OKEMOS - The sugary confection known as "paczki" made their annual debut for Fat Tuesday on February 17th. Before these fried treats were ready to be sold and eaten, a lot of pre-planning and preparation needs to be done. Local store, Tom's Food Center gave some insight into how much work goes into to these Polish pastries.

Store Manager Mark White said they start planning about a month in advance. Once it comes time to actually make the paczkis, White shared that the process isn't as simple as some people may think.

"It starts the day before because they have to do all the mixing of it cause we do it from scratch where we do all the mix, we do the yeast, the eggs, everything goes together, and so you have to mix it and then it goes overnight in a cooler and then it has to go in a proof box the next day and then they get fried. So it's a long process from the beginning one day to the next," he said.

Once they're fried and cooled, the paczkis are ready for their filling. White also told us that three members from the bakery staff came in at about 2 o'clock in the morning on Tuesday to get the paczkis done in time for that day's demand.

Tom's Food Center sticks to offering the traditional favorites when it comes to their paczki selection. As for favorite flavors White said, "A lot of times chocolate is a big one. Holland cream is always a really good one too because people are use to having those in donuts so people really like the Holland cream ones also."

No matter how many, or what flavor, Tom's Food Center takes pride in offering fresh paczki to their customers.