The Sandpoint Eater Layers of Lent

‘n bot, which means, “We’ll see each other on Thursday at one.” The statement, delivered in local dialect, refers to the day when the next year’s carnival festivities will recommence.

Seriously, if you as inclined to learn more (as I was) and want to plan for 2024, check out the festival at this link: carnivaland.net/ivrea-carnival.

Elsewhere, throughout the world, pre-Lenten activities often include less violent food-related activities, such as pancake races. Shrove Tuesday is traditionally when Christians use sweet or fatty foods to prepare for Lent fasting before Easter, with pancakes as a quick and straightforward solution.

The market town of Olney in Buckinghamshire, England, lays claim to the oldest annual pancake race in the world, dating back to 1445 CE. Folklore says the Olney tradition started in the 15th century when a harassed housewife, rushing to attend church on Shrove Tuesday, ran to the service with a frying pan still in her hand. The race is open to the “ladies of Olney only,” but maintains a friendly rivalry with a small city in Kansas. Besides pancake races, there are many other fantastic pancake stories to sink your teeth into at the Guinness Book of World Records’ website: guinnessworldrecords.com. Learn about the world’s biggest pancake, the most pancakes ever stacked, the most pancakes ever flipped, and other astonishing feats and records related to the sweet flapjack.

I grew up in a practicing Catholic household, and I don’t recall this kind of fun-withfood leading up to Lent. Still, I remember Leftover-Thursday, when my mother would search the refrigerator for all the bits and pieces of the past week’s meat meals and whip up some stew or goulash. Then, we’d start meatless Friday with a clean refrigerator (and souls), and fish sticks, paving our way to pureness during the holy Lenten season. But, of course, it was easier back then when more restaurants seemed to cater to practicing Catholics.

Invariably, the only time I remember it’s a Lenten Friday is