It's pretty known that I grew up in a Polish household. Being the first member of my family born in the US 3 months after my family had moved from Szczecin, Poland, I speak Polish fluently and know all about our traditions. It hasn't been til much recently, that I've finally tried cooking more Polish recipes. I'm pretty good at making soups. Chicken (rosol) pronounced 'Ross-ooh" , mushroom, vegetable, cauliflower, split pea soup, there's many of them. Since my mom can't cook any longer, my sister and I had to take up creating dishes that we knew she was familiar with and know she loves.
During the holidays we started making pierogi, stuffed with meat, potatoe and cheese, or saurkraut and mushroom, which are my favorites. And also Golabki, pronounced 'go wom ki', stuffed cabbage rolls with meat and rice. Those are the foods most people can relate to Polish cooking. Of course everyone wants them, all the time, and no one wants to make them- it's definitely not a one person job. It's so time consuming and tedious. So it's really done for special occasions in our family.
As for Paczki, my grandma never made them. She mentioned they were very time consuming and a bit difficult to make. We'd buy them at the local Polish delis or pastry shops, and they tasted amazing. No offense Publix, but this is one thing you can't perfect.
Paczki are usually made around Tłusty Czwartek, Fat Thursday. It's celebrated before the last Wednesday of the month, Ash Wednesday. But they can be purchased throughout the week and during Fat Tuesday.
So. I think on Friday, after work, i'll try to make some. I came across a few recipes and they don't sound too hard, just a lot of waiting. I've also become a part of a Polish cooking group on Facebook, and there are many traditional members who make them and would give help and advice. Which is exactly what I need. A good reference. WISH ME LUCK!
If you want to play along, HERE is the link I plan to use. I might need to adjust things, one is the powdered sugar, we don't really do that, we usually just dust with granulated sugar.
And be in the know! Here's the CORRECT pronounciation for Paczki!