Carb loading day is here!
March 5, 2019 9:14 AM Subscribe
In doughnut (US: donut) news, today is Fat Day or Shrove Tuesday, apparently a pagan festival but more recently “a time of great gluttony, surfeiting and drunkenness”. Sounds great, so let's toss some pancakes, or consume some küchle or some fastnachts, or perhaps some semla in Sweden or split pea soup in Estonia but green pea soup and Laskiaispulla across the water in Finland. And there's more; Louisiana celebrates Mardi Gras with King Cake while Iceland's people are already bun-filled, Lithuanians have spurgos (curd cheese winning), while Portugal, Guyana and other countries enjoy the malasadas. And, of course, paczki, paczki, paczki. Alternatives? A beetroot pancake, perhaps. What are you eating?
oops, I just made myself oatmeal with blueberries for brekkie. what sort of sin is eating too healthily on Fat Tuesday??? must I atone with some sort of fiber-free spun sugar carbtastrophe of decadence? a donut sandwich filled with pancakes and bacon and maple syrup and candy????
posted by supermedusa at 9:23 AM on March 5, 2019
posted by supermedusa at 9:23 AM on March 5, 2019
> “a time of great gluttony, surfeiting and drunkenness”
"For me, it was Tuesday."
posted by The Card Cheat at 9:25 AM on March 5, 2019 [15 favorites]
"For me, it was Tuesday."
posted by The Card Cheat at 9:25 AM on March 5, 2019 [15 favorites]
Fastnachts! They were a staple of Fat Tuesday lunches at my small town Pennsylvania elementary school.
Those laskiaispulla and curd cheese doughnuts and malasadas look AMAZING.
posted by cheapskatebay at 9:38 AM on March 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
Those laskiaispulla and curd cheese doughnuts and malasadas look AMAZING.
posted by cheapskatebay at 9:38 AM on March 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
Had pancakes for breakfast and will attempt to hunt for jelly donuts this afternoon. I definitely miss the midwest right now and the Krogers with full on paczki displays.
Also, what gives northern New England? We've got a French Canadian population, but somehow, no Mardi Gras culture at least where I live. I guess all the fun loving ones decided to move to somewhere where it doesn't snow in March. (If I am mistaken, please, point me towards your fun celebrations in Vermont/New Hampshire/Maine!)
posted by damayanti at 9:45 AM on March 5, 2019 [3 favorites]
Also, what gives northern New England? We've got a French Canadian population, but somehow, no Mardi Gras culture at least where I live. I guess all the fun loving ones decided to move to somewhere where it doesn't snow in March. (If I am mistaken, please, point me towards your fun celebrations in Vermont/New Hampshire/Maine!)
posted by damayanti at 9:45 AM on March 5, 2019 [3 favorites]
Shit, that snow day blew up my calendar! I ate all kinds of healthy today -- steel-cut oats for breakfast and whatnot. Tonight I will have to make up for it at dinner.
posted by wenestvedt at 9:49 AM on March 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by wenestvedt at 9:49 AM on March 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
I was going to make a muffaletta pizza, but we still have leftovers from the jambalaya and red beans and rice I made Sunday, so we'll probably have to do the pizza tomorrow. Going to make hurricanes, though.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 9:51 AM on March 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 9:51 AM on March 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
I had two donut holes and a shortbread cookie.
posted by suelac at 10:06 AM on March 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by suelac at 10:06 AM on March 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
I had a dazzlingly wholesome lunch - vegetarian, high in fiber, multiple vegetables. I will be passing the town's yuppiest co-op on my way to a friend's tonight and was already thinking that a yuppie dessert of some sort might be in order and now it's a definite. I will purchase whatever is most reminiscent of a paczki.
posted by Frowner at 10:09 AM on March 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Frowner at 10:09 AM on March 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
There's a new and large Lidl in this town (rural east midlands of England), and it has a bakery. I've quickly become addicted to their quite acceptable version of those Portugese egg custard cinnamon tarts that I fantastically over-consume every time I am in Lisbon. And that was my bakery indulgence yet again this morning.
posted by Wordshore at 10:14 AM on March 5, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Wordshore at 10:14 AM on March 5, 2019 [3 favorites]
I have made the terrible mistake of being away from home on pancake Tuesday, a day we both take seriously as lapsed Catholics. I'm now about 30mins from the end of a 10hr journey and at least feel fairly sure there will be crepes in Lille. The advantage of being a Catholic in the lapsed style is that we can do catch up on Thursday evening. So at least in theory, double pancakes!
posted by biffa at 10:20 AM on March 5, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by biffa at 10:20 AM on March 5, 2019 [3 favorites]
We've got a French Canadian population, but somehow, no Mardi Gras culture at least where I live.
