Happy National Pancake Day!

Photo by Ash from Pexels

By edhat staff

It’s National Pancake Day! While major pancake chains will be giving away free cakes, there’s also a deeper meaning to this national holiday.

The first day of Lent, a Christian religious observance for approximately six weeks before Easter, is known as Ash Wednesday. The Tuesday before Lent has a variety of names. Those familiar with the Mardi Gras party scene know it as “Fat Tuesday,” the day where people expel all their vices before giving up something in honor of Lent’s traditions. 

The official term of the Tuesday before Lent is “Shrove Tuesday.” Traditionally, Shrove Tuesday is celebrated by “gorging” or “fat eating,” and somehow that has been celebrated by indulging in delicious pancakes. 

The word shrove is a form of the word shrive, which means to obtain absolution for one’s sins. Thus Shrove Tuesday was named after the custom of Christians to be “shriven” before the start of Lent. No pressure.

Garden Preschool, located at First Methodist Church, is hosting a Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper with live music and games to celebrate the holiday. 

All IHOP locations are giving away a free short stack of pancakes today, February 25, from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

That’s not all, customers can also enter a contest to win 250,000 prizes, including free pancakes for life. That’s a lot of dough. 

National Pancake Day is a fundraiser for IHOP’s charity partners, including Shriners Hospital for Children. The pancake house has raised more than $30 million for charity since it started IHOP National Pancake Day in 2006.

This year, local IHOP’s are offering free short stacks encouraging patrons to donate to Cottage Children’s Medical Center, a member of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

The IHOP locations in Santa Barbara County are:

• 4765 Calle Real, Noleta
• 1701 State Street, Santa Barbara
• 1114 Casitas Pass Road, Carpinteria 
• 202 Nicholson Ave, Santa Maria