FEATURE Image: Pay phone, July 2018.

In U.S. cities and states with a large population of Polish and Polish Americans, mainly in the Midwest and Northeast – including Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, Toledo, Cleveland, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia/Scranton, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Connecticut – pączki (pronounced “punch-key”) are rich, sweet traditional Polish doughnuts whose tradition stretches back to the Middle Ages. These sweet treats are fried dough filled with flavored creams and fruit jellies and preserves and slathered on top with icings, glazes, or powdered sugar. Pączki are a festive and delicious pre-Lenten indulgence that are notably eaten on Pączki Day which aligns with Mardi Gras (“Fat Tuesday”), the day before Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent, a 40-day period of Christian fasting before Holy Week. Pączki Day is celebrated annually by immigrants and locals alike. In Chicago, with its sizeable Polish population (the largest outside Poland), pączki are eaten in the pre-Lenten season and on both Fat Thursday (the last Thursday before Ash Wednesday) and on Fat Tuesday.

Exploremores are the Girl Scouts’ newest cookie introduced in 2026.  Exploremores are cookies with the Rocky Road ice cream-inspired flavors of chocolate, marshmallow, and toasted almond crème. Thin Mints are a classic Girl Scout cookie. They have been selling a version of this cookie for 88 years – since “Cooky-Mints” in 1938. Firmly established as a popular brand by 1951, it was officially named “Thin Mints” in 1959. The oldest, continuously sold, and original style of Girl Scout cookie, is the Shortbread (or Trefoils), introduced in 1934!