin Douglas

Ingredients
Pinch of salt
3/4 tablespoons hot water
4 oz (125g) medium oatmeal
Additional oatmeal to be added when kneading
2 teaspoons melted fat (bacon fat is best, if available)
2 pinches of bicarbonate of soda

Shrove Tuesday

The word shrove is a past tense of the English verb "shrive," which means to obtain absolution for one's sins by confessing and doing penance. Shrove Tuesday gets its name from the shriving (confessing) that English Christians were expected to do prior to receiving absolution immediately before Lent began.Shrove Tuesday is the last day of "shrovetide", the English equivalent to the Carnival tradition that developed separately in countries of Latin Europe.

In countries of the Carnival tradition, the day before Ash Wednesday is known either as the "Tuesday of Carnival" (in Spanish-speaking countries, Martes de Carnaval, in Portuguese-speaking countries, Terça-feira de Carnaval, in German Faschingsdienstag) or Fat Tuesday (in Portuguese-speaking countries Terça-feira Gorda, in French-speaking countries, Mardi Gras, in Italian-speaking countries, Martedì Grasso, in Sweden, Fettisdagen). In Estonian, Vastlapäev.

The term "Shrove Tuesday" is no longer widely known in the United States outside of the Episcopal Church Tradition because of the increase in many immigrant populations and traditions since the 19th century. Mardi Gras was always the tradition among French Catholics.

Shrove Tuesday this year is also my 51st Birthday, Feb. 24.