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My Brother’s Place home center in Wilkes-Barre, closed since September, currently being offered for sale or lease

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Happy birthday to Tyler Vodzak!

<p>EXETER &#8212; Baker Harry Calimeres greets me with a smile in the kitchen at Donut Connection in Exeter at 7:30 a.m. &#8220;Welcome,&#8221; he says in a thick Greek accent. I thank him for having me and, as he points out the various stations in the kitchen where I&#8217;ll watch him make doughnuts, I can tell he is looking forward to showing me his craft.</p><p>Calimeres has been baking doughnuts for nearly 40 years; for the last 25, he&#8217;s been at Donut Connection, owned by his cousin Dina Banas. The shop was opened in 1978, as a Mr. Donut, by Banas&#8217; parents, John and Harriet Koukoltsios, and it&#8217;s been a family affair ever since. With Calimeres in the kitchen, the shop is a rarity in the doughnut world in that it produces its own doughnuts on a daily basis.</p><p>Calimeres explains he works six days a week, arriving at 7:30 a.m. each day. He counts money in the registers from the night before, makes sure everything is in order and checks to see if his co-workers need help before he starts his baking routine.</p><p>The variety of baked goods Calimeres makes includes raised doughnuts, cake doughnuts, turnovers and cinnamon roles. The shop also serves bagels, cookies and sandwiches.</p><p>&#8220;I start around 9:30 a.m. and by the time you go through the whole cycle, like cutting, loafing, proofing, frying, it takes about four hours,&#8221; Calimeres says. &#8220;In between the process, I do the cake stuff.&#8221;</p><p>He&#8217;s referring to the doughnuts, but they are far from the only task he tackles between steps. His hands are busy constantly, mixing, kneading, baking and cleaning.</p><p>He has a bowl of yeast dough already mixed. Usually, he&#8217;ll make around 37.5 pounds, but today he&#8217;s mixed a smaller batch to show me his process. Yeast dough makes raised doughnuts, used for traditional glazed rings, jelly doughnuts, eclairs and other varieties.</p><p>Calimeres grabs a handful of flour, dusting a canvas on top of a wooden counter. He takes a mass of dough and folds it in on itself to make a loaf. After the loaf sits for a while, he rolls it out.</p><p>&#8220;I roll it, not very skinny, just enough to get the blisters out,&#8221; he says.</p><p>He explains air is detrimental to doughnuts. Then, he cuts doughnuts from the dough using a cutting tool. Using a deft, one-handed motion, he separates both rings and doughnut holes from the dough, the cut-outs landing gracefully to his left on the board.</p><p>While I&#8217;m watching, he punches out shells with a different cutter. The shells will be used for filled doughnuts. He also makes bow ties, twists, pretzels and heart shapes in front of me.</p><p>&#8220;Now with Valentine&#8217;s Day, we make hearts, fill it and put icing on it,&#8221; Calimeres says. &#8220;Every holiday, we make a special doughnut.&#8221;</p><p>A lot of the decorating is done by Mary Anne Duliba, who has worked at the doughnut shop since it opened. She&#8217;s credited for bringing in new recipes and often experiments with combinations of fillings, icings and decorations.</p><p>&#8220;I find recipes online and I just put my own little spin on it,&#8221; she says, explaining her favorite recent creation is banana cream.</p><p>With several racks of yeast doughnuts made, Calimeres is ready to proof them. Proofing, he explains, is a process of raising doughnuts in proper humidity.</p><p>&#8220;The proofer gets them to where you want them to be,&#8221; Calimeres says. &#8220;If the dough is very dry, you have to protect the humidity. If the dough is loose, you give them less humidity.&#8221;</p><p>Calimeres takes what is left over from two loaves of cutting out doughnuts and makes a combined second loaf for cinnamon buns. In the meantime, he has also put a fresh block of solid vegetable oil into his fryer to bring to a temperature at 375 degrees.</p><p>&#8220;We don&#8217;t throw dough out until we can&#8217;t make a doughnut with it,&#8221; Calimeres says. &#8220;No waste.&#8221;</p><p>Now that the yeast doughnuts are proofing, he rotates racks frequently and turns to mix a batch of cake doughnuts.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m afraid I won&#8217;t have a job tomorrow after I show you this,&#8221; Calimeres jokes.</p><p>He weighs flour on an old-fashioned beam balance and pours it into the mixing bowl. As he starts a large dough hook, he adds water slowly, letting it incorporate.</p><p>Calimeres takes the mixture to a device called a plunger that hovers over the fryer. He fills the machine, priming it first and then dropping doughnuts into the oil. As the doughnuts fry, he flips them with wooden sticks, pointing out they must be flipped in the order they were dropped so they don&#8217;t burn.</p><p>After a few rounds of frying cake doughnuts, Calimeres puts doughnuts on metal rods and places them on a rack to be glazed by hand. He offers me a doughnut hole, which tastes incredible in its traditional perfection. He explains fresh doughnuts are put out every four hours and says he believes that&#8217;s the secret to bringing customers in.</p><p>&#8220;I love it,&#8221; Calimeres says of his job. &#8220;I don&#8217;t really want to have a day off, and when I have a day off, I always feel like I want the day to go fast, so I can come back to work. We&#8217;re like a family here.&#8221;</p><p>That family includes Mary Jo Anzalone, who handles customer service and has worked at the shop for 32 years.