Pancake Day

I hadn't heard of Pancake Day until I arrived in the UK - I always heard it referred to as Shrove Tuesday or Fat Tuesday in the US. I'm not too knowledgeable about religious things but pancakes are something I can solidly support (even English pancakes, which are much thinner than American pancakes). Our friend A once worked as an au pair in France and the family had a fabulous pancake making machine - she was so delighted by it that she bought herself one before leaving. It only made sense that the machine should be put to work on Pancake Day - it has six little circular areas in which you pour pancake batter and it cooks them to perfection with no sticking. This meant an endless supply of pancakes for a dozen people, along with an abundance of different fillings. There were even separate bowls of savory and sweet pancake batters - above is a sweet pancake topped with ginger chocolate sauce (bought at the Ferry Plaza farmer's market in San Francisco), strawberry slices and toasted slivered almonds. Heaven in a bite. Other combinations of note were goats cheese & creamed spinach, and smoked salmon & cream cheese & asparagus.