stack of pancakes on a plate

Cooking pancakes on Shrove Tuesday: Life lessons learned

I didn’t have work on that day so I volunteered to cook pancakes on Shrove Tuesday at school. Feeding hundreds of students became a breeze for all the volunteer mothers. There were 5 life lessons learned that day.

  1. If the pancake looks unappealing, experiment and try again.

Trish and I experimented with the temperature of the barbecue grill and put a few pancake batter on it. Every time we flip the pancake batter, there were burnt pieces stuck on the pancake. The grill was used to cook sausages before.

She cleaned the grill with lots of paper towel. She scraped it with a spatula. We sprayed cooking oil on top of the barbecue grill. However, there were still those burnt pieces sticking to the pancake. Then, she poured cooking oil and spread it all over the grill with a spatula.

Lo and behold, when we flipped the pancake batter, the pancake turned out perfect! It was just like the ones you see on the covers of pancake mixture cartons.

By the way, the temperature of the grill should be at its lowest.

 

  1. To get things done, team effort is important.

When I went to the tuckshop (canteen of the school), there were already mothers mixing the batter. Each mother had a task to do which made the distribution of the pancakes quicker.

Tasks:

  1. The pancake mixture maker ( Excellent estimating skills of pancake mixture and water)
  2. The pourer of the batter on the grill ( Remember to bring an apron!)
  3. The flipper of the batter ( We are talking about flipping more than 14 pancakes here per batch.)
  4. The counter of the pancakes ( This person counts the number of pancakes to be distributed to each class.)
  5. The distributor ( These individuals had amazing balancing acts of bringing pancakes to each classroom.)
  6. The washer ( Bowls, whisks, spoons, spatulas, large serving plates etc must be clean.)
  7. The cleaner ( Cleaning up the area before closing the tuckshop)

We started at 8 am and finished at around 9:40 am.

 

  1. Service with a smile is uplifting.

There is something about pancakes that the mothers who volunteered had smiles on their faces. I don’t know why but they had a cheerful expression. Trish, my teammate on the grill, had a sunny aura in her. When we were experimenting with the pancakes, I saw her composure and decisiveness.  Thank God for calm jolly folks.

 

smiley face on the ground
photo by nathan dumlao

 

Related blog post: Are you Happy? 

 

  1. I learned the word “ hearse” on that day.

There was an announcement on the intercom that the cars near the church must park somewhere else because there will be a funeral mass. My friend mentioned the word “hearse”.I asked what the word means. It is another word for funeral car.

Moreover, according to dictionary.com, a hearse is a vehicle, such as a specially designed car or carriage, used to carry a coffin to a place of worship and ultimately to a cemetery or crematorium. Interesting words related to hearse are catafalque, pyre, and bier. 

I saw the hearse in front of the church and the people who will attend the mass. It reminded me that life is short. Relationships matter and the people you loved in your life will be the one who will attend your funeral.

 

Related blog post: What are the 10 lessons learned in a Funeral? Are you ready? 

Related blog post: How to cope when you miss someone

 

  1. You can make someone happy with pancakes!

I believe there are only a few people who do not want to have free pancakes. The majority will have smiles on their faces and say “ Yum!” mostly children.

Furthermore, when Sylas and I gave to the church staff their share of the pancakes, we noticed their appreciation and gratitude. They were pleased to have unexpected pancakes on a busy morning. When you make other people glad, you become happy too.

You might be wondering about the lesson I learned on how to make the pancakes themselves. Well, everyone has their own tastes and preferences. For instance, some prefer water, others want milk while some mums put baking powder to make it fluffier. On the other hand, I just purchase the ready-made mix when it is half-price!

stack of pancakes with blueberries and maple syrup

Photo by nikldn on Unsplash

 

You reached this far of the blog and at the back of your head, you are thinking WHAT IS SHROVE TUESDAY? I searched it up for your convenience.

According to the website of Encyclopaedia Britannica, Shrove Tuesday is the day immediately preceding Ash Wednesday (the beginning of Lent in Western churches). Further, Shrove, derived from shrive, refers to the confession of sins as a preparation for Lent, a usual practice in Europe in the Middle Ages.

 As the final day before the austerity of the Lenten fast, Shrove Tuesday also has many customs pertaining to food.  In addition, pancakes are traditional in a number of European countries. Eggs, sugar, and fat, commonly forbidden during the Lenten fast, are used up so they will not go to waste; the day is known as Pancake Day.

 There you have it, my dear readers.  The lessons of the day on Shrove Tuesday with bonus historical background.

In conclusion, the important thing is whatever we prepare, pancakes or something else, as long as we do it out of love, it always brightens our day. The moment will not come back.

I thought to myself, “ Shirin, it was TIME WELL SPENT.”