Happy Paczki Day!

While many people may think of today as Mardi Gras - aka "Fat Tuesday", the day before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent - here in tha D it's "Paczki Day". What is a paczki?

A paczki (pronounced “Poonch-key”) is a Polish donut. It uses a richer batter than traditional donuts. These donuts are traditionally filled with raspberry or prune filling although a huge variety of other fillings are now available. Hamtramck, a small Polish city within Detroit, is where the authentic Polish bakeries are located and thousands of metro Detroiters travel to Hamtramck every year on Fat Tuesday to indulge. In Detroit, Fat Tuesday is so named for the oil and shortening found in paczkis that Christian Poles so often give up for Lent.

Paczki Day is a Polish Holiday and was essentially unknown to the greater Detroit area until the 80’s when the media first started covering this day and, more aptly, the yummy Polish treats. Now it seems like everyone is Polish on Paczki Day! It’s become a Detroit tradition, regardless of ethnic origin.

I've already had one, seen others leftover in the kitchen area here at work, and have a bunch of custard paczkis waiting at home. Ooof.

If updates here suddenly stop, it'll probably be due to a coronary induced by these lard bombs. Yummy!