My kind of French Canadians don't do the kind of Mardi Gras that they do in New Orleans (though I guess Carnaval is often on in Quebec City depending on when Mardi Gras falls). We still celebrate it though but usually at home (which might be the case with our New England cousins) - often with (but not limited to) oreilles de crisse, ployes, crêpes (traditional French Canadian ones are crispier then the Euro ones - my mémère's recipe calls for frying in lard), and pets de sœurs. Sometimes Mardi Gras can be close to sugaring-off time so along with food fried in fat you get loads of maple syrup.
posted by Ashwagandha at 10:24 AM on March 5, 2019 [6 favorites]
My kind of French Canadians don't do the kind of Mardi Gras that they do in New Orleans (though I guess Carnaval is often on in Quebec City depending on when Mardi Gras falls). We still celebrate it though but usually at home (which might be the case with our New England cousins) - often with (but not limited to) oreilles de crisse, ployes, crêpes (traditional French Canadian ones are crispier then the Euro ones - my mémère's recipe calls for frying in lard), and pets de sœurs. Sometimes Mardi Gras can be close to sugaring-off time so along with food fried in fat you get loads of maple syrup.
posted by Ashwagandha at 10:24 AM on March 5, 2019 [6 favorites]
I live in King Cake-land, and with all due respect to a region that generally has no problem at all coming up with quality indulgent cuisine, the King Cakes are generally underwhelming. Paczki's are where it's at, but none to be found down here.
posted by skewed at 10:27 AM on March 5, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by skewed at 10:27 AM on March 5, 2019 [3 favorites]
If you are looking for a quick doughnut indulgence, McDonalds' new donut sticks are surprisingly good. I was expecting the standard lukewarm cake doughnut, but instead they are something close to beignets, light and puffy and at least hot out of the fryer remarkably delicious.
posted by tavella at 10:33 AM on March 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by tavella at 10:33 AM on March 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
Also, what gives northern New England? We've got a French Canadian population, but somehow, no Mardi Gras culture at least where I live.
We got the dour ones, who relocated for work reasons in the 1700s.
posted by wenestvedt at 10:48 AM on March 5, 2019 [6 favorites]
We got the dour ones, who relocated for work reasons in the 1700s.
posted by wenestvedt at 10:48 AM on March 5, 2019 [6 favorites]
My husband is visiting friends today who made fastnacht and he is bringing some home to meeeeee.
posted by merriment at 10:56 AM on March 5, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by merriment at 10:56 AM on March 5, 2019 [3 favorites]
All this food ingestion must inevitably lead to more talk of poop...
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:58 AM on March 5, 2019
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:58 AM on March 5, 2019
Started the day with cold, garlic and dill, broiled salmon with a chaser of ancient grains granola cereal, and coffee. Followed by Americano with soy and hazelnut out, with chocolate and butterscotch chip, cookies. I had a depressing short meeting with my scale this morning, but there are still more carbs to come and Fat Tuesday with Mento Buru, at Buck Owens Crystal Palace, later tonight. (And miles to walk before I sleep.)
posted by Oyéah at 11:02 AM on March 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Oyéah at 11:02 AM on March 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
Sugaring has begun in Maine, so fresh maple syrup! though freshness is not an important attribute, just an excuse for maple syrup.
Tony's Donuts in Portland, Maine, has excellent doughnuts, couldn't tell you about the rest of their menu. The Holy Donut has amazing glazes, but I'm not a big fan of potato donuts, though I occasionally go there for the glazes. You can make Kahlua glaze at home with Allen's coffee brandy and powdered sugar. I wonder if Fireball glaze would be good?
It's probably a mark of livability if a town has a good homemade donut joint.
Like many New Englanders, I go to Dunkin' for the coffee. The donuts are fresh but unremarkable.
Maine has chocolate doughnuts, which I recommend. And a local large bakery makes pretty good pumpkin doughnuts. I've been craving delicious, fried doughnuts, so there's a trip to Tony's Donuts in my near future. Thanks, Wordshore /sarcasm tag
posted by theora55 at 11:06 AM on March 5, 2019 [4 favorites]
Tony's Donuts in Portland, Maine, has excellent doughnuts, couldn't tell you about the rest of their menu. The Holy Donut has amazing glazes, but I'm not a big fan of potato donuts, though I occasionally go there for the glazes. You can make Kahlua glaze at home with Allen's coffee brandy and powdered sugar. I wonder if Fireball glaze would be good?
