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Today is Fat Tuesday: the day before Lent begins. Depending on where you hail from the day of debauchery is known as Mardi Gras, Carnevale, Carnival, Fasching. As we’ve discussed before, in Detroit it’s known as Paczki Day. There was a time not so long ago that if you didn’t live in Detroit or Chicago or another city with a sizable Poletown you would have never heard of the paczki. It was made just once a year and could only be snagged from authentic Polish bakeries such as Hamtramck’s New Palace, where people still wait in long lines for the...

Fat Tuesday: the day before Lent begins. Depending on where you hail from the celebration of food and drink is variously known as Mardi Gras, Carnevale, Carnival, Fasching, etc.. In Detroit Fat Tuesday is known as: Time to make the paczki! Originally made just once a year paczkis are theoretically not just doughnuts. An authentic paczki is made with eggs, flour, lard and grain alcohol mixed into fruit fillings like cherry, raspberry, apricot or – most traditional of all, prunes. They are topped with with sugar – granulated or powdered – or glazed with icing. In time New World flavors...

Just a little break from politics....

Authentic Polish Paczki MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - On Fat Tuesday, the last day of revelry and indulgence before Lent, many Polish Americans celebrate Paczki Day. Typical paczki contains about 400 calories The centerpiece of the day is the paczki (pronounced "ponch-key"), an incredibly rich and caloric take on the doughnut designed to use up the last of the lard, sugar and eggs in the household before the fasting of Lent begins. Even if most modern celebrators are buying them instead of making their own at home, paczkis pack in all those ingredients in heart-stopping quantities. A typical paczki contains approximately...