Tomorrow is Pancake Day

Forty days penance and sacrifice coming up fast but first, it's party time. Mardi Gras beignets (sweet fried dough). Paczkis (pronounced punch-keys), sugary Polish donuts. Swedish semla, a sweet bun filled with almonds and sweet cream. In the United Kingdom, pancakes became a great way to use the foods that were given up for Lent – milk, butter, sugar and eggs.

The humble pancake has been featured in recipe books as far back as 1439. And there have been annual Pancake Day races all over London since 1445 -- the most famous in Olney, Buckinghamshire. The aim of a pancake race is to run as fast as you can while tossing a pancake in a frying pan. Some races have teams doing a relay, some have competitors in fancy dress. All quite silly and great fun to watch. Now that's a tradition worth a good laugh ... let the races begin!

FLUFFY PANCAKES
2 cups flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 3/4 cups milk
2 large eggs, separated
1 tablespoon melted unsalted butter
dash of salt
cooking spray

In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and soda. In another bowl, whisk together milk, egg yolks, and melted butter. Blend into the dry ingredients just until all ingredients are moistened. Beat egg whites in seperate bowl until stiff peaks form. Fold into the batter until well incorporated.

Evenly coat the bottom of a large skillet with cooking sray then heat the skillet over medium heat. When skillet is hot enough for a drop of water to sizzle, scoop pancake batter onto the skillet in about 1/4-cup portions, spreading slightly. When edges are rather dry and bubbles are popping and bottoms are nicely browned, about 2 to 3 minutes, turn over and cook the other side until browned, about 2 minutes longer.

Delish plain with butter and syrup or with any number of add-in ingredients tossed gently into the batter at the last minute. Pictured pancakes have honey roasted sunflower seed and a handful of fresh blueberries. Other yummy add-in ideas include berries of any kind, chopped apples coated with cinnamon sugar before tossing into batter, chopped dried fruits, granola, chocolate chips, banana slices (add a bit of lemon juice so they don't blacken while cooking) -- use your imagination!