Well, here it is the day before Ash Wednesday and people are celebrating Fat Tuesday, Shrove Tuesday or whatever other name the day gets “in your neck of the woods.” Here in West Virginia, we picked up a new name for the day — a term neither of had ever heard of before moving here — Fastnacht Day.
Apparently fastnachts were traditionally made by Pennsylvania Dutch housewives on Fat Tuesday. It seems the tradition started because they wanted to use up all the fat, such as lard, sugar and butter they had on hand before Lent.
Fastnachts are usually square or diamond-shaped, but sometimes they are in the shape of a triangle, or even round. The “traditional” way to eat a fastnacht is to cut it in half and spread it with molasses.
Fastnacht is a German word meaning before the fast. And its become a new-found tradition in the Williamson house….
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