EAT UP!!

"Fasnacht Day," more properly called "Fastnacht," is Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday. This was the established beginning of the 40 days of fasting during Lent.

It is a folk tradition dating to the Middle Ages, a Catholic custom that has survived in Protestant Pennsylvania.

On Monday, dough was put out in straw baskets for raising, then cut in squares and deep-fried in fat, not baked. Served with hot coffee at breakfast, the popular way to eat them was to split them in half and spread with honey. (Today they often come coated with confectioners’ sugar.)

In the old days, this was a chance for everyone to gorge on good doughnuts without reprise, for the lean days would now follow. And the proverbial "dunker" could dunk doughnuts to his stomach’s content. The making of fasnachts helped use up fat and sugar prior to fasting.