Some of you around the country might think of today as Fat Tuesday, but in my neck of the woods, the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday is Paczki Day!
Paczkis (pronounced poonch-keys) are a delicious Polish treat and eating one always seems like the best idea in the world, until you actually do and then you want to die right there on the floor. Paczkis were created to use up all the goodies in a Polish house, like lard, jam, sugar, etc., before Lent begins to make sure none of those temptations were left in the house. Now I don’t believe that Christians are required to give anything up for Lent, but I am all for eating a ridiculous amount of calories the day before Lent anyway (or any day for that matter).
What’s in a paczki? Well, that varies depending on the baker, but generally they are made from a super rich dough full of eggs, fat and sugar. Although traditional paczkis aren’t filled, most bakeries will stuff them with creme filling, stewed fruit or jam. Then the whole kit and caboodle is coated with white or powdered sugar.
Are paczkis good for me? No. That’s kinda the point. A typical 5-ounce paczki contains anywhere from 300-700 calories and 22-27 grams of fat, depending on the filling. To work one off, choose one of the following activities and do it for an hour:
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Jogging (413 calories)
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Racquetball (413)
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Moving household items, boxes to an upstairs (531)
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Ice hockey (472)
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Rock climbing (649)
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Rowing, stationary (561)
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High-impact aerobics (415)
Paczkis are a dieting technique in the same way making a kid smoke a whole pack of cigarettes is a good way to stop them from smoking. Even though they are delicious, after you eat a paczki you don’t want to even look at another sweet for days.
That being said, I am totally going to make the hubby take me to a bakery about 20 minutes away that is famous for their paczkis, and we are going to feast. And then probably fall into a food coma.
I’ll try to take pictures.
Yum, those sound awesome. There's not nearly enough Polish food in Oregon, seriously.
We had them delivered to our office today! Soooo good but so sinful!