Me and The Things I Love

Pancake Day!  I had never heard of Pancake Day before we came to England.  Of course, upon learning of this important day, I knew right away it was for us.  We love pancakes!  So, every February, when that Tuesday rolls around, we do as the British do..........eat pancakes morning, noon, and night!

Now, British pancakes are not the same as American pancakes.  They are thin and flat, only a little thicker than a French crepe.  The British traditionally eat them differently, as well, with a sprinkling of sugar and lemon.  I enjoy them.  I do, but when I think of pancakes, I think of big, thick American pancakes.  So, when our first Pancake Day was upon us, I went to the store looking for pancake mix.   You know, Aunt Jemima's, Betty Crocker, Bisquick, anything quick and easy....just add the water or milk and go!  Of course, I left the store disappointed, as I had many times before.  No American pancake mix.  What to do? What to do? Well, I COULD make batter from scratch. What a thought!  So, off I go to find that Wycliffe Cookbook the missions office gave me before we came to England.  Thinking back to the day I received that book, I remember perusing it's pages of canning vegetables, making preserves, baking bread, and the long list of food substitutions, and I thought, 'It's not like I'm going to Africa!'  Little did I know how much England could be like Africa!

In this now-precious cookbook I found several recipes for pancakes. The one I like the best just happens to be called 'Favorite Pancakes.' They are so well-named!  Here's the recipe in case you want to give it a try:

Favorite Pancakes

Combine: 2 cups flour (500ml)

   2 Tbsp sugar (30ml)

   4 tsp baking powder (20ml)

   1 tsp salt (5ml)

Combine separately and add:

   2 eggs, beaten

   1 1/2 cups milk (370ml)

   1/4 cup oil (60ml)

Stir quickly until blended. Do not beat. Cook on a hot, greased griddle or pan turning when bubbly.

Pancakes should be a golden brown, traditionally served with butter and maple syrup.

On this past Tuesday, Pancake Day, I must have cooked 60 pancakes. And not just the American kind.  In the evening, some young men from our church came around for pancakes. We made traditional British pancakes, flipping them right in the pan.  What a sight we were, gathered around my little kitchen at 10 o'clock at night laughing, joking, and flipping pancakes.  It was fun, and the pancakes were good.

Fast forward to Friday.  While out with a friend, enjoying a cup of tea on a play date with our children, my friend asks me what I'd given up for Lent.  Lent?  'Well, nothing,' I said.  'What have you given up?'  She gave me her list of sugar, chocolate, and biscuits.  The normal things, I would suppose.  After all, Lent is about giving up things you enjoy.  She explained a little more about Lent, just enough to get me thinking.  I came home and did a quick search on Lent and it's connection to Pancake Day.  I knew a little already.  Pancake day came about as a way to get rid of whatever flour, eggs, milk, and sugar were left in the cupboards before Lent, which starts on Ash Wednesday (the day after Pancake Day).  Traditionally, it is 40 days before Easter, minus the six Sundays and ending on Holy Saturday (the day before Easter).  This is, of course, a Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist practice...........NOT Baptist.  I understand that bit, too, in light of  I Timothy 4:1-5.  However, I had that feeling.  You know, that feeling like this DOES have something to do with me, at least this time it does.

What really got me thinking was the fact that I so whole-heartily participate in the feasting but just as easily turn my back on the fasting. Would it really hurt me to give up something leading up to Easter? Would I be doing anything scripturally wrong if I chose to participate in this abstinence in my own way?  The answer to those questions was a resounding NO!  A matter of fact, I felt convicted to do so.  Not for the reasons others may do, but for my own good, self-control, not letting anything other than God be my master and me it's slave.  So, I have given up something.  Something I enjoy, dare say I LOVE. But I give it up gladly.  My friend is on day three of her abstinence, and she says she's already feeling 'the pain' of not having what her body wants but does not need.  I know I'll feel that pain, too. I need to feel that pain.  I need to bring my mind and body under subjection (I Corinthians 9:23-27), and this will get me going in the right direction.  I hope and pray that the awareness of doing without will lead me to NOT do without what I truly need, an awareness of my God and a right relationship with Him.