Sugar Hills Bakery employee Devin Hammond wrapped up a few paczki— a lemon and a raspberry — in a brown paper bag Monday afternoon, the day before the Fat Tuesday rush.

The Algonquin bakery, 644 S. Main St., makes between 2,000 and 3,000 of the fried dough, a Polish specialty that has become synonymous with Fat Tuesday. Sugar Hills makes gourmet paczki, including fresh blueberry with whipped cream, cherry with whipped cream and strawberry with cream cheese.

“I eat so many of them, it’s ridiculous,” Hammond said.

Hammond said the bakery will open at 6 a.m. Tuesday, two hours earlier than usual. Last year, there was a line for the paczki, she said. Several other area business will also be offering up the sweet treat, which is popular for Fat Tuesday in the United States. 

Paczki is fried dough, not a doughnut, which is a tradition in Poland on the Thursday before Ash Wednesday.

The paczki — pronounced pawnch-kee — was made to use up sugar, lard, eggs and fruit in homes before Ash Wednesday when many Catholics give up the items for Lent, according to Wikipedia.com. It is popular for Fat Tuesday in the U.S.

Sugar Hills is a Polish-owned bakery that features many European, Italian and French pastries. 

“It’s fluffier than a doughnut with less filling and more dough,” Hammond said.

Other area businesses that will be offering paczki on Tuesday, Feb. 12, include:

• Country Donuts, 181 W. Virginia St. in Crystal Lake, has paczki available on Feb. 11 and Feb. 12. The cost is $1.50 per paczki. 
• Konrad's Bakery, 9351 Ackman Road, will have paczki available and will open early at 6:30 a.m. on Feb. 12. 
• Joe Caputo & Sons Fruit Market, 100 South Randall Road, has paczki available for $3.98 for a four-pack on Feb. 12, according to the business's Facebook page. 

Where do you like to get a paczki on Fat Tuesday? Let us know in the comments' section. 

Calories in Packzi

So, how many calories are in a paczki? There are about 400 to 500 calories in a single one, according to ask.com.

If you eat one, you may want to try these activities for an hour to burn off the calories, according to activerain.com:

• jog
• play racquetball
• move household items from downstairs to upstairs
• scrub the floors on your hands and knees