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One can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without God, who can eat or find enjoyment? (Ecclesiastes 2:24-25)

Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends forty days later (minus Sundays) on Easter Sunday. The observation of Lent, for most people, includes periods of denial. In England until 1863 there was a law that eggs, meat, and milk not be eaten during this time and those who violated it could be fined or imprisoned. On Shrove or Fat Tuesday, families ate up all of the forbidden foods so that they would not go to waste. The most common way to use up the foods was to make special pancakes. In England, the pancake was such a popular dish another name for Shrove Tuesday was Pancake Day. Today our observance of Lent isn't as strict, but the components of fasting, reconciliation, and renewal are still present. A Shrove Tuesday Family Night could be a combination of a Pancake Dinner and a Mardi Gras Celebration in preparation for Lent.