Fat Tuesday

Neverland Scraps

Neverland Scraps

Active member
So I was talking to a friend today and mentioned Faschnaut being today. She asked what it was and I referenced it to Paczki or Fat Tuesday. Then it got me thinking.....do people celebrate Faschnaut day as much I think they do? Or is it a regional thing?

I know growing up in PA, we call it Faschnaut. But when I met my husband, from MI, he called it Paczki and the people here in Co seem to call it Fat Tuesday.

For us, growing up and even now, it's just an excuse to eat a donut. It has no meaning to us, but I know to many it has a special meaning. Do you celebrate one of these days today? If so, what do you call today?
 
PA gal here too! My grandmother used to make homemade fausnaucts, BUT NO ONE around here makes them correctly! They are supposed to be made with potato flour and we NEVER covered them in powdered sugar or glaze like the stores do. To me, that's just a plain donut, not a fausnauct like Mom-Mom made, and they taste totally different. My husband says I'm nuts when I get mad that you can't buy them made the way she made them. It's actually quite a long process with letting the dough rise. I remember helping her as a child and she would have all these pans in the one room in her house that was the warmest and we would cover them with dish towels and let them rise all day. Boy, could I eat one right now. I actually have her recipe in my safe somewhere...I should give it a try sometime!
 
My heritage is Polish and Irish so it's always been Paczki day for me. And I'm obsessed with them lol. I probably ate way too many of them this year lol

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I'm from Michigan so it's always been called Fat Tuesday and I have to get my paczki. No regular donut will substitute, lol! I mean, not for religious reasons, just tradition. I had to ask on FB where to find paczki's here in the Springs and was surprised to find them at King Soopers, ha! They weren't very good though. Obviously frozen and thawed, but it worked.
 
Valgal said:
I'm from Michigan so it's always been called Fat Tuesday and I have to get my paczki. No regular donut will substitute, lol! I mean, not for religious reasons, just tradition. I had to ask on FB where to find paczki's here in the Springs and was surprised to find them at King Soopers, ha! They weren't very good though. Obviously frozen and thawed, but it worked.
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I meant to get back to you to tell you that king Soopers has them on academy/Hancock. I got distracted with phone calls when I saw your comment on IG.

Glad you found some!
 
3BluEyedBabi said:
PA gal here too! My grandmother used to make homemade fausnaucts, BUT NO ONE around here makes them correctly! They are supposed to be made with potato flour and we NEVER covered them in powdered sugar or glaze like the stores do. To me, that's just a plain donut, not a fausnauct like Mom-Mom made, and they taste totally different. My husband says I'm nuts when I get mad that you can't buy them made the way she made them. It's actually quite a long process with letting the dough rise. I remember helping her as a child and she would have all these pans in the one room in her house that was the warmest and we would cover them with dish towels and let them rise all day. Boy, could I eat one right now. I actually have her recipe in my safe somewhere...I should give it a try sometime!
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Do you remember Angel Wings?
I used to eat them all the time as a child and now that I’m an adult I can’t find them.
 
hollyxann said:
My heritage is Polish and Irish so it's always been Paczki day for me. And I'm obsessed with them lol. I probably ate way too many of them this year lol

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I have to admit, living in Michigan for so many years I’ve never had a paczki!
 
Paczki are huge around here (Wisconsin) as we have a lot of Polish heritage. As German Lutheran, we don't celebrate "Fat Tuesday"... Ash Wednesday gets all the focus.

I've had a Paczki once... I wasn't impressed... how is it different than a jelly filed donut? The ones from the grocery store is better and cheaper than that one...haha Maybe it was the one I got - they are huge business in Pulaski, WI.
 
I grew up in the Northeast (lived in CT, NY, and MA) and now live near Washington, DC (in VA). It's not a big thing in any of those locations, and I've never eaten or done anything special for it. (I'm assuming nothing has changed in the Northeast, but I haven't lived there for 20 years.) We call it Mardi Gras. I've heard of Fat Tuesday but not the other names some have shared.
 
I have not heard of either of those things. I have heard Fat Tuesday but, honestly, have no idea the story behind it. I do know it is the day before Ash Wednesday (I was raised Catholic) but my family didn't do the Fat Tuesday thing.
 
It is a way to use up the butter, eggs & sugar in the home before the fasting of Lent. I’m in Australia too so yesterday was Pancake Tuesday (Shrove Tuesday) and today we are walking around our (Catholic) school sporting lovely ash crosses on our foreheads.
 
3BluEyedBabi said:
PA gal here too! My grandmother used to make homemade fausnaucts, BUT NO ONE around here makes them correctly! They are supposed to be made with potato flour and we NEVER covered them in powdered sugar or glaze like the stores do. To me, that's just a plain donut, not a fausnauct like Mom-Mom made, and they taste totally different.
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I'm from PA too, and some Polish blood. And we called my grandmother Mom-Mom too!

