It's tradition, Jim, but not as we know it

It may be that my mother, grandmother and indeed all my foremothers are spinning in their graves even as I write, but the sad fact is that pancakes are not on the menu at Frugal Follies today.  I can't remember not having pancakes on Shrove Tuesday but there it is.  In the eyes of all those venerable women I Am A Failure.

But there is another British tradition which is sadly fading from common usage and that is Bubble and Squeak.  I should perhaps explain that B & S is a glorious fry up which has leftover mashed potato with leftover cabbage as its base and any other leftover vegetables added.  A glorious potato  and vegetable cake, fried until golden brown was a favourite way of using up the leftovers from Sunday lunch and making a really easy meal on Monday which was traditionally washday. Yum.

I don't often cook a traditional Sunday lunch.  It's not a meal for the single person household.  Last Sunday however, I invited five members of my extended family and we tucked into roast chicken and a lot more besides.  And as always I cooked too much.

So the Bubble and Squeak tradition had to come to my rescue.  I didn't cook mashed potato which is an essential ingredient but I had roast potatoes along with roast beetroot, carrot, parsnip, onion and sweet potato.  I'd also got sprouts with mushrooms and bacon and I'd got pigs in blankets, leeks and stuffing.  So I chopped up the lot and slung it into a frying pan with a little oil.

And  can still have pancakes on another day