The parking lot at St. Julie Billiart Parish smelled of warm dough on Sunday, September 18. The scent wafted out of the parish's kitchen as women from the Ladies Guild cooked up a malassada breakfast.

The tradition of making the sugar-coated fried dough as a fundraiser for the church started in 1995, said Isabel Medeiros, member of the Ladies Guild. For $1.25, community members could purchase a fresh malassada, or take home a brown bag with six of the Portuguese confections for $6.50.

Over the years, the fundraiser — held twice a year; once by the Knights of Columbus, the other by the Ladies Guild — has brought in about $25,000 said Medeiros. To make the treat, the kitchen staff formed a sort of assembly line, passing the dough from the mixer, to be pieced and stretched into discs, into the fryer, then to be tossed in sugar, and finally to either the serving counter or into bags for the to-go table.

Not all the malassadas get served, however.

"You're supposed to be selling them, not eating them," laughed Richard Brown to a woman at the to-go table.

"I'm doing both," responded Betty Viera, picking at a plate after the post-mass rush.

Viera normally works the kitchen, she said, but this year, she helped direct guests. "They've got eight people in there. The kitchen is not that big, so you get in each other's way," she said.

Medeiros said that volunteers would make more than 1,000 malassadas, something Michelle Furtado is grateful for.

"They're very good," she said while sitting with her family for breakfast. "We're parishioners here. We're here for everything."

The volunteers had arrived around 6 a.m. to start prepping for the 8 a.m.- noon event, but parishioners from the 9 a.m. mass nearly wiped out the supply of bagged malassadas. Viera expected another rush would follow after the 11 o'clock mass.

The volunteers also served coffee and juice for $1.50. St. Julie's is located at 494 Slocum Road.