Paczki Day

Pączki (pronounced paunch-key) are fruit-filled pastries similar to jelly doughnuts, only richer and more delicious, made from eggs, butter, sugar and yeast, deep fat fried and glazed with sugar.

Pączki are especially popular just before the start of Lent, when the Church traditionally prescribed abstinence from sweets and animal products. In Poland, the Thursday before Ash Wednesday (Tłusty Czwartek, or Fat Thursday) marks the beginning of the last week of the Carnival season – a time of feasting and general merrymaking that follows the end of the Christmas season on January 7 (Epiphany) and lasts until Ash Wednesday.

In America, people of Polish descent treat themselves to pączki on Shrove Tuesday, also called Fat Tuesday Polish Americans have even coined the term “Pączki Day” to describe the annual celebration.

The Polish Center of Wisconsin will celebrate Pączki Day on Tuesday, February 13. You can order a dozen for $11.50 and pick them up on February 13 from 7:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m. or have them delivered for an additional charge of $6. These would be a special treat for your workplace. Deadline for orders is January 29, call the Polish Center to place your order (414) 529-2140, orders can also be placed on our website: www.polishcenterofwisconsin.org