Hop over to IHOP for a Free Short Stack

Today is National Pancake Day. IHOP is giving away a free short stack of buttermilk pancakes to anyone who walks through the doors from 7am to 10pm. If they ask you for ID please let us know. We thought for sure that it was little more than a marketing ploy to get us into IHOP to be suckered into a side order of bacon and a bottomless cup of coffee, but there is, in fact, more to the story. A quick check of the internets reveal a story of Pancake Day from Wikipedia explaining the origins of today as Pancake Day, though not actually International or National Pancake Day:

The reason that pancakes are associated with the day preceding Lent is that the 40 days of Lent form a period of liturgical fasting, during which only the plainest foodstuffs can be eaten. Therefore, rich ingredients such as eggs, milk, sugar and flour are disposed of immediately prior to the commencement of the fast. Pancakes were therefore the perfect way of using up these perishable goods, besides providing a minor celebratory feast prior to the fast itself

The promotion at IHOP actually serves as a fundraiser for Children's Miracle Network as they ask you to donate to the cause as you receive your free pancakes. Pancakes and charitable causes are linked in our minds – from firehouses to churches Bostonist has eaten a lot of pancakes to support charities over the years. The question remains, however, why won't they give us a free short stack of those far superior corn pancakes instead of the traditional buttermilk? With those in the belly we'd likely toss an extra couple of bucks in the donation box on the way out.