Pancake Day

As I scrolled through my Instagram feed today after school I saw five posts in a row about pancakes! Why did the bloggers I follow all choose to post about pancakes on the same day? Isn't national pancake day March 3? I've seen ihop advertisements. I was very confused, then I looked it up. Wikipedia was very helpful! I guess on the Tuesday before Lent many European countries celebrate a Pancake Day which traces back to like medieval times where people would make pancakes which required rich ingredients, like flour and eggs, that they couldn't eat during Lent. It was kind of like Mardi Gras, which I don't know much about, in all honesty. From what I know it's just one big party to binge and be glutinous before Lent. This was a way, way, way less extravagant celebration, but making pancakes fit the bill. After reading the page I realized that those people who posted were British so that totally made sense. I wonder why I never know this before. It's also interesting to read about how many countries go about  this Tuesday before Ash Wednesday and what their traditions are. The more you know. 

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrove_Tuesday