Tuesday, we're all Polish here across southern Michigan. It's Fat Tuesday, and that means roll out the single most high-calorie treat of the year: a doughy delight of about 600 calories but won't fill your palm. It's called a paczi (pronounced "punch-key"), and it's become a tradition which Hamtramck bakeries began and now has spread across the state (and elsewhere for all I know).

My wife and I were in this place Saturday, and if anything the photographer caught them on a slow moment. Lines at this and another bakery down the street were stretched outside onto the street...and it was worth the drive into metro Detroit. Our local bakers just couldn't quite hit the high mark of the originals.

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/2016/02/08/hamtramck-paczki/80018206/

I can totally get behind this.

Quote from: taxed on February 10, 2016, 09:53:40 PM
I can totally get behind this.

As events transpired, the News updated its original single photo of the interior of the bakery (and included competitors as well). We were there days ahead of the true crazy-day, but already there had been one if not two charity-runs for that town, tied to these treats. People were buying shirts surviving the day (and presumably night). It was as glorious as the Fiberglas™ carp-drop on New Year's at Port Clinton, Ohio.

I was wrong about this being just a Michigan thing. The Windsor (Ontario) Star did likewise with a really good pictorial of how these things are made.... Kudos to photographer Dan Janisse and writer Sharon Hill.

http://windsorstar.com/news/local-news/paczki-day-comes-once-a-year-people-love-this-says-lakeside-bakery-owner