Hi again, Happy Friday!
In case you didn’t know, I am of Polish heritage. Some others are mixed in there (Irish and German), but I’m a good percentage Polish.
I belong to a small Polish Catholic church, and one of my favorite days of the year is the our Paczki Ball. Yes, we have an entire evening devoted to delicious donuts!
Can it possibly get any better?
In case you want to know how to pronounce that, it’s “PUNCH-key” if you are lucky enough to have several of them, and “PUN-check” if you only have one lonely donut.
Historically, Paczki Day is pretty much the Polish version of Mardi Gras. The basic reason for the paczki is to use up all of the lard, sugar, eggs and fruit in the house before Lent. It’s usually the Thursday prior to Ash Wednesday, but my community celebrates with a huge dinner/dance, tons of live polka music and, of course, the crowning of the Paczki King and Queen.
All of the women or men will stand in a circle, and we each get a paczki. If you’re lucky enough to get the Bavarian cream filling – you are crowned! My brother Neil was lucky 
enough to be crowned King one year. It’s nice to be related to royalty – even if only for a night!
Here is a picture of my brother Neil and our friend Jarrod standing in the circle, waiting for the okay to dig into their paczki to see if they will get the crown!
It is SUCH a fun night – I look forward to it every year!
Vivat Na zdrowie!!
~Anne
Tags: Annie, Easter, Holidays, Notes & Quotes
