Today is Paczki Day otherwise known as Fat Tuesday or that last day before Lent begins.  If you are of Polish heritage you know that it is the day to indulge in gigantic fruit filled doughnut-like buns.  This has tradition has been around forever, or at least since my mom was a kid living in Hamtramck which in those years was made up of mostly Polish immigrants.

My mother explained the tradition to me as a child and it went something like this: Many Catholics fast during Lent and many do not eat sweets so they clear out all of the sugar and fat in their pantries and make Paczki to enjoy on Fat Tuesday.  Today we just go to a Polish bakery.  These days most stores that sell baked goods sell some sort of paczki but the best still come from a good old Polish bakery.

More about Paczki Day: Paczki Preparations and A paczki primer: What you need to know and Paczki Day

The brown dawgs did not want to be left out of Paczki Day.  They dressed up in their best Mardi Gras costumes and indulged.  Of course they did not eat Paczki, but had to settle for some Pupcakes that I pulled out of the freezer.  Believe me there were no complaints!

Happy Paczki Day!

18 thoughts on “It’s Paczki Day

  1. Toledo’s Polish community was split into three neighborhoods, the Grinka around St. Hedwig and St. Adelbert and another toward the south end ~ Koushwantz near St. Anthony and St. Stanislaus and that which surrounded St. Hyacinth and further west Our Lady of Lourdes. They were distinct communities, lined with workingmen’s cottages, rows of tidy homes with vegetable gardens and flowers. Remnants of these remain today, a few old world meat/grocery markets and bakeries. The news coverage for Fat Tuesday always includes trips to the bakery and an explanation of paczki production, from pillow to donut. People make the drive from Columbus to pick up orders, there is a huge fundraiser and the bagged treats disappear quickly!
    Lesser treats are probably in order for Macha and Erynn, our girls do not need 400 calories at one chomp! But long live Polonia (said to be found in 60% of population here today!)
    Happy Mardi Gras, let the dogs have a bit of a parade in their finery! Stay warm, we feel like
    Norse Folks or Eskimos!

  2. Hi Y’all!

    A good bakery is one of the things my Humans miss most when they are living in rural areas. It’s quite a drive to find a good bakery or deli, especially ethnic.

    Y’all come on by,
    Haw aka BrownDog

  3. That looks like a fun day! Now I wish I was Polish, because that Packzi sounds pretty good…I think I’ve been missing out. 🙂
    The crew got some special cookie treats over the weekend, so they’re OK.

  4. Oh my god! I love Paczki’s. Our local Big Y had had them for about 2 months now. The bakery is right in front of the door and the minute you walk in, you smell them. In fact, the smell was the first thing that alerted me it was Paczki season. Sadly being gluten-free I can no longer eat them (although, I would consider taking one for the team in exchange for their delectable goodness) BUT the sugar does me in too. So they are currently off the table. A very sad day for me.

    The dogs look like they had fun dressing up. Enjoy your Packi’s and eat one for me.

  5. A little late but happy Paczki day 🙂 Looks like you had a lot of fun, and the dogs definitely reaped a lot of rewards. This year’s fat tuesday was awesome; two people gave me paczki’s – lets just say I’m going to have to take Laika for a really long walk to burn that off….

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