Pancake Thursdays (includes recipe)

Pancakes have a long history of being consumed on Thursdays in Sweden. Since the 1700s medieval families (who had the means) would eat all their nicer food on a Thursday. Meats were only allowed to be eaten on Thursdays by the Catholics of the day. Fridays were a day of fasting and so they'd fill up on meat and pea soup in wealthier homes. Pancakes were a popular dessert as they were a luxurious treat as white flour, eggs, lard and fry pans were commodities. The religious connection is long gone for most households but the tradition has still stuck over the centuries.

Instructions: 

1. Mix the flour with half the milk until smooth.

2. Add the remaining milk, eggs and salt.

3. Leave to rest minimum 10 minutes. 

4. Melted the butter on medium/high and mix into the batter.

5. Fry in the already hot pan - making thin pancakes.

I prefer using a smaller pan as I find it easier to flip. And I've found that making 2/3rds of the batter is just the perfect amount for the kids. They usually get 4 each (and are so stuffed they don't want more if they even make it to 4) and most times there's one or two left at the end for me!

I remember that when I went to school in Sweden we'd have pancakes for lunch every Thursday (we did have to eat some soup before) and I remember my dad making them often as a meal. I haven't made them regularly for the kids up until Shrove Tuesday this year when a relative reminded me of the fact that we have "pancake Thursdays" in Sweden. I thought I'd introduce it into our weekly meal plan for the kid. It's nice to have one day a week that is guaranteed to not have to argue about what they eat and I don't have to think about what to make them. Extra bonus is that it's easy to make and involves such basic ingredients. So the kids have had pancake Thursdays for 2 months now and it's been a success - it's helped the soon to be 5 year old with her week day knowledge too.