Shrove Tuesday
Pre-Lenten feast day
Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday, marking the start of Lent in Christian tradition.
The name comes from *shrive*, meaning to confess sins and receive absolution—preparation for the penitential season ahead.
Because Lent traditionally required fasting from rich foods, Shrove Tuesday became a day to use up eggs, butter, and fat, hence its other name: Pancake Day.
We always have pancakes on Shrove Tuesday.
Uncooked cake mixture
- flippingTurning over rapidly
- crepesThin, filled pancakes
- syrupThick sugar liquid
- lemon juicePressed citrus liquid
sugar · frying pan · griddle · flour · eggs · milk · butter · Pancake Day
Lent's opening day
- fastingDeliberate food avoidance
- penitenceRemorse for misdeeds
- abstinenceVoluntary forgoing of indulgences
- Lenten seasonPre-Easter penitential period
forty days · Easter · repentance · liturgical year · Holy Week · Christianity · reflection · sacrifice
Formal clearing of guilt
- penanceSelf-mortification for wrongdoing
- shrivingCleansing through confession
- priestOne who performs sacraments
- forgivenessReleasing resentment toward offenders
sin · sacrament · confessional · reconciliation · atonement · penitent · contrition · remorse
Pre-fasting festival season
- New OrleansLouisiana's largest city
- paradesPublic celebratory processions
- beadsSmall pierced ornaments for stringing
- kreweCarnival parade society
masquerade · floats · costumes · jazz · zydeco · celebration · festival · revelry
batter
Uncooked cake mixture
lemon juice · sugar · frying pan · griddle · flour · eggs · milk · butter · Pancake Day · pancake race
Ash Wednesday
Lent's opening day
- fastingDeliberate food avoidance
- penitenceRemorse for misdeeds
- abstinenceVoluntary forgoing of indulgences
Lenten season · forty days · Easter · repentance · liturgical year · Holy Week · Christianity · reflection · sacrifice · devotion
absolution
Formal clearing of guilt
- penanceSelf-mortification for wrongdoing
- shrivingCleansing through confession
- priestOne who performs sacraments
forgiveness · sin · sacrament · confessional · reconciliation · atonement · penitent · contrition · remorse · clergy
Carnival
Pre-fasting festival season
- New OrleansLouisiana's largest city
- paradesPublic celebratory processions
- beadsSmall pierced ornaments for stringing
krewe · masquerade · floats · costumes · jazz · zydeco · celebration · festival · revelry · Rio de Janeiro
using up
Expending entirely
sugar · flour · indulgence · last meal · gorging · dairy · meat · celebration · hearty · kitchen
- British occasionsBoxing Day, Christmas Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, New Year's Day
- British Folklorefairy, fairies, pixie, pixies, brownie
- church calendarAdvent, Easter Sunday, Lent, Christmas, Pentecost
- LentAsh Wednesday, fasting, abstinence, almsgiving, forty days
- Medieval HolidaysChristmas, Easter, Candlemas, Michaelmas, Epiphany
- festivalsfestival, festivals, carnival, carnivals, Carnival
Shrove TuesdayAsh Wednesday
Lent's opening day
Lent · Good Friday · Easter Sunday · Holy Week · Holy Saturday
Shrove Tuesdayfast day
Day of abstaining from food
Lenten fasting · Good Friday · Ash Wednesday · Yom Kippur · Ramadan