Shrove Tuesday

The other name of this holiday is Pancake Day, because everyone eat pancakes. It is celebrated in Ireland, United Kingdom, Canada and many others. The name of this holiday in France is Mardi Gras .
  
History :
The origin of eating pancakes arose from Christians who observe Lent .The favourite toppings are: lemon juice, chocolate spread ice cream, especially stramberry jam. Today, everyone celebrates Pancake Day regardless of religion. On Pancake day, they do pancakes races, cook fighting and many other things. The famous pancakes race takes place at Olney (next to London). It is forbiden to men, woman competitors have to be local housewives.

South Africa

South Africa is located in the southern hemisphere.

The capital of South Africa is Pretoria. The country is surrounded by the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean.

There are several famous cities and places:

• Robben Island


• Cape Town


• Soweto


• Johannesburg (its nickname is the City of Gold)


• Pretoria


• Kruger National Park

South Africa's most famous animals are: the Red-Billed Oxpecker, the rhinoceros, the ostrich, the impala, the giraffe, the African rock python, the chimpanzee, the lion, the zebra, the elephant.


The languages spoken in South Africa are :

• Sésotho


• Setswana


• SiSwati


• Tshivenda


• Xitsonga


• Afrikaans


• English


• isiNdebele


• isiXhosa

The colours of the flag are blue, yellow, black, green, red and white.
The Y symbolizes the unity of the people.

Let's discover English-speaking countries!

Many countries in the world have English as an official language. We'll introduce some of them. Hopefully we'll visit them all one day!

Australia

SYDNEY

SYDNEY

MELBOURNE

Australia is divided into sereval parts, it is  located in Southern Asia and north of Antarctica. In its flag, there is the Union Jack, the flag of the United Kingdom, because  Australia was colonized by the United Kingdom.

Hogmanay

Hogmanay is on the 31th December , it's celebrated on the Eve of the 1st January .
It's celebrated in Scotland, in Glasgow and Edinburgh.
During Hogmanay we sing « Auld lang syne ».
Hogmanay is celebrated during 2 days.
The activity planned for the 1st day in Edinburgh is the Torchlight Procession and on the 2nd day they do « Loony dook » and « New year sprint final ».
The 2 traditions for Hogmanay are « cleaning the house »and « first footing »

By Ines.h and Rakia

Canada

 

Canada

~ The capital city is Ottawa, there are 10 provinces and 3 territories.
~ The Canadian flag is white and red, the symbol of Canada are the Maple leaf and the beaver, the Canadian coat of arms, the Canadian horse.
~ Some Canadian animals are the Moose, Polar Bear, Caribou, Bison, Wolf and Loon …


HiSTORY:Jacques Cartier

~ Jacques Cartier (1491-1557) was a French explorer who did three expeditions to Canada in 1534, 1535 and 1541.
Canada was named by Jacques Cartier «Kanata».
« Kanata » means a village or settlement in the Huron-Iroquois language.
In 1969, English and French became Canada's official languages. Montreal is one of the largest French-Speaking cities in the world

Montreal Flag Quebec Flag

Merry Christmas !!

Christmas is celebrated on 25 December. The British prepare the house and decorate the tree.
The name of the traditional Christmas dessert is the Christmas pudding. Inside, there are raisins, nuts and cherries. They hide six pence in the Pudding. They pull Christmas crackers during the dinner.
Another traditional Christmas sweet: mince pies. Inside, there are raisins, glazed cherries, fruit... This is the favourite food of Father Christmas.
Here's the recipe:

        Ingredients

• 225g cold butter , diced
• 350g plain flour
• 100g golden caster sugar
• 280g mincemeat
• 1 small egg , beaten
• icing sugar , to dust

1. To make the pastry, rub the butter into the flour, then mix in the sugar and a pinch of salt. Combine the pastry into a ball - don't add liquid - and knead it briefly. The dough will be fairly firm, like shortbread dough. You can use the dough immediately, or chill for later.
2. Preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6/fan 180C. Line 18 holes of two 12-hole patty tins, by pressing small walnut-sized balls of pastry into each hole. Spoon the mincemeat into the pies.
3. Take slightly smaller balls of pastry than before and pat them out between your hands to make round lids, big enough to cover the pies. Top the pies with their lids, pressing the edges gently together to seal - you don't need to seal them with milk or egg as they will stick on their own. (The pies may now be frozen for up to 1 month).
4. Brush the tops of the pies with the beaten egg. Bake for 20 minutes until golden. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack. To serve, lightly dust with icing sugar. They will keep for 3 to 4 days in an airtight container.