Thanks to brother Jerry for giving me encouragement and guidance in trying my hand at baking bread. It may not have come out as good as his excellent stuff,even my first loaf was really good, and I have made it a regular habit since first trying it in April.  Jerry has been bringing bread to our annual “Brothers Four” gathering for years.  We have always loved it, and he kept telling us it was really easy.  Well, it is!  After retirement, he sent me instructions for the basic recipe, and then I got a book and some basic equipment.  I now have the confidence to try variations, and the best part of it is that I can whip up a 4-loaf batch of dough in about 10 min., and then prepare a loaf to back with about 5 min. of hands-on work.  (The rest is waiting for the oven to heat up and for the bread to bake.)

If you want to try it, here is where to start: Bread Making

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Today, I had the thrill and the privilege to attend the graduation ceremony of a woman who I first met in my courtroom. She had truly hit bottom, was in jail and had her child removed. Five years later, she is parenting her daughter, she has received her bachelor’s degree and is applying to graduate school. She graduated with honors with one of the highest GPA’s in her class. What a thrill, and one more example of why we can never give up on people! Although successes like hers may not be frequent, I saw it happen more than once, and it easily sustained me while doing child abuse and neglect court.

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Last night I went to the UW opera performance of Handel’s Semele with Leslie. It was wonderful! I don’t believe this baroque opera is performed often although the Seattle Opera is also doing it next year. It should be interesting to compare them. The singer who performed the dual role of Ino and Juno was particularly good!

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Janie and I went to a Thai 101 cooking class at Sur La Table tonight. The class was fun, the food was GOOD (if we do say so ourselves) and we learned a lot. Yum! (Chicken skewers with peanut sauce, green papaya salad, Phad Thai, and Cashew Chicken.)

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