What is Shrove Tuesday? Who's eating pancakes, and why?

Pakistan's beauty and charming hill mind... by saifullah0508 It's Shrove Tuesday today, also known as Shrovetide Tuesday or Pancake Tuesday. So what does "Shrove" mean? And why are some Christians eating pancakes today?
Pancakes were traditionally eaten on the day before Ash Wednesday because they were a way to use up eggs, milk, and sugar before the fasting season of the 40 days of Lent. Liturgical fasting during Lent emphasizes eating plainer food and refraining from "pleasurable" foods such as meat, dairy and eggs. Many people "give something up" during Lent as a way to prepare for Easter, which is on April 5.
Shrove is the past tense of shrive, which means to gain absolution of sins by confession and repentance. Shrove Tuesday is also known as Pancake Tuesday in some western European countries. The pancake aspect is not as widely observed in the United States as it is in England. Episcopal Church of the Ascension, 1912 Canyon Road in Vestavia Hills, hosts an annual Pancake Supper on Shrove Tuesday, which will be held tonight from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Independent Presbyterian Church, 3100 Highland Ave. South, will also host its annual Pancake Supper tonight from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $7 at both events.

Trinity United Methodist Church, 1400 Oxmoor Road in Homewood, will have have Shrove Tuesday Pankcakes tonight starting at 5:30 p.m. in the fellowship hall. Tickets are $2. It includes a 6:15 children's program on the meaning of Ash Wednesday and Lent.
Of course, in America, today is more popularly known as Mardi Gras, which is "Fat Tuesday" in French. It's the same idea: the last day to eat "fat" before Lent.
It's called Fat Tuesday because it's the last day of indulgence before Ash Wednesday, when ashes are imposed on the forehead in the mark of a cross, with the minister quoting Genesis on the mortality of man.