It's probably a mark of livability if a town has a good homemade donut joint.
Like many New Englanders, I go to Dunkin' for the coffee. The donuts are fresh but unremarkable.
Maine has chocolate doughnuts, which I recommend. And a local large bakery makes pretty good pumpkin doughnuts. I've been craving delicious, fried doughnuts, so there's a trip to Tony's Donuts in my near future. Thanks, Wordshore /sarcasm tag
posted by theora55 at 11:06 AM on March 5, 2019 [4 favorites]
We got the dour ones, who relocated for work reasons in the 1700s.
Alternative theory for the rise of Fat Day in the western states since the 1840s.
posted by Wordshore at 11:12 AM on March 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
Alternative theory for the rise of Fat Day in the western states since the 1840s.
posted by Wordshore at 11:12 AM on March 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
Obligatory Maid Marian and her Merry Men Pancake Day song!
posted by Morfil Ffyrnig at 11:13 AM on March 5, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by Morfil Ffyrnig at 11:13 AM on March 5, 2019 [4 favorites]
Americans moving pączki day to Tuesday is one of the great cultural appropriation mistakes.
One can split the difference, letting Pączki Day be whenever it is in Poland and Tuesday be the ASCII-compliant Paczki Day.
Though isn't Pączki Day any day when one is near a Polish bakery?
posted by acb at 11:22 AM on March 5, 2019 [4 favorites]
One can split the difference, letting Pączki Day be whenever it is in Poland and Tuesday be the ASCII-compliant Paczki Day.
Though isn't Pączki Day any day when one is near a Polish bakery?
posted by acb at 11:22 AM on March 5, 2019 [4 favorites]
Also, despite some people pouring gravy on theirs, a pancake is not a Yorkshire Pudding. Though this may depend on which side of the Peak District you live in.
posted by Wordshore at 11:22 AM on March 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Wordshore at 11:22 AM on March 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
Oh man I miss pączki since moving out of Michigan. Is there a Minnesotan equivalent? If so I am sadly unaware.
posted by caution live frogs at 11:27 AM on March 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by caution live frogs at 11:27 AM on March 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
A Library Data Privacy Consultant is in need of votes to decide what to make and eat on this day.
posted by Wordshore at 11:34 AM on March 5, 2019
posted by Wordshore at 11:34 AM on March 5, 2019
I actually got paczki last week because let's be honest I'm not celebrating Lent so I might as well just get the donuts when I feel like having donuts. But today I still wound up being in the mood for carby breakfast so I got kolaches filled with sausage gravy.
posted by Sequence at 11:42 AM on March 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Sequence at 11:42 AM on March 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
caution live frogs: Kramarczuk's in NE Minneapolis has pączki
posted by theory at 11:49 AM on March 5, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by theory at 11:49 AM on March 5, 2019 [4 favorites]
It's not looking good for crepes. This is the first time i have worked in Lille instead of Brittany and I picked the wrong day to do it.
posted by biffa at 11:53 AM on March 5, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by biffa at 11:53 AM on March 5, 2019 [4 favorites]
Damn...now I’m craving churros.
posted by darkstar at 11:57 AM on March 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by darkstar at 11:57 AM on March 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
the King Cakes are generally underwhelming
The French Canadian version is pretty good but very different: galette des rois
We eat it on Epiphany though not on Mardi Gras.
posted by Ashwagandha at 11:58 AM on March 5, 2019 [3 favorites]
The French Canadian version is pretty good but very different: galette des rois
We eat it on Epiphany though not on Mardi Gras.
posted by Ashwagandha at 11:58 AM on March 5, 2019 [3 favorites]
theory: "caution live frogs: Kramarczuk's in NE Minneapolis has pączki"
OH HOORAY also they have some really nice sausages... don't know if I can make it over there in time today, but I'm putting it on the calendar for next year!
posted by caution live frogs at 12:09 PM on March 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
OH HOORAY also they have some really nice sausages... don't know if I can make it over there in time today, but I'm putting it on the calendar for next year!
posted by caution live frogs at 12:09 PM on March 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
I'm having a fuckin' salad. Yeah, we got pączkis around here, but I'm really trying to drive my a1c score down when I get my bloodwork done later this month, so no carbs for this cat. On the other hand, since declaring for Team Pagan, fasting is what I watch my non-lapsed Catholic relatives do while I find creative ways to fat-bomb.
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:18 PM on March 5, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:18 PM on March 5, 2019 [5 favorites]
theora55 -- I used to live just a few blocks from Tony's Donuts when we lived in Portland (1992-96), and it was cool to get there on a Saturday morning and watch them fill the jelly donuts or dip the chocolate ones in sugar for you while you waited.
