Another crazy Packzi Day in Courtland
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Mary Peazel, owner of Courtland Bakery, was expecting another busy Shrove Tuesday, the final day for packzi sales.
"It's going to be like a crazy Saturday," Peazel laughed during a quiet moment the day before Shrove Tuesday. "We normally we open at 7:30 a.m. and I have an order coming tomorrow for 7:10. So it starts early."
Packzi sales were up from 2013, she said.
"By almost 800 packzi, even with the weather we've been having. So that's pretty good. It probably would have been a lot more without some of those snowstorms."
"Last weekend we were wiped out (of packzi), this past weekend we were wiped out again. Hopefully, tomorrow (Tuesday) we'll know exactly how many to make. It's all just a guessing game for us, that's why we ask people to pre-order. That way you get what you want and it helps us figure out how much to order. It's hard to guess.
"Looking back on last year, it was pretty steady all day. "
Peazel said their baker starts early Monday night and works around the clock preparing for 'Fat Tuesday,' with three extra workers arriving Monday around 9-10 p.m.
"They'll be here tonight and they'll still be here when I come back Tuesday morning at 7 a.m. Friday night is always our big night, to bake for the weekend, so this is like a Friday night."
Nine traditional flavours are available at Courtland Bakery – cherry, blueberry, venetian cream, lemon, apple, apricot, raspberry, strawberry and plum. And one 'secret' unadvertised flavour.
"It's a tossup between cherry and venetian cream being the most popular. Plum is the traditional filling. Apple and apricot are toward the bottom of the list, based on pre-orders."
Three new flavours were introduced in Muskegon, Michigan this year – mango, peanut butter and jelly, and the cocktails, including rum, amaretto and triple sec – but Peazel said she's sticking with tradition.
"We've never tried mango," said Peazel, pausing to consider the idea. "Mango might be a thought for next year. It's big at Mardi Gras... hmmm, mango, some people like it. I don't know if it'd be a hot seller though."
Peazel had introduced packzis to this area 16 years ago when she was on the board of directors for the Retailer's Bakery Association of America.
"I was actually in the Packzi Parade in Toronto, up Roncesvalles (Avenue) in the Polish district. Some places in the States, they had Packzi Parades, Packzi Balls, all kinds of Packzi festivals.
"We didn't go that far," she laughed.
What she did was focus on quality and created a premium packzi.
"We have nine different fillings and we do not use any jelly fillings. We use the really good quality pie fillings with real fruits, which have the real cherries, the real strawberries. Here, you can choose what you want. Nine different flavours – and our 'secret' one is 10 – and four different toppings. In some grocery stores they're all boxed up and you get what you get. It's not the same here... once people try ours, they do come back.
Part of the appeal, she said, is its short-term availability. The packzi season is just four weeks in Courtland, and the final day to buy them is always Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Tuesday, the traditional last chance to indulge before Ash Wednesday.
"We only make them for a short time. It's the big deal before you give it up for Lent... so that's why it's okay to have one 'once in a while,' once a year. And they do freeze well. We have some customers take extra and put them in the freezer so it's extended a little bit longer for them."
As of Monday afternoon, Courtland Bakery had sold more than 9,500 packzi over the past month.
"That's a lot of packzi," she said, smiling. "And we're planning on making almost 2,000 tomorrow (Tuesday). About 160-170 dozen."