FEATURES
Lansing - In a huge, brightly lit warehouse, dozens of bakers are scattered about on the floor, all concerned with upholding a tradition that started many years ago.
And some say that tradition of baking paczki each year for Fat Tuesday is perfected there, at the Quality Dairy bakery, 1335 Diamond Reo Way.
Weve got the very best fruit filling, gushed Quality Dairy bakery operations merchandiser Dan Lovill.
Fat Tuesday is the annual Tuesday prior to Ash Wednesday, when Quality Dairy stores see long lines of customers in the stores, all with the hope of returning home with paczki.
Paczki (pronounced poonch-key), round jelly-filled pastries, are made only about a week prior to Fat Tuesday to commemorate the beginning of Lents 40-day fast.
That Tuesday has become a popular day for customers, and 250,000 paczki will be made in total, Lovill said.
A batch takes about an hour and 10 minutes to make, he said.