Going Full Pancake

Having cut back on sugary carbohydrates, I've laid off pancakes since November. As the lawyers like to say, there's a religious exception; it was Fat Tuesday, aka Mardi Gras (in French it sounds sophisticated, n'est ce pas?)

This year we forsook the local IHOP for the Millbrae Pancake House. If you're gonna pancake, go full pancake, that is, with lots of butter and syrup.

Lent starts the next day, and there will be 40 days devoted to controlling base impulses. All in good time. It was Pancake Tuesday.

Fat Tuesday

IHOP's cinn-a-stack pancakes

I've been good. I haven't had syrup- and whipped-cream-covered pancakes since last year's Fat Tuesday. It was time for another visit before Lent begins tomorrow.

The pancake supper reminds us of the centuries-old tradition of emptying the larder of perishable items that will spoil during Lent's 40 days. Freezing and refrigeration have eliminated the need to empty the larder. Nevertheless, we must honor tradition...

Pancake Tuesday, 2017

It looks gross, but I'm going to cut back on all this stuff
during Lent.....really.

We skipped last year but did go in 2015. Pancakes were a must on Fat Tuesday.

The local IHOP is one of the few local places where you can get breakfast at night. There were only a couple of booths filled that evening, and not one was having breakfast.

Well, someone has to honor the tradition that requires consuming all the fats, sweets, eggs, and dairy in the larder. Fortified, we left the restaurant ready for 40 days of abstemiousness---at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Triglyceride Tuesday

At least my salad and veggies were healthy

One of the reasons I need to take statins for cholesterol is that I can't resist deals like IHOP's free pancakes on Fat Tuesday. As I wrote last year,

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, during which we are to abstain from the foods that give us pleasure. The pancake supper reminds us of the centuries-old tradition of emptying the larder of perishable items that will spoil during Lent's 40 days.

Freezing and refrigeration have eliminated the need to empty the larder. Nevertheless, we must honor tradition...

Fat Tuesday

Pancakes are traditional, but not the chipotle scramble

Once again we headed over to the local IHOP for evening pancakes. Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, during which we are to abstain from the foods that give us pleasure. The pancake supper reminds us of the centuries-old tradition of emptying the larder of perishable items that will spoil during Lent's 40 days.

Lately we've been careful to limit our intake of sugar and processed carbs, but not tonight. I'd forgotten how well pancakes and syrup go with coffee. "Lead us not into temptation..."

Pancake Supper

The International House of Pancakes didn't have free flapjacks this year, but we went anyway. Without the special promotion, the dining room was much less crowded than last time.

Though it was dinner time, we ordered sausage, eggs, and pancakes. On Fat Tuesday tradition says that we should empty the larder.

Fortunately IHOP was only a mile away and saved us the trouble of mixing a proper dinner of fats, sugar, and salt. We'll (try to) make up for tonight's excess by abstaining during Lent, which starts tomorrow.

Not Your Grandpa's Great Depression

We had to wait for a table at the Foster City IHOP this morning. An IHOP breakfast costs more than a Mickey D's McMuffin or a Starbucks croissant, but the booth was comfortable, coffee was served in a mug, and I could browse through the Sunday paper. Our waiter cleared the plates and presented the bill promptly, the first time in memory that I felt rushed.

It's good to see local businesses doing well, and I support them as much as I can. I could have had some oatmeal at home, but it's my patriotic duty to go out and spend(shades of 9/11). Can't stuff the money in my mattress.

Pancake Tuesday

The Lenten eve is most popularly known by its French appellation, Mardi Gras. It’s also called by its English equivalent Fat Tuesday, or the less convivial Shrove Tuesday.

Eating pancakes on the day before Lent is a tradition that goes back to the Middle Ages.

During Lent there are many foods that some Christians - historically and today - would not eat: foods such as meat and fish, fats, eggs, and milky foods.

So that no food was wasted, families would have a feast on the shriving Tuesday, and eat up all the foods that wouldn't last the forty days of Lent without going off.

The need to eat up the fats gave rise to the French name Mardi Gras ('fat Tuesday'). Pancakes became associated with Shrove Tuesday as they were a dish that could use up all the eggs, fats and milk in the house with just the addition of flour.

Flapjacks are no longer the rich comestible of yester-millennium. In the age of the low-carb diet this now-inexpensive dish is pancake non grata.

However, our tastes are more plebeian than haute, so we stopped at IHOP to take advantage of their offer of free pancakes last Tuesday. From the standpoint of profitability, IHOP's promotion was a loser. The dining room was packed, and we noted more than a few tables ordering nothing more than pancakes and water.

We ordered a few items from the menu--plus pancakes, of course--and overstuffed ourselves. Gotta pay our respects to tradition. © 2009 Stephen Yuen