Happy Fat Tuesday to all the Christians and to all those who just like to enjoy a day to indulge before the traditional Christian period of fasting and reflection kicks off tomorrow with Ash Wednesday.
Fat Tuesday signals the arrival of 40 days of fasting and repentance, known as Lent, and as one pastor explains, a sort of last blowout before a month of atoning for sins.
"It's a chance to celebrate one last time before we enter that season of fasting," explained Rev. Jim Rolph, an associate pastor at St. John's Catholic Church in Fenton, Mich.
It's also the day to wolf down one or a dozen Polish pastries called paczki (POON-check for those wanting to pronounce it correctly when salivating over the memory on Ash Wednesday) typically crammed with fruit, although custard and chocolate have managed to be found inside as well.
The traditional fruit in paczki was prunes but the more popular is raspberry and strawberry, given the prevalence of strawberry farms in Poland, where the pastry was born. For most of the world, it's pretty much a super-charged sugar dusted doughnut with filling. They used to be indulged on the Thursday before Lent kicked off, but now they are mostly associated with Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday.
The old wives' tale is that everyone must eat at least one paczek for good luck. You can actually eat as many as you want but beware gaining weight isn't usually part of any good luck.
If you'd like to try making your own, there are plenty of recipes, but they are also usually quite available at local small bakeries and even some food retailers.
Fat Tuesday also marks the end of what now most commonly view as the biggest reason to party next to New Year's, the annual Mardi Gras festival celebrated around the world.
While most know it as a time to get drunk, film a Girls Gone Wild video, and throw beads at topless women, Mardi Gras was actually a pre-Medieval event that was initiated in the third or fourth century, depending on the history book you read, with the goal of eradicating any evil spirits.
Mardi Gras season traditionally kicks off on Epiphany, which is Jan. 6 and known as Three Kings Day. The weeks between is known as Mardi Gras Carnival.
It evolved to become the last opportunity to let loose and celebrate before the Lent season arrived. The Mardi Gras celebration often boasts grandiose costumes and masks.
While New Orleans is often viewed as the U.S. city to visit for the Mardi Gras experience, it's a global celebration that's taken seriously especially in areas of French populations. It originally took place in Mobile in Alabama.
