Shrove Tuesday

600 BC - The first recorded mention of pancakes dates back to ancient Greece and comes from a poet who described warm pancakes in one of his writings.

1100 AD – Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day) becomes a traditional way to use up dairy products before lent – the pancake breakfast is born. 

It started when Pope St. Gregory prohibited Christians from eating all forms of meat and animal products during Lent around A.D. 600. ... So Christians made pancakes to use up their supply of eggs, milk and butter in preparation for Lent. Shrove Tuesday is also known as Pancake Day.

It is also Fat Tuesday.

1445 - The year that villager’s in Olney, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom, started their famous pancake race. Each year the winner receives a smooch from the church bell ringer. 

1700s – Before baking soda chefs added fresh snow, which contains ammonia, to help make pancakes light and fluffy. 

1800s - Milk and occasionally cream become the preferred liquids for pancake batter: before then, brandy and wine had been just as common.

1870s - The flapjack becomes known as the pancake and America is changed forever. 

1880s –Maple syrup becomes the preferred topping of choice.

1931- Bisquick is first introduced and good cooks across America start using it to make extra fluffy pancakes. 

1966 – A “New York Times” food editor publishes a recipe for a baked pancake that he discovered while visiting a friend in Honolulu. 

1985 – Bisquick becomes the official sponsor of National Pancake Week, creating a weeklong celebration of all things pancake. 

1995 - The largest pancake ever flipped was made in Rochdale, United Kingdom. It measured 16.4 yards across, weighed 3 tons and took more than just a frying pan to flip it over. 

2008 – Actor Rainn Wilson creates SoulPancake.com, a feel good website that encourages people to explore what it means to be human with a little laughter along the way. 

2009 – Aldo Zilli (above photo) set a new world record for flipping a single pancake – he flipped it 117 times in 60 seconds. 

2012 – 890 people set a world record for the most people tossing pancakes — 930 tried but 40 flippers were disqualified for dropping their cakes.

Ok, let’s make pancakes…

3 cups/375g all-purpose flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 tablespoon caster sugar

1 1/2 cups/375ml milk

3 eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and caster sugar into a bowl. 

2. Break the eggs into a separate bowl and whisk together with the milk.

3. Gradually add the milk and egg mixture to the flour mixture and whisk to a smooth batter.

4. Heat a frying pan over a medium heat and melt a small knob of butter. Pour the batter into the pan, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake.

5. When the top of the pancake begins to bubble, turn and cook the other side until golden brown.

6. Serve with butter and maple syrup.

The More Trees We Are Surrounded By The Lower Our Stress Levels

Even though it’s something many of us already know, a recent study reveals how nature can help reduce stress levels. 

Researchers put people in stressful situations and then showed them 3-D videos of various “city”scapes, each with different densities of tree cover.

The thicker the tree-cover, the lower the subjects’ stress levels dropped.

The researchers, from the University of Illinois and the University of Hong Kong, subjected 160 participants to various stressful scenarios, including having them prepare to deliver a speech, or perform a math test, in front of judges and cameras.

Once the participants were fully stressed out, they viewed one of 10 six-minute videos of city streets that changed only in the amount of tree coverage, ranging from 0 to 70 percent.

What they found was the higher the density of trees, the lower the levels of stress the subjects reported. Inversely, the lower the density of trees, the less helpful the video was in helping the subject recover from stress.

The real story here is, spend as much time as you can surrounded trees. 

The Old Religion is the magic of Nature itself. It is the essence which binds all things together.

Trees Heal

Circle Of Three

Circle of Three (15 books in the series) is a teen series about an unlikely friendship between three teenage girls that arises out of a common interest: Wicca and Witchcraft. 

Together, the girls go through a year and a day of study, taking a class on Wicca put on by the local Pagan shop.

Circle of Three is different than many other teen books on Wicca or Witchcraft. 

Michael Thomas Ford actually made an effort to portray the Wiccan religion realistically. 

It was clear from the beginning that the author had experience with the Pagan community, as well as intricate understandings of both Wicca and the Craft.

The book was written by Michael Thomas Ford (photo below) under the pen name 'Isobel Bird'. 

Ford is a long-time member of the Pagan community and author credited with over 50 books. 

We really enjoyed these books, we've read them all twice and we may go for a round three eventually.

Well written by an intelligent author who understands the Pagan world.