International Women’s Day, Pancakes and the Adjustment Bureau

Yesterday was International Women’s Day- a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future- as well as one of the nation’s best loved celebrations –Pancake Day! Unfortunately I had meetings and prior engagements (doesn’t prior engagements have such a lovely sound to it) for most of the day and so I couldn’t attend any of the International Women events I was invited too (I wish I could, they all sounded great).

Instead I helped my Mum put on a Pancake Party and then collapsed in front of the film ‘Adjustment Bureau’ after eating far too many nutella pancakes....and WOW what a film! The concept was really interesting and as a Christian I thought it tackled some interesting questions, on a non-religious level it is also a very thought provoking film. Considering the way so many of us have 5 and 10 year plans, it really turned made me think about why we do thing, the way we strive for certain things and the thought process behind decisions. I obviously do not believe in the ‘Adjustment bureau’ in the manner that it is portrayed in the film, but I do believe in God and Angels.

I do not want to give anymore away, but I would really recommend that if you get the chance to see the film then do, I hope that you are all still feeling slightly sick from the amount of pancakes you have eaten (that being a fairly good indicator of how good your pancake evening was) and that all the Women out there are feeling stronger, prouder and a little bit taller that they are an amazing, incredible and world changing Women!

Also I would recommend readying http://onlyhumantoo.wordpress.com/ this is my blog of the week.

Keep smiling,
R x

Rachael's Comment

I thought for my comment this week I would do something topical and since it is Pancake Day tomorrow here it is!
Shrove Tuesday is part of the Christian calendar, Pancake Day, or Shrove Tuesday, is the traditional feast day before the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday. Lent is the 40 days leading up to Easter and was traditionally a time of fasting. On Shrove Tuesday traditionally Christians went to confession and were "shriven" (absolved from their sins). Shrove Tuesday was the last opportunity to use eggs and fats before embarking on the Lenten fast and pancakes are the perfect way of using up these ingredients.

Shrove Tuesday is not just an English tradition, it is celebrated in many different ways around the world; the Brazilians samba in Rio and the people of New Orleans throw their most famous party of the year - Mardi Gras.
An interesting fact for you now though: The largest cooked pancake was 15 metres in diameter and weighed 3 tonnes. It was cooked in Rochdale in England and was estimated to contain over two million calories.. I’m hoping that it wasn’t eaten by just one person though!

Throughout the UK pancakes differ slightly region to region. Welsh pancakes are made with buttermilk, sour cream or cream and have tiny holes in their cooked surface, in Gloucester pancakes are made with suet and fried in lard before serving with golden syrup. Scottish pancakes are much smaller and thicker.

Now for my favourite bit, the recipe and toppings:

Pancake Recipe
100g Plain Flour
Pinch of Salt
1 Egg
300mls Milk (I use semi skimmed)

Mix all the ingredients thoroughly together; you can use a food processor if you want.
Heat a small amount of oil in a frying pan until it is really hot and put two good ladles of the mixture into the hot oil, keeping it moving around until the entire bottom of the pan is coated with the batter. Allow the batter to cook until you can easily slide a spatula under the edge of the pancake. Then either use a spatula or toss the pancake and cook for a couple of minutes on the other side.
It’s as simple as that!
Then you can add your favourite toppings, they don’t have to just be sweet things like chilli or creamed mushrooms go well with pancakes.

A few suggestions for sweet pancake toppings:
Lemon juice and brown sugar Golden syrup Strawberries and cream
Apples, raisins and cinnamon Bananas and chocolate sauce Maple Syrup
Enjoy!