Paczki Day is an annual Polish-American celebration of Fat Tuesday, celebrated in other places as Mardi Gras. The last of your rich, sweet foods you have saved up is made into a sort of jelly doughnut, though they are distinguished from the typical domestic jelly doughnut by the richness of the dough, which generally has eggs and milk. You are thus prepared for the austerity of Lent, which starts on Ash Wednesday.

Here's a roundup of local and global information about Paczki Day. If you're unfamiliar with local custom, it helps to know that the local center of the paczki world is Hamtramck, an enclave of Detroit with a historic Polish immigrant population. If you are familiar with the Polish tradition, perhaps you are a bit confused by the celebration on Tuesday - because, as I found out to my surprise, Paczki Day really was last Thursday.

Today, I'll share links to paczki.

Repetition is the soul of the net. If I've told you this once, I've said it a thousand times. Every year, regular as clockwork, there is an audience of people reading about where to pick blueberries, how to get election returns, who makes the best paczki, what to do on your birthday or your kids birthday. If you get a free pass to repeat your good content over and over again annually, do it.

Ann Arbor packzi

Lisa Leutheser's Kitchenchick weblog has a wonderful annual roundup of paczki information. Her 2009, 2008, 2007 and 2005 annual reviews are a great place to start for local information.

Arborwiki, Ann Arbor's encyclopedia of neighborhood information and lost restaurant trivia, has an extensive paczki page, placed in the category "Pastries that are not strange." It's worth a look at the same time at the Arborwiki donuts page, which is remarkably comprehensive.

Hamtramck

No mention of paczki would be complete without instructions on how to get to Hamtramck, about 45 miles east of Ann Arbor. Take I-94 east to I-75 north, then take exit 55 toward Caniff. You'll want to get there early on Tuesday, since the celebrations start when the many bakeries open their doors after making paczki all night. The Hamtramck Downtown Development Authority has a complete schedule.

The Hamtramck Star is your first best place to look for information about the city; it runs news of the city, plus many links to local food and politics blogs there.

CBS's Mo Rocca was in Hamtramck in 2008 with a video feature on the celebrations.

Yelp's reviews of the New Palace Bakery, New Deluxe Bakery, and the New Martha Washington Bakery, all in Hamtramck, give you directions and a sense for what's possible.

More links around the area

For reference, here's some more reading from previous years on the paczki scene.

• Chowhound's 2007 paczki survey
• Ann Arbor News, 2009
• Jackson Citizen-Patriot, 2010
• Hamtramck Star, 2009 schedule of events. I haven't found the 2010 schedule yet.
• Ann Arbor, 2008

Brooklyn, New York

If you are one of the many Ann Arborites of my acquaintance who landed in Brooklyn, the Peter Pan Bakery, 727 Manhattan Avenue, Greenpoint, Brooklyn looks like a good bet with this review from the Blondie and Brownie weblog.

Chicago celebrated last week

Chicago celebrates Paczki Day the Thursday before Fat Tuesday. Chicagoist has a comprehensive roundup of area events in that city and its Polish neighborhoods.