Our Paczki Aventure

Our spot in line at the New Martha Washington Bakery 

Last Fat Tuesday, my cousin Paul jealousized me with a picture  a buttercream frosting filled paczki from the New Martha Washington Bakery in Hamtramck. I had never gone to Hamtramck for a *real* paczki before, and after eating my sad little paczki that came from an italian bakery in St. Clair Shores, and then reading about his BUTTERCREAM paczki that came right from Detroit's little polish town, I decided that the kids and I would make the trek to Hamtramck the following year. Today was Fat Tuesday, and so after listening to my Polka Star husband on the Paul W. Smith show on WJR, the kids and I got geared up and ready to go.

The kids were pretty excited at first, but then when we arrived and they saw how long the line was, they were a little less excited.

Don't they just look thrilled?

Well, it started off well. They weren't thrilled, but they weren't whining either. A couple of guys in line joked with me about how we were fighting the elements for our paczki, and then when Rebecca started to cry, I said that I suddenly felt like a bad mom, and they started saying things like "we could pile it on thicker for you, like point out how you didn't even bring any toys or anything." LOL. The line moved along and I really thought that we were going to make it, but then Rebecca started to cry uncontrollably, saying "I can't handle this. I can't handle this" and then suddenly I felt REALLY bad. She was complaining that her toes were completely frozen and she needed to get inside somewhere warm, so despite the fact that we had already waited 30 minutes and were near to the front door, we got out of line. I didn't think it was *that cold* but Rebecca wasn't exactly properly attired either, as when we were getting ready to leave home this morning, she couldn't find her boots, so I believed her when she said her toes were frozen.

As we walked back to the car, different bakeries were running through my head. We had to get something since we had taken the time to drive out there and stand in the cold, and I actually even called my mom to see if she would be willing to watch the kids while I stood in line again, and she was willing (Thank you mom) but in the end, I decided to forgo it. Simon had slept in his stroller wonderfully during the first wait, but I didn't really have any hopes of him doing it a second time, and it would really be a shame to have waited in that line twice, only to have nothing to show for it, so we headed to the butternut bakery, about 5 minutes drive from my house.

I have driven past this bakery many, many, many times while living in our house for the past 11 years, but I have never once been in it. Otherwise, I may have noticed that it was a cash only business.

I got all 5 kids out of the car and into the bakery, where I snapped this picture of happy kids who were getting their paczki's.

Then, when I went to hand her my debit card, I saw the CASH ONLY sign on the cash register. Oy. I got all 5 kids piled back up in the van and we went across to the street to our bank, got our money out, and headed back to bakery, where I again, got all 5 kids out of the van and we went inside to pay for our goods.

At last, we had our paczki's. And I must say, they were very good. Probably not as good as the fresh ones from the New Martha Washington bakery though, but that's okay. We're pretty happy with how everything turned out.

At last!