Anyone getting their Fat on today? What are you eating?
We never did too much when I was growing up. If my mom remembered, we’d have pancakes for dinner.
We were raised Lutheran, and my dad was Mennonite, so Lent was almost a non-thing when I was growing up. I had plenty of Catholic friends, and my mom was raised Catholic, so I knew all the traditions surrounding Lent. They just weren’t a thing at our church.
My mom is getting back in touch with her Catholic roots so I’m enjoying all the interesting customs and rituals that go along with that. Much more interesting than the Lutherans.
I never had a Pączki until I was in my 20s. I don’t eat them every year now, because I’m not much of a donut person. But this year I really wanted some. You have to get up and out early to get them sometimes. My mom went out to get ours this year around 9 AM and said there was slim’ pickins. I wanted a marshmellow one but only got fruit. Oh well.
Mom got a dozen, to split with me and her and my brother. I’ve had two, and have two to go. Later.
Anyone looking forward to fish frys? We’ve got a lot to choose from in our area.
I made jambalaya Sunday. We had leftovers yesterday. There’s still plenty left for tonight if the SO wants to eat it again. (Yesterday I had a pretty good muffaletta for Lundi Gras lunch.)
It’s just occurred to me that we have shrimp in the freezer and a tomato in the fridge. Maybe I’ll go get some French bread and lettuce, and we can have shrimp po’boys.
If only I had a dozen friends in the area! I’d love to make jambalaya, shrimp gumbo, dirty rice, baked macaroni and cheese, fried chicken, cornbread, and (if I could find it) Dixie beer. I wish I had some zydeco.
EDIT: I didn’t mean I’d make Dixie beer. Just that I’d love to have somma dat cheap-ass stuff with the food.
I thought I was going to miss out on packzi today since I had a rushed morning and knew they’d be gone by this afternoon. But our wonderful office manager brought in a box today so I’m in Fat Tuesday heaven.
Huh, around here, Lent is the only time you get Friday fish fries.
My German/Irish family traditionally has pancakes for Fat Tuesday (though homemade donuts of some sort are also not unheard-of). I was delighted in grad school when a Russian student invited me over for her culture’s traditional pre-Lent celebration… which is also pancakes.
This year marks the 8th time I’ve brought in a King Cake for the office at this employer, and I did it for 4 years before that at the previous. I set myself reminders. This year I also brought in a dozen packzi for some variety. Mmmm, powdered sugar lemon packzi.
We did the usual all-day pancake dinner at church with Pastor doing most of the cooking. The inside joke is that’s where us Lutherans get the ashes from for the next day.
For some reasons Hawaiians make Malasadas on Fat Tuesday. Malasadas are a Portuguese dish, I assume transplanted to Hawaii by Portuguese Sailors. They’re common in this area also because of the Portuguese influence going back centuries.
Nobody brought a King Cake to work this year. The person who usually does it was in court all day.
A very nice birthday cake was brought in for our Big Boss’s birthday - but he didn’t come in today because he’s sick. So we called his cell phone and sang Happy Birthday when his voicemail picked up, took photos of the cake, and ate it in his honor.
Anyhow, I bought three paczki yesterday–rosehip, plum butter, and Bavarian cream–with a dusting of powdered sugar. I forgot to eat them! I think there may be half of one left after my wife and dog got to them.
My husband brought one into work for the first time last year. After he got several emails asking where the King Cake was, he left the office to go to the bakery and pick one up. He’s trapped now.
The traditional plum-based ones are not prune jam (although it’s sometimes [mis]translated as such.) It’s powidla, which is made from stewed Damson plums and sugar, and more properly translated as “plum butter.”
I would venture that 95% of restaurants in Wisconsin offer a Friday fish fry year-round.
As an example, Calumet County Wisconsin (which only has a population of ~50,000 people) published a map this year of all of the restaurants offering fish fries in the county. There are 71.
This year I also brought in a dozen packzi for some variety. Mmmm, powdered sugar lemon packzi.
The person who usually does it was in court all day.