Places to get those fastnachts

I understand that Shrove Tuesday is an acceptable name, but I rarely hear the day before Ash Wednesday called that. I would think that Fashnacht Tag and Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras) are more popular in this area. Anyone agree/disagree?

Well it is a day of fun, eating those potatoe dough balls they claim as Fashnots get you ready for Fasting during Lenten times, what the heck you eat a dozen of those lead anchors you dont want to eat for 40 days, heck till you crap them out is like shooting cannon balls out..Also the days following are a spike in sales of Metemuscle, stool sofenters, and Prep H, so I would say buy a few shares in those busnieses.I will indulge in a few with sugar on, but only 2 dozen or so throughout the day, enjoy , lets see , did they go up in price???

Mmmmm donuts!

For over 40 years, the day before Ash Wednesday was always called "Fastnacht Day" in our family and among their German friends.

I think it's a wonderful name for a harmless, fun family celebration of making and eating the homemade fastnachts before the 40 days of fasting in Lent.

Fastnachts are a special kind of doughnut and half of these places, like the local supermarkets and Mary Ann's Donut Kitchen, do not sell the real ones. Fastnachts are heavy. Heavy enough to stand up to a slathering of thick table syrup (not pancake syrup). Trexlertown Fire Company makes a good recipe but even those are a little light. Plus the hole in the middle makes it messy for those that indulge in eating them with table syrup. Which is why I always make my own. But Trexlertown's are good if you don't have the time. Plus, the money goes to a good cause.

i could have swore it was 2009 but yet under the caption of the pic it's dated 02/03/08 so i guess this is old news lol...

hope wrote:

For over 40 years, the day before Ash Wednesday was always called "Fastnacht Day" in our family and among their German friends.
I think it's a wonderful name for a harmless, fun family celebration of making and eating the homemade fastnachts before the 40 days of fasting in Lent.

My Moms' family is PA Dutch and we always had some type of donut or even pancakes on Fastnacht Day. I love the old traditions; and I saw that the IHOP Pancake houses, at least here in the DC area, on "Fastnacht Day" are giving away free "short stacks" of pancakes! Enjoy, everybody! By the way, happy Mardi Gras on that day, too. Hmmm, let's see, I can sit down with some donuts or pancakes, listen to some good Cajun music, cover all the bases at once, and have a good time!

Real fastnachts are dense donuts made from a mashed potato batter. Each year, my grandma would fry home-made fastnachts in the true PA German tradition - these donuts are meant to be sliced in half, with butter and table syrup slathered over both halves. Many grocery stores/bakeries try to pass-off plain, ordinary donuts as fastnachts, but only those made from potatoes are the real deal.

FYI: Just called the Emmaus Bakery it is open that Mon. 7am to 5 pm and for Fastnacht Day 5 am to 6pm...(The paper has the wrong times).. and the Emmaus Bakery has the best Fastnachts! Can't wait for my 2 dozen!

The Real Deal wrote:

Real fastnachts are dense donuts made from a mashed potato batter. Each year, my grandma would fry home-made fastnachts in the true PA German tradition - these donuts are meant to be sliced in half, with butter and table syrup slathered over both halves. Many grocery stores/bakeries try to pass-off plain, ordinary donuts as fastnachts, but only those made from potatoes are the real deal.

Never had it with butter and maple syrup and I'm PA Dutch! But I'll give it a try.
Mom use to make them every year, served warm with powdered sugar- yum!

pippySqueek wrote:

<quoted text>
Never had it with butter and maple syrup and I'm PA Dutch! But I'll give it a try.
Mom use to make them every year, served warm with powdered sugar- yum!

Forgive me "The Real Deal" for taking the liberty of answering "pippySqueek" on your behalf but I wanted to point out that maple syrup is not table syrup. Table syrup is a specific kind of syrup, not be confused with pancake, maple or cane syrup. If you look for it, the label on the glass jar will specifically say "table syrup". Fastnachts are so good with table syrup, I just couldn't bare the thought of someone being turned off to fastnachts by using a syrup other than the traditional table syrup.

I think the message here is "Fastnacht does NOT just mean donut."

put the donut down

The PA dutch girls do not need another donut.

If your waistline size is a greater diameter than your inseam is long, forget those lard fried fastnachts and have a bowl of special K...

Country Girl wrote:

<quoted text>
Forgive me "The Real Deal" for taking the liberty of answering "pippySqueek" on your behalf but I wanted to point out that maple syrup is not table syrup. Table syrup is a specific kind of syrup, not be confused with pancake, maple or cane syrup. If you look for it, the label on the glass jar will specifically say "table syrup". Fastnachts are so good with table syrup, I just couldn't bare the thought of someone being turned off to fastnachts by using a syrup other than the traditional table syrup.

My Bad- I just realized by mistake on the maple part! Now they are going to have to take away my PA Dutch card- Boy, are my ancestors going to be pissed! ;)