Poonchkey Day!

Yes, I know that's not the proper spelling.  I know it's paczki.  Whatevs.  I love them.  That's all I know.  These are from Central Continental Bakery in Mount Prospect.  And they are delish.

In theory, they are a 'pre-lent' feast for Fat Tuesday - after that comes Ash Wednesday and all the giving up and stuff.  I do not participate in the fasting, but I'm not averse to the feasting. 

I must say, the Polacks, aka - my people, sure know how to do food.  Pierogis, Paczkis - my people sure know what they are doing.  (Yes, I am ignoring the fact that wine is largely unpopular in their culture.)

Fat Tuesday

So, despite being raised Catholic, I do not celebrate 'giving stuff up for Lent' (one of my very first posts on this very blog was on the subject of this matter - you can find it under 2008, March). However, that isn't going to stop me from celebrating Fat Tuesday, the day of indulgence beforehand. And my mom picked up a strawberry and whipped cream paczki (poonchkey) and an oreo cream paczki from a cute little corner bakery for me. MMM. I am not usually a sweets person, but this got the better of me. I may have been too quick to judge Lent - I may need to celebrate Fat Tuesday year round.