Fastnachts?

I love living in Virginia (most of the time). I love being near Washington DC and all of its history. I love that Spring arrives so early each year. I love our hot summers and long autumns. I love having our pick of so many great restaurants in Alexandria. But, every once in a while I miss certain aspects of other places I have lived. I miss being near the beaches of Cape Cod, MA. I miss Margherita's Pizza Shop and Capriotti's Sandwich Shop in Newark, DE. And every year at this time (Shrove Tuesday), I miss my childhood home in Berks County, Pennsylvania. I miss walking into my mother's kitchen and being greeted by a white bag full of fastnachts and a jar of Turkey Table Syrup. Fastnachts were a special treat we had growing up. The idea being that you would enjoy them the day before Ash Wednesday, since that would be a day of fasting. Their story is interesting. They were born out of a need to rid your pantry of lard, sugar, flour and eggs (items typically restricted during Lent). We did not follow that rule completely, but we always had fastnachts on Shrove Tuesday.

Here in Alexandria, we have so many ethnic cuisines available to us. Surely, there must be a German bakery that would make fastnachts, right? There might be, but I have not found it yet. So, I did some more research this year and found that there is a large German population in Frederick, MD and that I might find fastnachts there. But, Frederick, MD is at least an hour and a half drive from my home. Next clue I was able to dig up was that there is a Polish version of my beloved fastnacht called the paczki. And these little babies are sold in most grocery stores in Virginia.

This turned out to be true as I was able to pick up a box of paczki at my local Giant yesterday.



I kept my expectations low, since nothing could compare to a fastnacht of my childhood memory. And well, these are not nearly as tasty. They were very dry, not to mention they are not made of a potato dough like fastnachts. These were powdered and filled with custard. So, I was disappointed by the doughnut itself but thrilled to at least be making some connection with my childhood on this cold February morning.