Tuesday 2 February 2010

Pancakes and Groundhogs - Les Crêpes à la Marmotte !


Today is "La Chandeleur" - French "Pancake Day"!

Originally a pagan celebration, over time it has been merged into the Christian "Candlemas".  The name "La Chandeleur" originates from the lighting of "chandelles" in churches at midnight in an act of purification.

In the US the celebration has been replaced by Groundhog Day (which also takes place today) and there are many similarities between the two, mostly relating to weather, and the prediction of when will be the end of Winter and the beginning of spring.  Looking outside at the terrible weather today, it seems we're in for a long winter...

But as far as most people in France are concerned, today is all about CREPES!

Miniature crêpes

We've already posted about how versatile crêpes are, but did you know that they can also be used for fortune-telling?  It's traditional to hold a coin in one hand and the crêpe pan in the other and flip the crêpe.  If you manage to do it successfully, you can expect a prosperous year.  If not...well, try again - we won't tell!

Or you could keep in a cupboard or wardrobe the first crêpe baked - it's said to help with a bountiful harvest (not to mention being handy for secret midnight snack!).

Youpi c'est la chandeleur!!!

Alors comme nous sommes pour le respect des traditions - pourvu qu'elles impliquent quelque chose qui se mange - nous avons bien sûr fait des crêpes, des petites, des grandes, des vraies des fausses, des sucrées pour le goûter, et des salées pour ce soir (jambon, champignons, crème fraiche, gratinées, miam miam!)
Et on les fait sauter, sinon, c'est pas la peine de faire des crêpes !


...et qu'est ce que j'apprends en lisant notre propre blog?!!!  Qu'en Amérique, la Chandeleur, c'est Groundhog day!!

Comme ça cela ne vous dit peut être rien, mais en fait, c'est le fameux "jour de la marmotte" dans le film "un jour sans fin", avec l'excellent Bill Murray...Il semblerait que les prédictions météorologiques soient de mise des deux côtés de l'Atlantique en ce 2 Février...
Ma prédiction, c'est qu'on va se régaler en regardant un chouette film bien au chaud, et on vous en souhaite autant, bonnes crêpes, les gens!


Et pour marquer le coup, et vous donner faim, un background spécial à base de véritable crêpe maison (à quand un papier peint?!)

Today we made sweet crêpes for "le gouter" - the end of afternoon snack.

Real folded crêpe - paper thin!

No prizes for guessing what we'll be watching while eating our savoury crêpes later this evening...!


And to mark the day, we've used one of our 'gouter' crêpes to do a special background for the blog today!

13 comments:

  1. I´m so impressed..can´t tell the minis from the real ones!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Crêpes are my favorite...both the minis and the real one looks SO GOOD!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oooh why didn't we have some for dinner tonight! I guess we are holding out for Shrove Tuesday in 2 weeks time. Your crepes look so delicious.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Superbes miniatures!
    et j'adore le nouveau fond d'écran :D
    et bien sûr...l'histoire sans fin!!! que de souvenirs...

    Bonnes crêpes!!!

    Charlotte

    ReplyDelete
  5. fabulous! now I'm craving crêpes!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I just stumbled on this website -- saw the crepes -- and then read about the miniatures. I still have my dollhouses from childhood so I'll be back often. Fascinating!

    ReplyDelete
  7. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hyper realistic!
    J'adore aussi les crêpes!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thank you everybody!Welcome Ashley, and Dollmum be sure we will make some again for Mardi-Gras!!
    So easy and so good, why don't we all make some more often;-)

    ReplyDelete
  10. This is magnificent! Bravo! Your "travail d'equipe" is impressive! Anita

    ReplyDelete
  11. Chouette ! J'adore les crêpes, je vais les prendre avec du sucre ou de la confiture. Zut !, elles sont miniatures ..., elles sont tellement réelles, je croyais que c'étaient des vraies ...
    Geneviève

    ReplyDelete
  12. I have just scrolled back through all the pages of your blog. Everything I saw was just beautiful! I loved it all.

    I was looking for a fruit wreath for a front door. Those are sometimes seen in the USA at Christmas time. Maybe it is not something that is done in France.

    I can't wait to find the perfect thing for my collection in your ETSY shop.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Mais il y en a des vraies Geneviève!!!!c'est pour ça qu'on dirait des vraies;-)

    Welcome, and thank you, Anonymous!

    ReplyDelete