# Is There Any Tradition of Pancakes on Shrove Tuesday in the US? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 13, 2010, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-tradition-of-pancakes-on-shrove-tuesday-in-the-us/528826 "2010-02-13T05:19:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-tradition-of-pancakes-on-shrove-tuesday-in-the-us/528826/41 "2010-02-16T17:06:48Z")
> [@freckafree](#): > > I’m very curious about the lemon and sugar part. When I read that, I kind of envisioned mixing lemon juice with confectioners’ sugar, making a glaze. But maybe that’s not it at all. How DO you apply lemon and sugar to pancakes? Or is it part of the batter? On the back of the Bisquick box is the “melt in your mouth” option – add lemon juice, sugar, baking powder and vanilla to the regular batter recipe. The lemon juice and baking powder combine to make bubbles (making the batter lighter); I assume the sugar is to counter-balance the lemon juice. My father used to sing a little song while making pancakes: Ash Wednesday, Shrove Tuesday poor Jack went to plow His wife made him pancakes but didn’t know how She flipped them and tossed them and burnt them so black She made the so awful she poisoned poor Jack He was of English descent (his father was born in England), FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-tradition-of-pancakes-on-shrove-tuesday-in-the-us/528826/42 "2010-02-16T17:21:51Z")
Irish Catholic raised in Northern Virginia - never heard of pancakes for Shrove Tuesday until my twenties. My friends across the Potomac in Maryland all can’t believe this, as it was a huge thing int he Catholic churches there. At our house it was steak and Scotch night. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-tradition-of-pancakes-on-shrove-tuesday-in-the-us/528826/43 "2010-02-16T19:31:02Z")
The Homesick Texan was raised Episcopalian. Here’s her Uncle Austin’s [Mexican Pancakces](http://homesicktexan.blogspot.com/2010/02/coconut-pancakes-recipe.html)with Coconut. There’s also a link to Gingerbread Pancakes for Shrove Tuesday. ---
**Author:** ![Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speak_to_me_Maddie)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-tradition-of-pancakes-on-shrove-tuesday-in-the-us/528826/44 "2010-02-16T20:23:59Z")
Another check from a Texan Episcopalian. In fact I’m getting off work early today to go set up tables at church for the pancake dinner. We call it Shrove Tuesday. The pancake dinner thing is common enough around here for most people to at least have heard of it. Though eating king cakes is more common. (I hate those king cakes). There will be certainly be some king cakes at the dinner tonight, as well as some of those Polish do-nuts. Never accuse Episcopalians of not being ecumenical, at least when it comes to food. ---
**Author:** ![5\_time\_champ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/278dde/32.png) [@5\_time\_champ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5_time_champ)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-tradition-of-pancakes-on-shrove-tuesday-in-the-us/528826/45 "2010-02-16T20:44:33Z")
As a Roman Catholic kid in the 1960s- seems like we would often have pancakes on Shrove Tuesday/Mardi Gras. I had forgotten all about it until someone mentioned the tradition here on the Dope a couple years ago. I try to stop by IHOP if I remember, though last year my local IHOP was packed. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-tradition-of-pancakes-on-shrove-tuesday-in-the-us/528826/46 "2010-02-16T21:32:17Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > On the back of the Bisquick box Sorry, I’m a crusader against Bisquick pancakes. Two of those bad boys, and it’s like you’ve eaten a concrete block, the way they sit in your stomach. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tamex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-tradition-of-pancakes-on-shrove-tuesday-in-the-us/528826/47 "2010-02-17T04:36:10Z")
In Liberal, Kansas, and Olney, England, they celebrate [International Pancake Day](http://www.pancakeday.net/about.htm). Each city has a race featuring women flipping pancakes in a pan and running down the street. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-tradition-of-pancakes-on-shrove-tuesday-in-the-us/528826/48 "2010-02-17T04:39:00Z")
This is really weird. When I got home today, I had a craving for pancakes and I made them for dinner tonight. I am not religious at all and had no idea about Shrove Tuesday. I just had a hankering for pancakes, which I haven’t made for about 10 years. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-tradition-of-pancakes-on-shrove-tuesday-in-the-us/528826/49 "2010-02-17T05:42:41Z")
The Lord moves in mysterious hankerings for pancakes. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-tradition-of-pancakes-on-shrove-tuesday-in-the-us/528826/50 "2010-02-17T05:53:35Z")
Maybe you smelled the pancakes that others were making on your way home, and that triggered the craving? ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-tradition-of-pancakes-on-shrove-tuesday-in-the-us/528826/51 "2010-02-17T08:57:14Z")
I never heard of Shrove Tuesday until an English friend told me they were having pancakes for dinner. She also called it Pancake Tuesday. I’ve never heard of paczki’s until this thread either. Hey what do you expect? I’m a dyed in the wool atheist and haven’t celebrated obscure religious holidays in ages. ---
**Author:** ![Wolverine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba9def/32.png) [@Wolverine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolverine)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-tradition-of-pancakes-on-shrove-tuesday-in-the-us/528826/52 "2010-02-17T09:29:36Z")
I grew up in a fairly “low” church. Other than Christmas and Easter, I didn’t know what the other religious holidays were either. My family still celebrated Packzi Day but it wasn’t for religious reasons. We just loved donuts. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-tradition-of-pancakes-on-shrove-tuesday-in-the-us/528826.md?page=2)