Donut Day

by AWV + HeroForge
There's absolutely no better way to celebrate our shared bond than with food! And donuts are the BEST!
— Clawdia

So is this only about eating donuts? Maybe...but there's more to it! The celebration is a blend of traditions from the Woodlander Houses. A baking contest, donuts for all, and a costume parade! All Houses are invited to participate.

History

Origins

The pre-Word-War American, Canadian, the Nordic, and German areas celebrate Shrove Tuesday / Fat Tuesday with donuts (Pennsylvania Dutch and Germany), pancakes (Canada), or cream and jam buns (Nordic countries). Making these decadent treats is a great way to use up ingredients before the Christian observance of Lent, if you follow that belief. And if you don't, these treats are always a lovely thing for everyone!
In Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, they hold costume carnivals with parades, eat indulgent treats, throw parties and crown the festival prince and princess—kind of like Mardi Gras in the former United States.

February 1, 2026

This particular Woodlander celebration started during a communal breakfast. Princess ShyRedFox put a call out for traditions for Meles.
Answering the call, Imogen shared a photo mentioning "Fastnachts", donuts from in the Pennsylvania Dutch tradition based on the donuts from Germany's "Fastnacht" celebrations. Princess ShyRedFox and Clawdia were instantly sold. Who can resist donuts?

by Imogen

Because we had visiting company from House Ailurus and House Lapin, it grew quickly to a full on Woodlander thing. Archon The Bard with Many Names's and Seneschal HappyHappySad's ears perked up. Chatter quickly went to a baking competition and Queen Sable Aradia was eager to try each type of donut. Next there was mention of involving the Meles tradition of seeing if the first Badger to emerge from The Den would see their shadow. Bard also suggested "partying the curse of the Night Monarch out of the land" for the year.

Execution

Prelude - Badger Prognostication

Two sets of donut flavors are voted on by the Woodlander Houses. On the morning of February 2nd, the Badger chosen by the Meles King or Queen, rousts and steps outside the Den to see if they see their shadow. This is used for two things, to see if spring will come early and to pick the flavors for Donut Day. (House Meles has restored the Badger to its rightful place in predicting the coming of spring. Other places in the pre-Word-War United States may rely on the woodchuck, but we know who was the first and best prognosticator!)
If the Badger doesn't see their shadow the first set of flavors will be used for the festivities and spring will come early. If they see their shadow, then the other set will be used and winter will stubbornly stick around for a while longer. Woodlanders and friends now have a few weeks to stock up on ingredients for the Donut Day celebrations!

"Lapin believes that a Badger is far more likely to be accurate than some rando groundhog, and we will support whatever predictions Meles makes."
— Queen Sable, interviewed on OneWorld News (Feb 1, 2026)

Shrove Tuesday/Fat Tuesday

The Woodlander Houses share event duties as follows.

Meles hosts the event at The Den. We use the feasthall if the weather is cold and if it's nice outside, we use the Badger's Heart henge.

Ailurus runs the Fastnacts baking competition and brings in the German party traditions with a costume parade that scares away the curse of the Night Monarch until Halloween.

Lapin judges the baking contest. (And of course must taste test every variety.)

Fastnacht Parade by Uwe Conrad (Unsplash)

All Houses are welcome to attend and enjoy eating as many Fastnachts as they can!
The winning recipe will be baked through out the Woodlander Houses to celebrate the Meles Ailurus Treaty of 2024 for "Meles and Ailurus Day" on March 11.

"It's an important job in tasting the donuts! Donuts and baking are extremely important to Woodlander culture. But I won't lie, it's also my favourite job."
— Queen Sable, interviewed on OneWorld News (Feb 1, 2026)

WIP

This article is a work in progress, and may be subject to changes.

Streamer

This article is part of a series related to streaming the Game of Tomes. For more information, see Streaming Game of Tomes.