Paczki are a little hard to find in Boston, but not impossible. I was first exposed to them while going to college in Chicago. The ones you could get in the supermarket always seemed a little too doughy/greasy for me, but I'm sure they were not up to the standard of what you could get in a good bakery.
posted by briank at 12:18 PM on March 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
Paczki are a little hard to find in Boston, but not impossible. I was first exposed to them while going to college in Chicago. The ones you could get in the supermarket always seemed a little too doughy/greasy for me, but I'm sure they were not up to the standard of what you could get in a good bakery.
posted by briank at 12:18 PM on March 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
the King Cakes are generally underwhelming
I did not know this was A Thing until a coworker of mine who moved here within the last year said she was trying to find somewhere that had king cakes. I am a Google whiz and found her a place in five minutes, and she brought some in today. I am proud she found it, proud she brought it in...but yeah, it was pretty much pastry with some goo inside and very dry. Not what I thought king cake was gonna be, lemme tell ya.
posted by jenfullmoon at 12:32 PM on March 5, 2019
I did not know this was A Thing until a coworker of mine who moved here within the last year said she was trying to find somewhere that had king cakes. I am a Google whiz and found her a place in five minutes, and she brought some in today. I am proud she found it, proud she brought it in...but yeah, it was pretty much pastry with some goo inside and very dry. Not what I thought king cake was gonna be, lemme tell ya.
posted by jenfullmoon at 12:32 PM on March 5, 2019
I first learned about pączki day when I lived in Michigan. There was a great deal of excitement in the days before Mardi Gras, and someone in the office was going to make her annual early morning, hour-plus, drive to Hamtramck to pick up fresh pączki. She gets to work, the boxes of pączki are opened in the big conference room, and the feeding frenzy begins. Everybody "oohs" and "aahs" and exclaims how delicious the pączki are. I finally grab one and... it's a jelly donut. Not only is it a jelly donut, it is no different than the mass-produced jelly donuts sold 365 days a year at the Krogers two miles away.
I didn't know how to react when a couple of Michigan natives asked what I thought of the pączki, so I replied with a generic "they're good" (I mean, jelly donuts are jelly donuts). A bit later a colleague, who also moved from out of state but who had experienced pączki day the previous year, must have seen the puzzled look on my face because as he passed by he said "they're just jelly donuts".
posted by plastic_animals at 12:32 PM on March 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
I didn't know how to react when a couple of Michigan natives asked what I thought of the pączki, so I replied with a generic "they're good" (I mean, jelly donuts are jelly donuts). A bit later a colleague, who also moved from out of state but who had experienced pączki day the previous year, must have seen the puzzled look on my face because as he passed by he said "they're just jelly donuts".
posted by plastic_animals at 12:32 PM on March 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
I hate pancakes, though I adore Danny John Jules. When my spouse isn't in town, there's nobody to sing the pancake song to while I make tasteless food that people I care about somehow enjoy. So, I'm skipping the holiday entirely this year.
posted by eotvos at 12:33 PM on March 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by eotvos at 12:33 PM on March 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
I had such grand plans for today, starting from having a King Cake doughnut from The Doughnut Plant, making my own corn flour pancakes (Also, would welcome any suggestions on how to use up leftover corn flour from Thanksgiving cornbread experiments.), to a ramen date tonight. Okay, well the last one may be a bit out of category but it’s still indulging in carbs. I, however, have come down with what seems to be a stomach bug so I’m in bed in the middle of the afternoon, simultaneously yearning for and being appalled by all the glorious treats being shown and described in this thread.
Still bookmarking favorites, though. Every Tuesday, heck, every day of the week is a Fat Day for me.
posted by theappleonatree at 12:49 PM on March 5, 2019 [3 favorites]
Still bookmarking favorites, though. Every Tuesday, heck, every day of the week is a Fat Day for me.
posted by theappleonatree at 12:49 PM on March 5, 2019 [3 favorites]
They handed out paczkis at work today, and I missed it :( (because I'm in Orlando for a conference which was a blast, so no real complaints)
My previous job had a lot of Polish people working there, so we'd have Thursday paczkis and Tuesday paczkis, and it was glorious.
posted by Fig at 1:03 PM on March 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
My previous job had a lot of Polish people working there, so we'd have Thursday paczkis and Tuesday paczkis, and it was glorious.
posted by Fig at 1:03 PM on March 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
My sister brought us Mardi Gras-frosted cookies and real hot cross buns so yeah, we're carb loading here. It'll take me a year to work off all the weight Imma gain from those bad boys.
posted by Lynsey at 2:23 PM on March 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Lynsey at 2:23 PM on March 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
For the record, I still use aubilenon's lovely hot berry & ice cream recipe from this AskMe question I asked *13 years* ago.
posted by biffa at 2:42 PM on March 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by biffa at 2:42 PM on March 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
We had a donut dessert at lunch AND pancakes for dinner. Herr Duck grew up Catholic and I grew up Lutheran, so we eat our fill of 'cakes and argue about the reformation until we're bored of it and turn on an episode of Buffy.
