Jenn Dolari

Last Tuesday evening I prepared to bake bread for the Wednesday gathering, and I discovered that I had not evenly divided the dough in half, and the half batch of dough remaining was much smaller than it should be. I baked the bread anyway, but the loaf was too small. I happened to weigh the first loaf, and it was 21 oz. The second loaf was only 11 oz. If I had divided the dough evenly, I would have had one pound loaves.

Anyway, this wouldn’t do. So I made another batch of dough, let it rise, and then refrigerated the dough. I had to get up very early Wednesday to prepare the loaf, bake the bread, and make sure it cooled for three hours before our lunch. I forgot to weigh the loaf, but this time when I divided the dough, I bisected the dough in bowl with a bread knife – so it definitely was evenly divided.

The dough was a little bit wetter/stickier than the previous batch, and I probably needed to let the loaf rise longer and bake longer. Instead, I used the same times I did for loaf #2, and loaf #3 didn’t rise as much as it should have in the oven. I guess it was OK, though, as my friends liked the bread very much.

The event was an annual gathering of old co-workers. Kris was my boss, who hired me, and Bill was my teammate. We were joined by Bill’s partner, Anita. We noted that I started at the company in 1986 – a little shy of 39 years ago. It’s sort of amazing that we’ve known each other for that long – and that we stay in contact. Kris was one of my favorite bosses, though, so I’d be sad if we didn’t stay in touch. Bill and Anita hosted a fine lunch in their home, and we all had a delightful conversation. I’m glad we were able to meet up.

Tsundoku Stack, June 30, 2025

There’s been not much progress on my tsundoku stack since Last Month. I decided I should dispatch the local guides to Portland books, since it’s summer, and this is a good time to be out and about, exploring the city. I did achieve that goal – as well as consume some late entrants not actually in the tsundoku stack.

For the remainder of the summer, work on the stack is in jeopardy, as I am diving into the library remodel – which effectively requires a move/vacating of the entire room – a major undertaking. I don’t think I’m going to get much reading done for a while.

( The Books I Read in June, Below This Cut )

Framed Madoka Ukiyo-e After Materials Upgrade

I’ve been having custom picture framing done since the 1990s, when I began collecting and occasionally displaying anime cels.

( My History of Frame Shops Below This Cut )

( A New Project Below This Cut )

The new art piece has to be compatible with the Ukiyo-e Madoka, so I brought the framed Madoka Ukiyo-e in so that the framer could see nuances in the Akihabara Premium frame. Tony said it was a good thing that I did as the photos I showed were insufficient.

As we had wrapped up discussion, Tony noted that the framed Madoka had a plexiglas front. I tapped the clear panel, and, yes, it was plastic. I hadn’t even noticed. (I don’t normally touch glass in frames.) I asked if he could replace the plexiglas with Museum Glass. He said, sure, no problem. I don’t remember what led us to do this, but Tony then removed the back panel – and we both were surprised to find a thick block of styrofoam. That’s bad, commented Tony. He didn’t have to tell me twice. This was not archival quality work. Tony offered to add an acid-free foam core sheet behind the print to protect the print. He wrote up a ticket for the glass and the foam core – and it came to $117. Cheap yet important protection. This was a no brainer.

At 11:00 am the next day (Friday) I got a call from Tony saying the work was done and that I could pick up Madoka. Awesome! In less than a day my Ukiyo-e framed print received a pro archival upgrade. At the store, Tony said that with the new glass and the foam core, the original styrofoam block no longer fit. He had extra foam core that he used to pad the thickness, and we scrapped the styrofoam. I said I’d pay extra, but he waved me off.

Madoka is now back home on the wall. The Museum Glass is super clear (and more importantly, UV resistant). This is now truly an Ultimate Madoka!

I guess the last time I baked bread was way back in 2020. My baking ingredients (yeast, flour, corn meal) were all very old and had to be replaced. Subsequently, yesterday was the first time I baked bread in nearly five years. And just like five years ago, I underworked the dough. (It would have been better if I had reviewed that old post before I baked yesterday.) Also, although the loaf was brown, it was a little undercooked, as the crust never got crunchy, and the bottom fifth of the loaf was a little gluey.

Homebaked Bread

I need a loaf for a gathering on Wednesday, but I’ve scrapped my plan to use the remaining dough for another bake test and then prepare another two pounds of dough. I got lazy, and I’ll just use the remaining pound of dough for the loaf for Wednesday (which I’ll need to bake on Tuesday). I’ll try to stretch the loaf correctly and bake a little longer on Tuesday.