Mind Your Waistlines, Tuesday is Pączki Day

There are several stores in the Shelby Township and Utica area planning to sell the dangerously delicious doughnuts known as "pączki" on Fat Tuesday.

Feb. 12 isn't just any Tuesday. This year, it happens to be Fat Tuesday, also known as Pączki Day. Polish tradition is to celebrate the last six days of Carnival, beginning on Fat Thursday (Tłusty Czwartek) when pączki (fried donuts) are eaten. In America, pączki can be found in bakeries around Shelby Township and Utica on Feb. 12. For those who observe Lent, Ash Wednesday begins the 40 days of fasting, which often includes giving up sweets until Easter. This leaves Tuesday as the last day to indulge in the sugary, carb-filled wonders known as pączki. So where can you find pączki locally? What are your favorite paczki flavors? Tell us in the comments.

• Photos (2)

Happy Pączki Day

Pączki in any language means delicious.

If you observe Lent, then you most likely have started the countdown to Feb. 22—Ash Wednesday and the beginning of 40 days of fasting, or the very least, giving up sweets until Easter. The little time left—called Mardi Gras, Carnival, Carnevale or Fasnacht in parts of the world—will be celebrated with partying and indulgence until the last second of Fat Tuesday, which ends at midnight today. A Polish tradition is to celebrate the last six days of Carnival, known as zapusty, beginning on Fat Thursday (Tłusty Czwartek) when pączki (fried doughnuts) are eaten. In America, pączki can be found in bakeries on Fat Tuesday or Pączki Day, Feb. 21. It is more difficult to find a bakery that won't be offering paczki on Fat Tuesday, so here are a …

•  1 Comment
• Photos (1)

Joe Foodie

Where to Get Your Fat Tuesday Paczki Fix

Fat Tuesday is March 8. Of course, that means Paczki Day around here. Patch tells you where to find a box of these heavenly balls of dough.

For my entire precollege education I went to Catholic schools. Where I went doesn't matter, but what should be noted is the Catholic tradition of fasting during Lent, but feasting before. Paczki have a special place in my heart. I'm not referring to the physical place in my arteries each cholesterol-laden dough ball calls home. The anticipation of delivery was similar to Christmas morning. Paczki (pronounced 'poonch-ki') were delivered to school by Hamtramck's Sweetheart Bakery. We'd buy them by the dozen. Raspberry. Strawberry. Custard. Lemon. Prune. In grade school, eating three paczki in a sitting was nothing. Fat, sugar, flour and fruit, these were more than doughnuts. With Lent starting the next day, some vice (as much as a kid could …

• Photos (1)