Pennsylvania Daybook

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BRIDGEPORT, Pa. (AP) — It's that time of year when all of us are Pennsylvania Dutch for a day, regardless of our heritage, and even if we can't say "fastnacht." It's pronounced faws-nahk (translation from German: "night before the fast"), but Suzy-Jo Donuts owner Ray Barkmeyer has yet to turn customers away because they failed to properly articulate the name of the doughy confection that shows up every year shortly before Lent. "I still have problems saying it myself," noted Barkmeyer with a laugh. Whether you know it as Fastnacht Day, Fat Tuesday, Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras, the day before Ash Wednesday is when the Pennsylvania Dutch historically head for their pantries to purge the shelves of all the flour, sugar, butter and lard to merge these diet-busting ingredients into the densely caloric confections known as fastnachts. At Suzy-Jo they swap out the lard for vegetable shortening, explained Barkmeyer as he powered his way through a time-to-make-the-doughnuts mode on Monday afternoon. "We stay away from lard because it puts a nasty taste in the doughnuts," he said, handling every step in fastnacht construction solely by sight and baker's intuition. With the help of co-owners wife Joanne, daughter Amy Volpe and her husband Mike Volpe, the process of mixing, molding, rising and deep-frying the gobs of goodness is a precise and delicate tango that was to continue through the night until the store opened to fastnacht frenzy at 5:30 a.m. Tuesday. Normally, the lines are long, except for last year when folks were digging themselves out from a snowstorm that dropped six inches of snow on the area. Although many forecasters were putting their money on the likelihood of at least one inch of snow on Tuesday, Barkmeyer was confident that it probably would not be enough to keep customers from their $9.80-per-dozen fastnachts. The family business dating back to 1955 unleashes the Pennsylvania Dutch specialty only two days a year and it remains the foremost fastnacht provider this side of Lancaster County. A batch made for Monday morning customers had quickly flown off the shelves. Barkmeyer and the rest of the Suzy-Jo crew are here to bring you good luck — which you will indeed enjoy if you gobble up your fastnachts on Fat Tuesday, according to folklore. Fastnachts are available in the traditional plain version, sugared, cinnamon-sugared and powder-sugared. The honored tradition of gorging on doughnuts arrives early this year, on Feb. 9, because Easter itself pops up sooner on the calendar (March 27). As a result, a lot of people were put in a fastnacht-fallible position, fearful of possibly missing out on their supply, Barkmeyer noted. "With it being early people don't have it on their minds," he said. "I've been getting calls all day: 'Is tomorrow Fastnacht Day?' Yes, it is." ___ Online: http://bit.ly/1Xg5XoN ___ Information from: The Times Herald, http://www.timesherald.com/

Fastnacht Day brings out the Pennsylvania Dutch in everyone