If you believe most American shops and greeting card companies, the next major holiday to follow Christmas and New Year\u2019s is Valentine\u2019s Day.<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

But here in France, another holiday sneaks its way into the fray in early February.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The holiday in question is Candlemas, or La Chandeleur, <\/em>and the appropriate way to celebrate it is with cr\u00eapes.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

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Discovering a French tradition<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

When I was first studying French at the tender age of 9, my Brooklyn-born-and-raised French teacher quickly caught on to the fact that the way to our hearts was through our stomachs\u2014and thus the way to get us to embrace the French language and culture as much as possible was to feed us. She was the first to introduce me to the French Candlemas tradition of making cr\u00eapes and flipping them high in the air\u2014holding a piece of gold in your other hand, of course.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

This superstitious practice is said to bring good luck and prosperity in the coming year, and I quickly embraced it as a way to make cr\u00eapes for dinner twice in as many months. (I do so again for Mardi Gras, also known as Shrove Tuesday or \u201cPancake Day\u201d in the UK.)<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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