Lent is one of our favorite times of year. We generally keep to "one dinner out a month" with one exception: fundraisers. Lenten Fish Fries are fundraisers so we go nuts! We spend the six Fridays of Lent traveling to churches around the Cities as Fish Fry connoisseurs. Plus, we enjoy checking out the architecture and cultural differences of the different parishes in the Twin Cities. This year we're visiting a few "non fish" Fridays: cheese enchiladas at Our Lady of Guadalupe, and potato pancakes at St John Byzantine. We start off this Friday at St Albert the Great, which is the best food and the most fun with tons of food options, music, and Bingo in the church hall. Christmas whatever! Lent is the most wonderful time of the year.
posted by Gray Duck at 4:49 PM on March 5, 2019 [4 favorites]
Lent is one of our favorite times of year. We generally keep to "one dinner out a month" with one exception: fundraisers. Lenten Fish Fries are fundraisers so we go nuts! We spend the six Fridays of Lent traveling to churches around the Cities as Fish Fry connoisseurs. Plus, we enjoy checking out the architecture and cultural differences of the different parishes in the Twin Cities. This year we're visiting a few "non fish" Fridays: cheese enchiladas at Our Lady of Guadalupe, and potato pancakes at St John Byzantine. We start off this Friday at St Albert the Great, which is the best food and the most fun with tons of food options, music, and Bingo in the church hall. Christmas whatever! Lent is the most wonderful time of the year.
posted by Gray Duck at 4:49 PM on March 5, 2019 [4 favorites]
The last week or so, my Facebook Memories feed has been full of pictures of semlor I've made in years past. So amazingly tasty. But I didn't have any almond paste or enough flour, so I didn't make any today. Maybe I'll cheat and make some this weekend instead. Or perhaps just be content with the pictures...
posted by gemmy at 7:57 PM on March 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by gemmy at 7:57 PM on March 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
gemmy, I didn’t know what a semlor was before you mentioned it and now that I do, I’m searching for where to get them in NYC. Marzipan and cream buns sound delightful!
posted by theappleonatree at 5:20 AM on March 6, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by theappleonatree at 5:20 AM on March 6, 2019 [3 favorites]
On Pancake Day this year I had bowel prep for a colonoscopy instead. What local witch did I somehow piss off?
posted by Segundus at 5:28 AM on March 6, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Segundus at 5:28 AM on March 6, 2019 [3 favorites]
There was a ton of leftover paczkis at work today -- I ate 2. They were really good, despite being a day old. Super wonderful surprise!
posted by Fig at 6:55 AM on March 6, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Fig at 6:55 AM on March 6, 2019 [2 favorites]
More semla pictures, gemmy! Some very thoughtful fans.
posted by tavella at 8:07 AM on March 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by tavella at 8:07 AM on March 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
Wordshore, can’t we have both? I think I’d like buns stuffed with almond paste AND strawberry.
posted by theappleonatree at 11:16 AM on March 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by theappleonatree at 11:16 AM on March 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
I finally grab one and... it's a jelly donut. Not only is it a jelly donut, it is no different than the mass-produced jelly donuts sold 365 days a year at the Krogers two miles away.
At least here in the Land of Cleve, pączki are significantly larger than your average jelly donut, even the mass-produced pączki at our big-box grocery (Giant Eagle, in our case.)
So there's that.
I'm goin' to the grocery store tonight to get some. Pączki, pączki, pączki, pączki, pączki.
posted by soundguy99 at 11:22 AM on March 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
At least here in the Land of Cleve, pączki are significantly larger than your average jelly donut, even the mass-produced pączki at our big-box grocery (Giant Eagle, in our case.)
So there's that.
I'm goin' to the grocery store tonight to get some. Pączki, pączki, pączki, pączki, pączki.
posted by soundguy99 at 11:22 AM on March 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
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(I had five on Thursday and literally no other food except a bowl of oatmeal at breakfast.)
posted by I claim sanctuary at 9:23 AM on March 5, 2019 [2 favorites]