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Port Perry Star, 31 Jul 1984, p. 12

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Be EE EE ey. TY i'w 12 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, July 31, 1984 Early bird catches the doughnuts I've got a secret. by Cathy Robb I know how the jelly gets inside jelly doughnuts. Which is almost as good as knowing how they put the caramel inside a Caramilk bar. a Not only do I know how jelly doughnuts are made, I also know how to make them (believe me, there's a subtle distinction). In fact, last Friday I got up at the crack of dawn to work at Hank's Bakery, and holy moley, I actually got to stuff a few of those goodies with jelly all by myself. They even let me roll them in sugar and line them up on the silver trays, with the hole side up so the jelly doesn't leak out. That's very important. Let me tell you, I was thrilled. Haven't you ever mun- ched on a chocolate- covered doughnut and wondered what happen- ed to the hole (at Hank's the hole becomes cherry loaf), or wondered how many raisins are in the average cinnamon bun (more than you think?) Hasn't every kid stood in front of a bake shop win- dow and fairly drooled over the displayed inside? I have. I still do. And I've always been curious about the aromatic brand of magic practised by the men and women wearing white. So on Fri- day morning, I got the chance to appease my hungry curiosity. Except that my curiosity wasn't all that hungry at four a.m. That's what time I had to get up to be at Hank's on time. Naturally I wasn't on time ---- as usual, | was 15 minutes late. "You're late," barked Hank's owner, Wayne DeJong, as 1 slunk through the door. "I know," 1 whined. "It's just so darn hard to wake up at this time of night." Early is an understate- ment. Even the moon hadn't woke up yet, and I certainly hadn't. | mean, | have trouble get- ting to my own job by ten. If the Lord had any mercy, nobody in the world would have to get up before noon. "I'm always late too," Wayne confessed with a grin. But Wayne looked pretty chipper at 5:30 in the morning, already bustling around the back room at Hank's prepar- ing for the day ahead. Wayne's father, Hank DeJong (the 'Hank' in Hank's Bakery) had been hard at work all night long, mixing dough and baking bread. When I arrived on the scene, Hank was in the midst of rolling and folding Parkerhouse rolls, one of the bakery's LAKESHORE LANDSCAPING PROPERTY MANAGEMENT Summer Maintenance Cutting and trimming of all lawn areas Cultivating and edging of all garden beds Clean up all debris on lawns, garden beds, walkways, patios, driveways Lawn/Garden fertilizing BOOK NOW - CALL pastries GERRY ... 985-2188 most popular items. Wayne immediately gave me a hat and an apron, told me to scrub up, and set me to work helping his Dad with the rolls. "This looks said confidently wat- ching Hank's example. "That's what everyone says," Wayne grins, '"'un- til they try it." He was right. I pro- mptly wrapped a slab of dough around my rolling pin, hopelessly entangl- ed. Oh well, one less roll to bake. That's the whole thing about a bakery. With ex- perienced bakers like Hank and Wayne, everything looks easy. They toss the dough around with deft hands, twisting it in the air with a confidence borne of experience. Just when I thought I had mastered the rolls, it was time to do doughnuts. Wayne took huge chunks of yeast dough, rolled them into slabs like oversized piz- zas and chomped out the doughnuts with.a cookie cutter instrument. Then I helped him pull out the holes (now that was neat) and line all the raw doughnuts on a tray where they're set aside in a special 'warming oven' to rise. You should see these babies rise. Just like hot air balloons. And they keep rising, never stopp- ing. If you leave them in there all day the dough will be seeping out the front doors (we could make a movie of the whole thing and call it Return of the Killer Doughnuts). Once they're suffi- ciently plump, Hank's frying expert Marie takes them and plops the little darlings in a vat of hot oil, where they ac- quire golden coats. Then it's up to Marie to slather them with chocolate or dip them in honey