fastnacht day

There's a coworker of mine with whom I've connected on a number of things in the six months we've worked together...but I think one of our first bonding moments came about in the form of a conversation about donuts.  I'm not sure how that topic came up, but apparently we had a lot to say about it.  First I gushed about my favorite donut shop (Fluffy Fresh*-- unequivocally the best in Kansas City), and then she oohed and ahhed over her favorite cream-filled donuts from a particular shop in her home state of Pennsylvania.  They didn't have a pudding-type cream in the middle, she said; it was more sugary and light, like frosting-- something most people can't stomach for more than one bite and, perhaps relatedly, an ingredient nowhere to be found in the cream-filled donuts of Kansas City.  (Although now she knows they are, in fact, carried by FLUFFY FRESH!)

She also told me about a holiday called "Fastnacht," which many people in her Pennsylvania Dutch region of the same state celebrate.  It's on the same day as Mardi Gras, and means about the same thing, but instead of being about feasting in general, it's more focused:  people celebrate by feasting on donuts all day long!  (According to my research, "The making of fasnachts helped use up fat and sugar prior to fasting [during Lent].") So on her first Fastnacht in Kansas City, this Pennsylvanian quite naturally breezed into work with a box full of donuts and greeted her coworkers with a cheery "Happy Fastnacht!"  She was met with blank stares and quizzical glances.  (Once they found out what she was talking about, I don't think they were too disappointed.  Who could disdain a holiday that's all about eating donuts?) 

Well, once she told me this story, and after we had already found out that we share a love of donuts, how could we not make it a point to celebrate Fastnacht Day in the traditional manner this year?

So, everyone, please join me in using up your spare fat and sugar!  I've been doing my part...are you doing yours?

Happy Fastnacht!!

*(I also found out just this morning that there was an accident at the other Fluffy Fresh in town... Thank goodness everyone's okay...and it didn't happen to my Fluffy Fresh!)