12/365: The milk machine

12/365: The milk machine, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

January 12th

A small farm arrived at our market with a milk machine. They milk their cows, they bring the stuff over in a special fridge, and you can pay to fill a re-usable bottle. :) Fresh milk from that same morning, bypassing the big dairies and a whole lot of packaging and processing on the way. More money for the small farmer, tastier milk for me. I love it.

They invited me to visit their farm in the spring- I'm up for that. It's a nice 60 km or so round trip, perfect for biking, and I want to see the cows. :)

333/365: Snow on my windowsill

333/365: Snow on my windowsill, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

November 29th

And in just one day, we got about ten inches of snow. Lovely, lovely winter. :)

212/365: My neighbourhood

212/365: My neighbourhood, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

July 31st

Particularly glorious in the sunshine. You can get anything you want on that corner- there's a daily market with everything from bread and eggs to beef and eggplants, there's a confectioner, a bakery, three tanning salons, six florists, a butcher shop, two pharmacies, two herbal remedy stores, two Asian take-aways, a watchmaker, a bookmaker, three 24h liquor stores, two electric supply shops, a gardening store, a fake flower shop, a scrap metal buyer, two cobblers, a photo print shop, a second-hand clothes shop, a jeans store, a discount tchotchke shop, and four or five little grocery stores which somehow still hold on despite the raging competition.

I love living here.

182/365: In the neighbourhood

182/365: In the neighbourhood, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

July 1st

I like my neighbourhood. It's like a little town in the middle of a big city. Quiet and busy all at once. I don't know what's in those bags.

42/365: Pączki for Fat Thursday

42/365: Pączki for Fat Thursday, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

February 11th

This is a confectioner's stall at the market near my place. Normally the shelves are filled with different kinds of cakes- chocolate eclairs, honey gingerbread, puff pastries, jam buns...

But today, it is all pączki. Because today, my friends, is Fat Thursday, and custom declares that on Fat Thursday a person should eat as many pączki as they can. And then they should eat some more.

Now, there is a common misconception in America, I have noticed, about this traditional Polish dessert called 'pączki'.

First of all, we do not eat them on Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras is the Tuesday followed immediately by Ash Wednesday, effectively the last day of the Carnival before Lent, but it is not a feast celebrated in Poland.

We do not celebrate 'Pączki Day', either. That is a Polish-American tradition.

At home in the old country, what we actually celebrate is Fat Thursday (Tłusty Czwartek). It falls on the last Thursday before Lent- almost a week before Ash Wednesday. In other words, today.

Second of all, they are not doughnuts. Doughnuts have holes in them and they are a completely different dough besides. And what you might think are doughnut holes are mini pączki, or pączusie.

Now, about the name itself. I have heard the word explained as 'packages'. Not so- the word actually means 'buds'. See the little tail underneath the 'a'? That makes an 'aw' sound, and the word is pronounced 'pawnchkee'. The confusion comes from replacing the letter with a regular 'a': 'paczki' are, indeed, packages, preferably wrapped up in brown paper and tied up with string. 'Pączki', however, are buds, such as you would see on a tree in springtime, and though the cakes named after them do often come wrapped in paper, its colour is waxed off-white, and the string is ribbon rather than jute.


Note also that the word is plural, the singular form being 'pączek' (pronounced 'pawncheck'). One pączek, two pączki. Of course it is only natural that the English language would add an extra s and adapt the word as pączkis. :) (the aforementioned 'pączusie' is a diminutive, and indicates the 'pączek' has been shrunk to cuteness.)

If all this etymology has made you hungry, you should feel justified in running out to the nearest confectionery shop and bringing home as many sweet pastries as you can carry. It is, after all, Tłusty Czwartek.

(photos from Fat Thursday 2010, 2009 and 2008)

37/365: Anytime flowers

37/365: Anytime flowers, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

February 6th

Not a very good photo, not a very good day. This is a place I usually pass on my way home- the local vegetable-and-hodgepodge market, fronted by half a dozen or so flower kiosks. If you need a bouquet at two a.m. , this is where you should go. There is always at least one kiosk open all night long.

25/365: Lace

25/365: Lace, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

January 25th

Nothing special today- just a window with a curtain on a sunny day.