"Do any of you, (besides those living in the South) celebrate Mardi Gras? In the British Isles it is called Shrove Tuesday and they eat pancakes. The reason for eating pancakes is that you were not allowed to have such forbidden foods as eggs, cream, fat or butter in the house during Lent, so you made pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, (the day before the beginning of Lent) to use up all those things. Ecclesiastical laws no longer govern but it is a tradition and people still eat pancakes or crêpes on Shrove Tuesday with all sorts of toppings for them...
You make piles and piles of crêpes or pancakes and then offer many different things to go on top of, or into them. Things that are good to serve with your pancakes are:
Savory
Grated cheeses, cheese sauce, creamed things like: ham, chipped beef, tuna, chopped eggs in white sauce, clams, spinach, etc. slivered ham; crumbled bacon, chopped onions, sautéed mushrooms, shrimp meat, crumbled cooked sausage, grilled and slivered chicken breast
Sweet
Any and all jams, jellies, marmalades and preserves, lemon curd, fresh fruit compote, sliced fruit berries, stewed fruits syrup, of course.
Do it as a buffet, letting people mix and match their crêpes and, or pancakes and their toppings."
--GDUNCANN
