Today is National Pancake Day! Here are a few quick facts about this day that I am pretty sure are about to blow your mind.
National Pancake Day, originally named Shrove Tuesday (but also known as Fat Tuesday in some Protestant nations), has been celebrated since the Middle Ages. For a while it was even considered a pagan holiday, but I wouldn't read too much into that today. National Pancake Day has no specific date — rather, it occurs in February or March, because it is always the day before Ash Wednesday.
Pagans began celebrating National Pancake Day to honor Jarilo, the god of vegetation, fertility and spring. To usher in spring, people would eat and make pancakes. Why pancakes, you ask? Good question.
The round, hot cakes closely resembled the sun, and the people who consumed them felt they were absorbing the power and light of Earth's closest star. Turns out National Pancake Day is actually a lot more spiritual than most of us thought. Today, it is observed by several countries and many Christian denominations.
Somehow, though, I have the sneaking suspicion that most people are in it for the free pancakes from IHOP.
Now that you know your pancake history, check out this totally epic pancake recipe. I've seriously never heard of this before, but now it's the only way I'll ever make pancakes again.
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