www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIzKzbxW-Wc

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjnZwtCRLgU

www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4c4av-h-uc

]]> http://www.insidehamtramck.com/2012/02/21/1470/feed/ 0 http://www.insidehamtramck.com/2012/02/21/crowds-gather-in-hamtramck-for-fat-tuesday-celebrations/ http://www.insidehamtramck.com/2012/02/21/crowds-gather-in-hamtramck-for-fat-tuesday-celebrations/#comments Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:22:50 +0000 Hamtramck_Guy http://www.insidehamtramck.com/?p=1468

]]> http://www.insidehamtramck.com/2012/02/21/crowds-gather-in-hamtramck-for-fat-tuesday-celebrations/feed/ 0 http://www.insidehamtramck.com/2012/02/21/for-paczki-lovers-standing-in-line-is-worthy-tradition/ http://www.insidehamtramck.com/2012/02/21/for-paczki-lovers-standing-in-line-is-worthy-tradition/#comments Tue, 21 Feb 2012 15:19:37 +0000 Peace_Maker http://www.insidehamtramck.com/?p=1465

Hamtramck — With a line wrapping around the corner on Joseph Campau Street Tuesday morning, paczki lovers earnedtheir sugar-coated delights with patience.

Vicky Plevinski, 50, a Hamtramck native who moved to Clinton Township, arrived at New Palace Bakery at 7 a.m. and was just inching toward the front door by 7:40 a.m. She said even though she comes every year and knows what she’ll order, she stands in line because the paczki tend to be “hot and fresh.”

It’s a gamble, though, to stand in line for fresh paczki or grab a preorder………………………………………………………

“If you stand in line, too, you might not get what you want so there are pros and cons to everything,” Plevinski said. At New Palace Bakery, paczki are made throughout the day, and some customers arrive at the counter to find out they need to wait for the next batch of their favorite flavor to be made.

Paczki Day is a Polish tradition for Fat Tuesday in advance of the Catholic holiday Lent.

“They’re definitely worth it,” Plevinski said. “Here, they are a lot better. They taste better, they have more filling and more calories,” she joked.

She said she will order four dozen custard paczki, but she only plans on sharing with her direct family. “It’s enough we can have some the next couple of days, but we eat two or three each,” she said.

Like many Metro Detroit bakeries, employees and friends here have been working around the clock the last two days, said Suzy Ognanovich, 41. New Palace Bakery has been in Ognanovich’s family for 40 years, and she’s worked there for 20 years.

The dough is made a week in advance. She’s not sure how many paczki are made each year because they just make them as they go. Family and friends are recruited to help each year, and she said she’s not even sure how many bakers are in the kitchen during the 8 a.m. rush.

The most popular flavors at the bakery are raspberry and custard. This year, the bakery announced a new flavor: cookie crunch. The cookie-flavored paczki is filled with butter cream and cookies. She said planning for the new flavor began just after Christmas, and it was a team effort.

Although she insists that paczki are best the day they are made because there are no preservatives and are made from scratch, it is possible to keep them wrapped in plastic and stored at room temperature. Custard, she said, should be kept in the refrigerator.

“They’re not like a doughnut that will last a few days,” she said. “They’re best the day they’re made.”

In 1962, Leonard Eddington, 64, had his first paczek. On his way to school in Hamtramck, he and his friends decided to take their lunch money and get some paczki. “We were late for class because we stood in line, and the first thing my teacher said is ‘Where’s mine?’” he said.

Tuesday morning was a good day for standing in line, said Eddington, who hasn’t missed a paczki on Fat Tuesday for the last 50 years. He recalls standing in 6 inches of snow years before, and was thankful that this morning was dry and mild.

He said he’ll get a dozen including raspberry, strawberry and lemon. But he doesn’t plan to share. “Nobody gets them,” he said, except maybe his brother.

“This is a Polish tradition. If you really want a doughnut, come to Hamtramck,” he said.

Down the street, Polish Market grocery store opened slightly later at 6 a.m. They had 15,000 paczki prepared for them over the weekend, and another 10,000 just for Tuesday. They ran out last year, said assistant manager Larysa Kubik, 24. This year, she hopes they’ll have enough. Custard is also the most popular here, she said, and most people order between a dozen and three dozen.

“It’s not like a doughnut. It’s a lot fluffier than a doughnut,” she said. “American doughnuts have that hole in it, which in ours has filling,” she said. The biggest difference, she said is the labor. The dough takes hours to make and requires many rises. “It’s very, very hard to do this,” she said.

New Palace Bakery opened at 3 a.m. and will stay open as long as the bakers can stay on their feet, she said. But, they’re not taking any time off. Ognanovich said they’ll have hot cross buns fresh from the oven for Ash Wednesday.

lphelps@detnews.com

(313) 222-2127

]]> http://www.insidehamtramck.com/2012/02/21/detroit-tops-list-for-highest-insurance-rates-in-country/feed/ 0 http://www.insidehamtramck.com/2012/02/21/fat-tuesday-brings-paczki-back-to-detroit/ http://www.insidehamtramck.com/2012/02/21/fat-tuesday-brings-paczki-back-to-detroit/#comments Tue, 21 Feb 2012 15:13:14 +0000 Peace_Maker http://www.insidehamtramck.com/?p=1461