Original: This event is said to have originated in the town of Olney, England in 1444 when a housewife was still busy frying pancakes to eat before the Lenten fast when she heard the bells of St Peter and St Paul's Church calling her to the Shriving Service.
Simplified: In an old story about Olney a woman was cooking her pancakes when she heard the bells of St Peter and St Paul's Church calling her to worship.