While I've heard of faschnaut and paczki I've never had either. All I know about the tradition is that it's the last day before Lent begins when many people give up sweets for lent, so they eat them before Lent begins.
 
My grandparents were members of the Polish Legion club here in town and we used to attend a thing called the Paczki Ball, basically a party with LOTS of homemade paczki. I think everyone has a different recipe passed down from generations but it's basically a more dense jelly or custard filled donut. It was a way to use up the lard, eggs and sugar before Lent. In Cleveland, which is about an hour north of me, Paczki are REALLY popular.
I was raised Catholic and today I "should" be attending mass and getting my ashes but I haven't done that in years. Some years I still practice Lent but normally fail miserably lol.
 
We have lots of Polish (& Catholic) people here so Fat Tuesday (and Ash Wednesday) are both big things here. Tons of bakeries in town make paczki, and tons of restaurants and churches in town have fish fries (is that the plural of a fish fry -- the event not the food?) and fish entrees that are only offered during Lent.

Almost all of the schools in town have Good Friday off (because Catholic), and then Easter Monday is Dyngus Day (because Polish) here.
 
MamaBee said:
Paczki are huge around here (Wisconsin) as we have a lot of Polish heritage. As German Lutheran, we don't celebrate "Fat Tuesday"... Ash Wednesday gets all the focus.

I've had a Paczki once... I wasn't impressed... how is it different than a jelly filed donut? The ones from the grocery store is better and cheaper than that one...haha Maybe it was the one I got - they are huge business in Pulaski, WI.
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I grew up German Lutheran! My Great-Grandpa on my mom's side was a Lutheran minister in CO and OK.

I had never heard of Faschnaut before Wendy mentioned it because, like you said, Ash Wednesday was the focus. :)

We didn't have time to get our donuts yesterday. I'm bummed. I was really looking forward to it, but there was too much going on.
 
LeeAndra said:
We have lots of Polish (& Catholic) people here so Fat Tuesday (and Ash Wednesday) are both big things here. Tons of bakeries in town make paczki, and tons of restaurants and churches in town have fish fries (is that the plural of a fish fry -- the event not the food?) and fish entrees that are only offered during Lent.

Almost all of the schools in town have Good Friday off (because Catholic), and then Easter Monday is Dyngus Day (because Polish) here.
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We have a lot of local restaurants that offer fish fry Fridays for Lent as well. And we too, well mainly the Cleveland area, celebrates Dyngus Day lol

We always have Good Friday off and that usually starts Kennedy's spring break on Monday.
 
This was a lot of fun reading how different areas of the country and world call different traditions!

Thank you to all who answered. I loved reading all of your posts about yesterday! :wub:
 
LeeAndra said:
We have lots of Polish (& Catholic) people here so Fat Tuesday (and Ash Wednesday) are both big things here. Tons of bakeries in town make paczki, and tons of restaurants and churches in town have fish fries (is that the plural of a fish fry -- the event not the food?) and fish entrees that are only offered during Lent.

Almost all of the schools in town have Good Friday off (because Catholic), and then Easter Monday is Dyngus Day (because Polish) here.
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LeeAndra and I are "neighbors" and like she said it is big here. When I moved here 14 years ago, I had never heard of Dyngus Day, so I had to read up on it. Sounded like a reason to party and drink beer to me. LOL

I've noticed a lot of volunteer fire departments in the area do fish fries too. And private clubs. Frankly, it feels like everyone does them. LOL
 
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We celebrate none of those here in ND and my MN fiancé has never mentioned it either and he's even Polish. I grew up Catholic also.
 
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Mardi Gras in France is a day of carnival where kids dress up and parade in their village. (At least when I was growing up in my small town). We ate crepes.
 
hollyxann said:
We have a lot of local restaurants that offer fish fry Fridays for Lent as well. And we too, well mainly the Cleveland area, celebrates Dyngus Day lol

We always have Good Friday off and that usually starts Kennedy's spring break on Monday.
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Do I live under a rock? lol I'm Polish/Irish from Cleveland and have never heard of these things. We did Ash Wednesday and that was it, although I have heard the term Fat Tuesday. I need to get out more.
 
LynnZant said:
Do I live under a rock? lol I'm Polish/Irish from Cleveland and have never heard of these things. We did Ash Wednesday and that was it, although I have heard the term Fat Tuesday. I need to get out more.
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:D:D:D You might live under a rock then lol. Just kidding lol You'd be surprised by how many people have no idea about things going on in their "backyards" or even things that are considered "a thing" to most people.
 
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