I have a lasting memory that while I was growing up we would always cook pancakes today, as is the tradition in the UK, and so in memory of that and to locate ourselves a little more on where we are in the liturgical calendar I thought a little wiki info on the day might be useful:
"Shrove Tuesday is the term used in the United Kingdom,Ireland,and Australia to refer to the day after Shrove Monday (or the more old fashioned Collop Monday) and before Ash Wednesday (the liturgical season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday).
In these countries, particularly Ireland, and amongst Anglicans, Lutherans and possibly other Protestant denominations in Canada including Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, this day is also known as Pancake Day or Pancake Tuesday, because it is customary to eat pancakes on this day.
In other parts of the world—for example, in historically Catholic and French-speaking parts of the United States and elsewhere—this day is called Mardi Gras. The reason that pancakes are associated with the day preceding Lent is that the 40 days of Lent form a period of liturgical fasting, during which only the plainest foodstuffs may be eaten. Therefore, rich ingredients such as eggs, milk, and sugar are disposed of immediately prior to the commencement of the fast. Pancakes and doughnuts were therefore an efficient way of using up these perishable goods, besides providing a minor celebratory feast prior to the fast itself.
The word shrove is a past tense of the English verb "shrive," which means to obtain absolution for one’s sins by confessing and doing penance. Shrove Tuesday gets its name from the shriving (confession) that Anglo-Saxon Christians were expected to receive immediately before Lent."
Some more interesting traditions and customs surrounding shrove tuesday are here, I particularly like Shrove Tuesday Football which I wish had carried on, and is reminiscent of Orkneys New Year Ba’
