We jump on any excuse to enjoy yummy food at Balhousie Care Group – and Pancake Day has to be one of the favourites, especially if you have a sweet tooth!
Traditionally, pancakes marked the beginning of Lent, a time of fasting and originally known as Shrove Tuesday, the day when Christians went to confess their sins to prepare for Lent. Pancakes were a way to use up remaining rich ingredients in the cupboards – such as flour, milk and eggs – that wouldn’t be allowed to be eaten during the Lenten period, the next 40 days, so they wouldn’t go off.
Well there wasn’t much fasting going on across Balhousie care homes, as staff cooked up a treat. And so much choice for toppings!
At Balhousie Clement Park in Dundee they had all the whistles and bells for a luxury experience on their treat cart: strawberries, chocolate spread, cream, toffee, syrup, choc buttons… and at Balhousie Dalnaglar in Crieff too. At Balhousie St Ronan’s in Dundee and North Inch in Perth, they were health-conscious, with a spin on the Chantilly Pancake: squirty cream, syrup and bananas, AND strawberries or raspberries, and blueberries. Well that’s three of your five a day!
This year Pancake day coincided with St David’ Day the patron Saint of Wales – so there was an unusual fusion of activities going on across Balhousie too.
At Balhousie Coupar Angus, residents had fun day making daffodil table centre pieces for their pancake repast. And Balhousie Huntly had a proper sit down meal! While at Balhousie Willowbank in Carnoustie they set to learn some interesting facts about Pancake Day and St David’s Day.
In Aboyne, Balhousie Alastrean learnt a little Welsh – ‘Noswaith dda‘ (good evening) – to celebrate St David’s day, and also had fun tossing pancakes of course. We’ve even got an action shot of pancakes between pans! At Balhousie Wheatlands, to offset the calories from their Shrove Tuesday fun, they finished off with a wee singalong and dance to burn off the batter!
What do you have on your pancakes? Sweet or savoury, we hope you had a very happy Pancake Day from all of us at Balhousie Care Group.