coating (really, they're dipped ---- thus the name honey dipped doughnuts). ~ Ididn't do any dipping (I'm dippy enough, thanks) but I did coat a few with chocolate. Wayne said, "don't get the chocolate in the hole, so I put chocolate in the hole."' He laughed. Marie laughed. I laughed, and said I guess this means I don't get the job. What people like me tend to forget is how much experience it takes to work in a bakery. Any old joe (or Cathy) off-the street just can't walk in and start making buns. Everything Wayne does consists of "tricks"' he's picked up in a lifetime of bakery ex- perience. He rarely follows written recipes but knows instinctively how much butter (and he only uses real butter and milk, denouncing margarine and other "junk foods") to use, how long to mix a batter and how long to bake everything. You should see him put muffin mix in those paper cups. It's amazing. He grabs a fistful of bat- ter and squeezes it out like a machine, almost faster than the eye can follow, without spilling a drop. And the way he wields those oversized rolling pins is enough to make you want to stay on his good side for life. From my vantage point there's good news and bad news about working in a bakery. The bad news is those hours ---- only an owl could truly appreciate baking through the wee hours, but Wayne and Hank don't seem to mind. They've spent their whole lives in the business and accept the hours as part of the territory. The good news is all that food. Fantastic. It's a family affair at Hank's Bakery where pastries are created fresh for the com- munity six days a week. That's Hank DeJong (at far left), the man who started the grow up? imagination! [re -- NIVERSITY ERKS Landscaping Interlock Brick SCOTT MILLER 985-2289 434-6019 TE ------------ DON FREW & SONS LTD. R.R.1- NESTLETON 986-5568 or 986-5238 AGENTS FOR ONTARIO WINTER WHEAT DON FREW *We will be receiving wheat as an Agent for the Ontario Winter aes? Wheat Marketing Board for the t on 1984 Crop. *Grains - Bought & Sold *Grain Drying * Tractor-trailer Scales weight up to 80 Metric Tonne 4 Miles North-east of Nestieton OR 7 Miles ce a Port Perry West of Hwy. 35 on Regional Road Ne §7 8 SONS LTD LJ Reg Ra S7 | EY wey | * \ o| i 5 [ J Switcheroo you What do you want to be when you The Great Summer Switcheroo will feature two working stiffs ---- (the Star's Cathy and John), ---- who will try a different job each week all summer long. And then at the end of the summer, we'll be drawing a name out of a hat and sending one lucky person to the job of his or her choice for a day. IF it can be arranged. We can't guarantee anything. Send your name, phone number and job of your dreams to- The Port Perry Star, 235 Queen St., P.O. Box 90, Port Perry, Ontario. LOB INO. And don't forget to enclose your sols lolldl0L000000000000H000000H000000L0000 000000000 4 AAA AAA A AAA ALA ALAA ALL 00000000040 4ald YOO OPTI IIIT IIIIIIIIIYIYIYYY VY business in Port Perry many years ago and has been baking since he was 14 years old. His son Wayne (centre) now runs the business and gets some help from younger brother Henry (right). Kids, horses (From page 8) beginner starts out on. "It's not what they look like, it's what's bet- ween their ears that counts,' Shirley says about her school horses. '"Most of the time we get our horses given to us. People figure, give to to Shirley and it'll have a good home." Meanwhile, out on the oval track, Rosie is still grunting her way through the daily paces. The instructor, Janet Weir, calls out instruc- tions to the riders as she gets coated with a fine layer of dust kicked up by a couple dozen hooves. '"Make sure when you use the crop that you hit her and not yourself," she says to Rosie's rider. Rosie groans. Chesterfield Suites Love Seats Sectionals & Mattresses - A Large Selection - Less wa eX 1 id 3 i A == McKEEN FURNITURE 524 Simcoe SL. S., Oshawa 725-5181 x "Di EFI 5710 PENTLAND JEWELLERS PROUDLY PRESENT A LIMITED EDITION COLLECTOR'S PLATE Mother and Baby 9' inches (Canada issue 4000) $3995 Pentland Jewellers [WEN OIVI-T-To IN SO oof fl = =Td dV; 985-764] |_VISA | Bd whe J rai Sl | a ---- ms... Ali : |

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