Strawberry and cheese blintzes (Provided photo — Yvona Fast)

“If Candlemas Day be fair and bright, Winter will have another flight;

but if it be dark with clouds and rain, Winter is gone, and will not come again.” — Old English rhyme

Feb. 2 is Groundhog Day in North America. In Europe, it is Candlemas; in France, it’s called La Chandeleur, and originates from the Latin “candelarum.” It gives us the English words chandelier and candle.

This holiday celebrates increasing light. It marks the halfway point between the winter solstice and spring equinox. In ancient times, this halfway point was called a Cross Quarter Day. In Ancient Rome, the day honored Pan, the god of the shepherds. People marched in the streets, waving lit torches. It was a time of purification dedicated to the goddess of essence, Juno Februa. Offerings were made to the grain goddess.

The feast day comes 40 days after Jesus’ birth and commemorates the presentation of Mary’s firstborn son at the Temple and Mary’s purification ceremony 40 days after the birth. In ancient times, Candlemas marked the end of the Christmas season.

Early Christian traditions blessed candles on this day, and it became known as Candlemas. During the Middle Ages, on gray, gloomy February days, dark, shadowy churches were filled with a procession of congregants carrying brightly lit candles to be blessed by the priest.

In France, La Chandeleur is a day for eating round, sun-shaped golden crepes. The French word originates in the Latin word “crispus,” meaning folded or crimped. French crêpe batter is made with flour, eggs and milk or water. Butter, sugar and salt are optional ingredients. Some farmers believed that if you didn’t eat pancakes on Feb. 2, the wheat crops would decay.

Although ultra-thin, round, delicate crepes are said to have originated in 19th-century France, similar pancakes date back to Greek and Roman times. These thicker ancestors of the modern crepe were made simply with a batter of flour, water and honey — no eggs or milk. According to “The Classical Cookbook” by Andrew Dalby and Sally Grainger, the recipe dates to the 2nd century. In Ancient Rome, these thin pancakes were known as “panis focacius” — in ancient Greece, they were called “plakous.”

The thin pancakes traveled not only west to France, but east to the Balkans. There, they are called Palatschinke or palaccinka. This name originates from the Latin “placenta,” which is derived from the Greek plakous meaning thin, flatbreads. The batter is made with eggs, milk, wheat flour and salt; the pancakes are fried in oil or butter. Hungarian, Gundel palacsinta are made with walnuts.

A large stack of palaccinka is placed on a plate with a variety of toppings: apricot, prune, berry or cherry jams, chocolate sauce, Nutella, sweet white cheese with raisins. You spread your palaccinka with these fillings, roll it up, sprinkle with confectioner sugar and eat as finger food. When I was in Yugoslavia, my friend Melita made a stack of these for a birthday celebration.

They can also be filled with cheese (blintzes), meat, vegetables like spinach, mushrooms or kraut, and cut into strips to top soup, like Austrian frittaten or German flädle.

Depending on the country, there are different ways to celebrate Candlemas or Chandeleur. Italians serve farinata, the Brits serve crumpets and Mexicans eat tamales.

So … make a batch of crepes and invite a bunch of friends over. Or visit your favorite creperie!

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Crepes

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Ingredients:

3 eggs

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups milk (or 1 cup milk, 1 cup water)

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:

In bowl, beat eggs with salt; beat in milk; then beat in flour. The batter should be the consistency of heavy cream.

It is best to use a crepe pan. If you don’t have one, use a non-stick pan. Oil it lightly – Heat a little oil in the pan, and spread evenly.

Heat the pan over medium heat for a couple minutes – it should be quite hot Then, pour in about 1/4 cup of the batter. Tilt and swirl the pan in a circular motion so the batter will spread evenly. The faster you tilt and rotate the pan, the better the crepe batter spread.

Cook just a couple minutes. Some turn them over with an offset spatula and cook 1 minute on the other side, but I just flip them out onto a plate, and then make the next crepe.

When done, fill with your favorite filling. Some people fry it in butter. Or you can fold it into triangles or squares instead of rolling it.

One of my favorite fillings is white farmer cheese mixed with maple syrup.

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Crepe Cake

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Ingredients:

8 to 10 Crepes

Your favorite filling

Directions:

Place a crepe on a plate or platter; spread with your favorite filling.

Repeat until you have a stack of 8 – 10 crepes.

Top with fresh sliced fruit.

Eat.

Author of the award-winning cookbook “Garden Gourmet: Fresh & Fabulous Meals from your Garden, CSA or Farmers’ Market,” Yvona Fast lives in Lake Clear and has two passions: cooking and writing. She can be found at www.yvonafast.com and reached at yvonawrite@yahoo.com or on Facebook at Words Are My World.