</p><p>Banas says part of what keeps her employees is pride in what they do and in their product.</p><p>&#8220;So many doughnut shops use frozen doughnuts,&#8221; Banas explains. &#8220;The big chains don&#8217;t use their own doughnuts anymore, but we still have a kitchen. They feel like it&#8217;s an art.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Harry Calimeres cuts out donuts and donut holes from his fresh yeast dough. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_donut1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Harry Calimeres cuts out donuts and donut holes from his fresh yeast dough. </caption0><photoCredit0>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_donut2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Harry Calimeres rolls freshly made dough to make donuts at Donut Connection in Exeter. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_donut2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Harry Calimeres rolls freshly made dough to make donuts at Donut Connection in Exeter. </caption1><photoCredit1>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_donut3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Harry Calimeres cuts strips from his freshly made dough to make twists and donut pretzels. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_donut3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Harry Calimeres cuts strips from his freshly made dough to make twists and donut pretzels. </caption2><photoCredit2>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_donut4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Harry Calimeres puts a tray of yeast doughnuts on a rack in the proofer to rise. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_donut4.jpg</photo3><caption3>Harry Calimeres puts a tray of yeast doughnuts on a rack in the proofer to rise. </caption3><photoCredit3>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_donut5.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Mary Ann Duliba works on donut pops for Valentine&#8217;s Day as Harry Calimeres puts donuts on a rack to rise. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_donut5.jpg</photo4><caption4>Mary Ann Duliba works on donut pops for Valentine&#8217;s Day as Harry Calimeres puts donuts on a rack to rise. </caption4><photoCredit4>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit4></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_donut6.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Harry Calimeres drops freshly made cake batter into the fryer to make donut holes. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo5>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_donut6.jpg</photo5><caption5>Harry Calimeres drops freshly made cake batter into the fryer to make donut holes. </caption5><photoCredit5>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit5></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_donut7.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Cake donuts float in the fryer at Donut Connection in Exeter. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo6>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_donut7.jpg</photo6><caption6>Cake donuts float in the fryer at Donut Connection in Exeter. </caption6><photoCredit6>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit6></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_donut8.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Harry Calimeres cuts cinnamon buns. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo7>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_donut8.jpg</photo7><caption7>Harry Calimeres cuts cinnamon buns. </caption7><photoCredit7>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit7></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_donut9.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Harry Calimeres puts recently fried yeast donuts on a rod to be glazed. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo8>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_donut9.jpg</photo8><caption8>Harry Calimeres puts recently fried yeast donuts on a rod to be glazed. </caption8><photoCredit8>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit8></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_donut10.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Harry Calimeres sets the donuts he dipped in the glaze on a rack for the excess to drip off. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo9>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_donut10.jpg</photo9><caption9>Harry Calimeres sets the donuts he dipped in the glaze on a rack for the excess to drip off. </caption9><photoCredit9>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit9></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_donut11.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Harry Calimeres carries a tray of freshly made donuts to the front counter. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo10>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_donut11.jpg</photo10><caption10>Harry Calimeres carries a tray of freshly made donuts to the front counter. </caption10><photoCredit10>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit10></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Baker believes in quality, freshness and routine</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Matt Mattei</p><p>mmattei@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Matt Mattei at 570-991-6651 or <a href="mailto:Twitter@TLArts">Twitter@TLArts</a></p></shirttailMeta></div>

A Day in the Life of Harry Calimeres: Baker at Donut Connection in Exeter