The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Paczki push draws big crowds at bakery
Polka music and the mouthwatering scent of fresh, handmade Polish pastries filled the air Feb. 28 at Kiedrowski’s Simply Delicious Bakery, 2267 Cooper Foster Park Road in Amherst, as people near and far flocked for Paczki Day.
“It’s not Fat Tuesday anywhere if you don’t come to Kiedrowski’s,” said owner Tim Kiedrowski.
Kiedrowski and his wife, Terri, started the business in 1984 and have been making pazckis, Polish doughnuts that can come with sweet fillings such as apricot and prune, since 1985.
Although the bakery churned out around 85,000 pazckis in 2016, people in an around Lorain County weren’t always receptive to the pastry with an interesting pronunciation, Kiedrowski said.
During the first year of the pazcki push, Kiedrowski said the bakery made around 10 dozen and still had one dozen left over.
“No one in the area was used to it,” he said, noting customers now come from areas such as Toledo, Chardon, Willowick and Mansfield. “I’m proud to say this is what we’ve created.”
The pazcki season typically starts about two weeks before Fat Tuesday, Terri Kiedrowski said.
This year, the festivities began Feb. 19 with the 20th annual Pazcki Ball at Deluca’s Place in the Park, 6075 Middle Ridge Road in Lorain.
The event featured traditional Polish dishes, as well as pazckis, which will be sold at the bakery every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday during Lent until Holy Saturday, which is April 15.
Tim Kiedrowski said historically, Polish people would bring indulgences into their home and make pazckis and other treats in preparation of
the sacrifices they would face during Lent.
“This is what’s so important about keeping the tradition alive,” he said, noting some of his older customers say his pazckis taste like their mom’s or grandmother’s. “We’re trying to bring back the memories.”
Pazckis at Kiedrowski’s Bakery come in five different flavors, including apricot, marmalade, poppy seed, prune butter or lekvar and Polish rose. Plain pazckis coated in granulated sugar also are available.
Terri Kiedrowski said the bakery sticks to the old world flavors when it comes to pazcki, and believes that makes it more special because it’s something they don’t offer daily.
Plain sugar and apricot are among the most popular with customers, she said.
“I think rose is starting to pick up some momentum, too,” Terri Kiedrowski said, noting the flavor has been offered for 11 years. “We’ve got people hooked on it.”
Kris Kiedrowski, 50, of Lorain, said she’s been working
at the bakery on and off since 1984. and helps with cake decorating.
Kris Kiedrowski said it can be challenging making so many pastries in such a small space, but the laughter and her aunt Terri Kiedrowski keeps her coming back to lend a hand.
On Feb. 28, the kitchen resembled a well-oiled machine as dozens of employees worked simultaneously.
The line of customers was consistently out the door during the morning hours, but Tim and Terri Kiedrowski often walked the length of the line, offering pazcki samplings and shots of liquor.
“We’ve got it kind of down to a science, or at least we like to think we do,” Terri Kiedrowski said with a laugh.
“We are a great team together,” Tim Kiedrowski said referring to his life and business partner.
During the morning hours, employees worked to fill the remaining pre-orders orders.
Terri Kiedrowski said once the orders are filled, the focus is shifted to catering to
walk-in customers.
“What we do now is we keep making them until people stop coming,” she said.
“We’ll literally stay open until they stop coming,” Tim Kiedrowski added.
Jadera Thomas, 34, of Elyria, stopped by Kiedrowski’s on Feb. 28 to partake in her first pazcki.
“I’ve heard about it for probably the last six years,” Thomas said.
It was also Thomas’ first time visiting the bakery on Pazcki Day, and she said she was a bit surprised to see the owners passing out liquor shots to waiting customers.
“It adds to the festive atmosphere,” she said with a laugh.
Plan sugar coated, apricot and Polish rose were among the varieties Thomas said she planned to take home to her boyfriend, Jon Patton, to try.
Thomas said this will be Patton’s first time trying a Kiedrowski’s pazcki, too.
“It smells delicious in here,” she said. “I’ll definitely be back.”
In the words of Tim Kiedrowski: “It’s just a Tuesday if you don’t come here.”