Pancake day perfection

Last year I was a bit confused by Pancake Day (a.k.a. Shrove Tuesday) so I didn't take part. I've never been a big pancake fan, and therefore it didn't seem necessarily fun to overindulge on pancakes, which is what one does on pancake day. For me, something like Fat Tuesday and drinking to excess makes more sense before repenting during Lent (not that I repent during Lent).

But this year, for some reason, Leo and I decided to celebrate Pancake Day, by putting together a pancake feast, both savory and sweet. Rather than taking on the English tradition, however, we decided to celebrate Maslenitsa (the Russian equivalent - which can be referred to as both pancake week or butter week) so Leo made some rather buttery pancake batter from a recipe in our Russian cookbook...so buttery that no butter was actually needed to cook them in the pan. These things oozed butter!
To add to the Russian festivities, we also toasted our meal with vodka. We served up the pancakes topped with ham and cheese, mushrooms and onions, and for dessert with gooseberry jam. I think now I'm a pancake fan!