Memories - Shrove Tuesday

by Steph Wakelin
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Traditionally we would be having a Pancake dinner tonight at the church. This event has been a popular event over the years.  

Thank you to everyone that has organized and helped this event over the years. 

It has been- and will be again - a great way to get out during the winter and seeing our friends from the Aylmer community. They have always supported us and enjoyed this supper. The Guides, Le Monastere, and Jim Allen have also been there with help and donations.

❤ This day always holds happy memories of my Mom. She made great pancakes and sausages. I can still hear her singing as she cooked up a storm. She made a syrup of brown sugar and butter which was poured generously on top. As we lived in Belize there was always a variety of fresh fruit.  Yum yum!

❤ Joy Ruttan shared a memory of her grandmother who used to make them with buttermilk
“We would eat them with butter and jam or preserves that grandma made, once in a while brown sugar- now that was pancake heaven! That was during the war and everything was rationed.
I think grandma must have spent most of her time making meals and regular housework. In the warm weather she had the garden from planting to reaping and picking berries and a couple of times a week she'd walk a mile and a half to the post office and store. I liked it when I could go with her, sometimes we'd get a ride with a horse & buggy by a neighbour.”

See the recipes

Explanation of Shrove Tuesday
The religious association of Shrove Tuesday began because the day preceding Ash Wednesday presented an opportunity to use up rich foods such as eggs, milk and sugar before the fasting season of the 40 days of Lent. The Christian fasting encouraged eating plainer food and avoiding food that would give pleasure – namely meat, dairy products, and eggs.
The name Shrove Tuesday derives from the practice of Anglo-Saxon Christians going into confession the day before Lent and being ‘shriven’ (absolved of their sins).
Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, which falls 40 days prior to Easter. Sundays are not included in the count of these days, as each Sunday is a “little Easter,” meant to celebrate resurrection.
It is marked by the ceremonial distribution of ashes as a symbol of entering into the penitential Season of Lent. The wearing of ashes, made from the burning of the previous year’s palms from Palm Sunday, is considered a sign of repentance, sorrow, and mourning, an appropriate way to begin Lent.