Missing

Status: Location Unknown

Deceased

Status: Deceased Character

Retired

Status: Retired Character or Article

House Meles

Meles Minor House Crest by Shyredfox

House Ailurus

by Moonflower

House Avis

House Avis by Misades

House Chiroptera

House Chiroptera by Dani Adventures

House Lapin

A salmon pink banner with a white rabbit head in the center. Text:

House Lapin by Dani Adventures

House Mollusca

House Mollusca by Dani Adventures

House Sauropoda

House Sauropoda by DaniAdventures/ShyRedFox

Undead Horde

Undead Horde by Dani Adventures

Awards and Honors

A badge or medal of a book - the Iron Tome - on a navy background. Text:

Defender of the Realm by Misades

A shining gold medal with a silver ribbon, showing a design of a laurel wreath with stars overhead. Text: Warden of the Risen Shore, and in a circle beneath, July 2025

Warden of the Risen Shore medal by ShyRedFox

by wirestock

First Donut Day

February 17, 2026

Primary Related Location

Windy Willows "The Den"

Important Locations

Related Organizations

Related Ethnicities

Literomancers

Recipe Links

While writing this article, Clawdia had a donut emergency and had to procure appropriate rations.
So you don't end up in the same predicament, tide yourself over while waiting for the next Donut Day with Great Gramma Paula's Apple Donuts (The best! See bottom of page..) or the following recipes.

Pennsylvania Dutch Fastnachts

German Fashingkrapfen

Canadian Shrove Tuesday Pancakes

Norwegian Fastelavnsboller

Recipe: Great Gramma Paula's Schwäbische Apfelküchle (Swabian Apple Donuts)

The original donuts from Meles' favorite grandmother, Great Gramma Paula—the Badgerfolk who "adopted" many a wayward Badger and Badger kith. These donuts are a Melesian favorite. Comments in the recipe are direct from her.

Ingredients

600 g (about 4.8-5 cups) wheat flour 550 (normal works, too, but could make them fall apart in the oil) (Equivalent to all purpose flour in the US)

100 g (about 1/2 c minus 1-2 T) soft butter

340 ml (about 1 c + 6 T) milk

100 g (about 1/2 c) sugar

10 g (3 to 3.5 t) yeast (fresh is ideal)

pinch of salt

3 big apples (around 750 g / 26 oz)

oil to fry

sugar & cinnamon to toss (if you’re feeling fancy, add a bit of cardamom)

Instructions

Dissolve yeast in the warm (not hot!) milk with a tablespoon of the sugar. Let it have around 20 min.

"As long as it takes you make the dough and clean up—oh wait, you’re not your mother. Yeah you can take a little break afterwards, you're more like my kids."

Mix flour, butter, sugar and salt. Slowly add the yeast milk. Knead until you have a nice dough, like you would have for a challah. Cover and let rest for 1-1.5 hours by 30 C / 86 F (oven with light on or thaw function)

Peel and core apples. Cut into slices, cut slices into pieces.

"They can be a bit chunky, that makes them have a bit of bite after frying. But not bigger than your donuts later!"

Roll out dough to around 0.5 cm into a square. Spread apple pieces on the dough, but leave some space on one Long side so you can roll it shut later. Brush some water on the empty space as baking clue. Carefully, lift the dough over the apples as you roll it up from the opposite long edge. The dough roll should be loosely wrapped so that the apple pieces are not pushed out when cutting with string later.

"You know, this is the part where its a bit tricky. If you do it fast, you’re done with the tricky part more quickly. And if not, you can always pray. If you pray, you’re too busy to worry, and that’s the beauty of faith."

Press the end that has been coated with water firmly onto the roll. Cut into strips into rolls with a string and let rise for another 20 minutes.

How thick? "If you know you have a lot of hungry kids coming, you make them thinner. If you feel hungry and still want to say 'I only ate one', you make them thicker and don’t tell your neighbour." (Around 3 cm)

Heat the pot with the vegetable oil and add the yeast rolls using a ladle. Once one side is deep golden brown, flip it over and let the other side brown as well. Remove the apple doughnuts with a ladle and drain on paper towels.

"You have to worry 'Oh lord did I burn them?' the first few times. That's normal. But rather you make them extra crunchy than you are eating raw dough."

How hot? "Something around 6.5 on my old stove and 8 on my new one. You have to feel it! And then you know it for next time." (research says around 180 C / 350 F)

Toss them in cinnamon sugar and done!

"And tell them that’s the recipe I learned from my Grandma, so it’s from the 19th century! She still was alive when Sissi was around! She had seen her back then! My, was she beautiful."
Thank you Great Gramma Paula!