“No matter how you pronounce ‘pączki’ just don’t call it a donut.” (Unknown) The day before Ash Wednesday is known as Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday), a day to use up all the lard, sugar, eggs and fruit in the house, because their consumption was forbidden by fasting practices during Lent. Pączki Day is a BIG deal around Detroit. POONCH-key (or PAUNCH-key for dieters) are deep-fried jelly or custard filled donuts (I eat two)…a fun and tasty religious custom. ;-) Jack
FROM BS IN ENGLAND: Absolutely! I remember delicious paczki. We would send Roger, Ramelle's husband to Detroit to buy them. Today in England is called Shrove Tuesday and pancakes will be made using flour, eggs and milk. Butter is melted in a hot frying pan and a little of the mixture cooked on one side then flipped over and cooked on that side. Once cooked they are spread with whatever one likes. I prefer lemon juice and sugar rolled and eaten! Yummy! Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday and I will attend a Holy Communion service in which the Imposition of Ashes, from last years palm crosses, will be signed as a cross on our foreheads. Lent begins then.===JACK: Tonight my daughters and I will go out for a pancake supper...a tradition of ours. Did you ever participate in the race where women in Olney run while flipping a pancake in a frying pan? You'd probably do well in that race (senior dividion).===BS: No! I have never participated in a pancake race but the choir boys of Norwich Cathedral do in full robes. A sight to see!
FROM A ROSE IN BOSTON: Happy Fat Tuesday! I had the hardest time finding Paczki in Boston, but was able to order some from a deli in the Polish Triangle in Dorchester and get them delivered this morning! A delicious tradition at an important time of year; glad to be able to get that taste of home today.===JACK: When I get your, and other WW responses out of the way, it will be off' to Busch's for a raspberry and a custard. It's a great custom, isn't it?
FROM TRIHARDER: My mother used to make them -- generally minus the filling.===JACK: I remember how my mother would deep-fry donut holes and how I'd wait impatiently for them to be done. When I was growing up, there wasn't a Fat Tuesday in our community, and jelly-filled donuts were called, Bismarks.===TH: I don't remember "fat Tuesday" until I became an adult, despite having several Polish-Catholic friends as a teenager. I think JP McCarthy's radio show introduced me to it. He also introduced me to "pie in the sky."===JACK: Generations younger than yours probably don't know who JP was. Do you remember "Night Flight 760." I liked that "all-nighter." The host was a WB resident.
FROM JE IN WLSD: FULL confession: I ate a half of chocolate paczki – split it with Liza. I bought six at the Bakery this morning. Enough. My friend Chuck, used to say: “Anyone who gives you a donut is not your friend.” Good to find out that a paczki is NOT a donut.===JACK: I'm glad that my doctor said that I'm at the right weight and that a few more calories won't hurt.
FROM VW MARY: Went to the senior center to get some this morning…I wanted raspberry, but they were gone, even though I was there about a minute after they supposedly went on sale…life is tough sometimes..(had to settle for strawberry)…got a couple for Denise and Pastor that I’ll take to church now, although they probably have a stash of their own already….Happy Fat Tuesday! ===JACK: The secret of being able to eat paczki, is pledging to do a Lenten fast...no more sweets.
FROM SHALOM JAN: Not sure if eating paczki is a religious tradition, but they sure taste good!
By the way, Paczki is plural. And, the Poles I went to school with at SS. Cyril & Methodius Seminary in Orchard Lake as well as the Polish member of Emmanuel, Ypsilanti, and a good friend in interim ministry taught me to say "paunch-key" with a sort-of Southern drawl. "Poonch-key" is for amateurs!===JACK: If you're so smart. can you spell the word without looking it up? and while you're at it, why is the bunny connected with Easter?===JAN: I don't know how to get the tail on the A===JACK: That's pretty hard to do, since the tail belongs on the c, but Google can do almost anything. The Polish alphabet includes certain letters with diacritics: the kreska or acute accent (ć, ń, ó, ś, ź); the overdot or kropka (ż); the tail or ogonek (ą, ę); and the stroke (ł).
FROM TAMPA SHIRL: Interesting! Never heard of that! Ann and I r having hot dogs at the Magic kingdom!===JACK: No more hot dogs for 40 days. What else are you giving up for Lent?
FROM AMcC: happy Mardi Gras===JACK: Have you ever been to New Orleans for Mardi Gras? We were there a week or two afterward, and there were still beads on the ground and in the bushes.
