Pancakes Aplenty – Today is National Pancake Day

Carb up, South Jersey -- it's National Pancake Day!

Now, before we tell you where you can stuff your face today, perhaps a little history about National Pancake Day. Apparently, this isn't just one of those made-up holidays like 'National Eat Pretzels Dipped In Anything Besides Mustard Day' or 'Walk Backwards Wearing Two Different Shoes Day'.

According to Time, National Pancake Day is completely different than International Pancake Day -- even though the International House of Pancakes is the driving force behind National Pancake Day and not International Pancake Day.

Can't anything be easy in this world?

Anyway... Time says,

Fat Tuesday itself is just known as Pancake Day. It comes just before the start of Lent, the annual Christian season of penance and fasting, which is as good a reason as any to get out the syrup and chow down. In the U.K., the tradition of making and eating flapjacks on Fat Tuesday goes back to the Middle Ages, when religious folks abstained from dairy, eggs and meat from Ash Wednesday until Easter. In many other European nations, including Sweden and Poland, the day is celebrated by making the most sugary, fatty pastries possible — usually a form of pancakes.

So why National Pancake Day and International Pancake Day aren't celebrated around the world on the same day is a bit of a mystery -- but it seems like it should be something the whole world could unite on. I can just picture kids around the globe all holding hands (or at least sticking their syrupy hands together) and singing, "it's a pancake world after all!" to the tune of everyone's favorite Disney song.

As for the stuffing your face part, if you stop by any IHOP location today through 7PM (a few restaurants do this until 10PM), you can get a free short stack of IHOP’s pancakes and, in return, you'll be asked to leave a voluntary donation to benefit a local Leukemia & Lymphoma Society program. According to a press release, IHOP typically raises about $3.5 million for charity on National Pancake Day.

SOURCES: Time.com, IHOP press release 3/7/17