FROM ST PAUL IN MESA: better than Dunkin' Dounts???===JACK: One weighs about as much as a half dozen DDs.===SP: sounds like a real artery clogger for sure:):):)
FROM BLAZING OAKS: I've never heard of a Paczski!! I can tell I'd like it!! I am indulging in some home-made cinnamon rolls which are DELICIOUS from a friend who brot "sympathy" treats to John, Jan, & I. Anxious to hear more about your "friend"~! Glad to hear their is one! Makes life more fun and interesting, for sure.Tomorrow would have been Bill's 92nd b.day. I will have a
memoriam in the paper. No "friend" on this end...:-(===JACK: I think that the various ethnic customs are some of what makes America great. I think that I've told you before that there are over 60 different languages spoken in the homes of our high schoolers. Sameness can be blah! Re: your newspaper remembrance....
I used to dream that I would discover
The perfect lover someday,
I knew I'd recognize him if ever
He came 'round my way.
I always used to fancy then
He'd be one of the God-like kind of men
With a giant brain and a noble head
Like the heroes bold
In the books I've read. But along came Bill
FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY: I didn’t realize eggs were forbidden. Why were those items chosen? ===JACK: You'll probably have to ask a priest. Some Catholics downriver in Monroe Country enjoyed eating muskrat, but were forbidden by the priest to do so during Lent. They contacted the archdiocese and explained to the "higher-ups" that since the muskrat spent more than 50% of his life in the water, he should be called a fish...and it was done. The muskrat is a fish...so I've been told.
FROM JE IN WLSD: FULL confession: I ate a half of chocolate paczki – split it with Liza. I bought six at the Bakery this morning. Enough. My friend Chuck, used to say: “Anyone who gives you a donut is not your friend.” Good to find out that a paczki is NOT a donut.===JACK: I'm glad that my doctor said that I'm at the right weight and that a few more calories won't hurt.
FROM VW MARY: Went to the senior center to get some this morning…I wanted raspberry, but they were gone, even though I was there about a minute after they supposedly went on sale…life is tough sometimes..(had to settle for strawberry)…got a couple for Denise and Pastor that I’ll take to church now, although they probably have a stash of their own already….Happy Fat Tuesday! ===JACK: The secret of being able to eat paczki, is pledging to do a Lenten fast...no more sweets.
FROM SHALOM JAN: Not sure if eating paczki is a religious tradition, but they sure taste good!
By the way, Paczki is plural. And, the Poles I went to school with at SS. Cyril & Methodius Seminary in Orchard Lake as well as the Polish member of Emmanuel, Ypsilanti, and a good friend in interim ministry taught me to say "paunch-key" with a sort-of Southern drawl. "Poonch-key" is for amateurs!===JACK: If you're so smart. can you spell the word without looking it up? and while you're at it, why is the bunny connected with Easter?===JAN: I don't know how to get the tail on the A===JACK: That's pretty hard to do, since the tail belongs on the c, but Google can do almost anything. The Polish alphabet includes certain letters with diacritics: the kreska or acute accent (ć, ń, ó, ś, ź); the overdot or kropka (ż); the tail or ogonek (ą, ę); and the stroke (ł).
FROM AMcC: happy Mardi Gras===JACK: Have you ever been to New Orleans for Mardi Gras? We were there a week or two afterward, and there were still beads on the ground and in the bushes.
FROM ST PAUL IN MESA: better than Dunkin' Dounts???===JACK: One weighs about as much as a half dozen DDs.===SP: sounds like a real artery clogger for sure:):):)
FROM BLAZING OAKS: I've never heard of a Paczski!! I can tell I'd like it!! I am indulging in some home-made cinnamon rolls which are DELICIOUS from a friend who brot "sympathy" treats to John, Jan, & I. Anxious to hear more about your "friend"~! Glad to hear their is one! Makes life more fun and interesting, for sure.Tomorrow would have been Bill's 92nd b.day. I will have a
memoriam in the paper. No "friend" on this end...:-(===JACK: I think that the various ethnic customs are some of what makes America great. I think that I've told you before that there are over 60 different languages spoken in the homes of our high schoolers. Sameness can be blah! Re: your newspaper remembrance....
I used to dream that I would discover
The perfect lover someday,
I knew I'd recognize him if ever
He came 'round my way.
I always used to fancy then
He'd be one of the God-like kind of men
With a giant brain and a noble head
Like the heroes bold
In the books I've read. But along came Bill
FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY: I didn’t realize eggs were forbidden. Why were those items chosen? ===JACK: You'll probably have to ask a priest. Some Catholics downriver in Monroe Country enjoyed eating muskrat, but were forbidden by the priest to do so during Lent. They contacted the archdiocese and explained to the "higher-ups" that since the muskrat spent more than 50% of his life in the water, he should be called a fish...and it was done. The muskrat is a fish...so I've been told.
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