Life, Law, and Politics in the Northeast Kingdom

I’ve been making baguettes for years, and the results have been decent, but I’ve never been fully satisfied. So for today’s bread, I decided to stray away from the Bernard Clayton book and go to the ultimate source for french bread: Julia Child herself. I dug out Edward’s copy of Julia’s The Way to Cook, which has elaborate, precise instructions for French bread (whether in baguette form or round). I resolved to follow her instructions down to the littlest minutae, in the hopes of making a great French baguette.

The outcome? Well, it’s pretty good, but still not perfect. The taste is top-notch, and the texture is just about right, but the volume of the loaves isn’t substantial enough. I don’t know if that’s because the yeast didn’t perform properly or because I somehow got the volume of ingredients wrong. Sigh. My quest is not over. In the meantime, here’s an amusing video of Julia observing a French baker in Paris. http://http://video.pbs.org/video/2262589124/

Today’s bread is lighter and more airy. That’s because it calls for a whopping 6 (six) rising periods over the course of the day. The first one is 30 minutes. Then there are 4 successive 15 minute rising periods, and finally, a last 50 minute rising period in the pan before going in to the oven.

It’s a very satisfying bread, both because you feel accomplished once you’ve completed all those risings, and because it has a light, elegant texture. I noticed that each time I punched the dough down, there were more bubbles that had to be deflated. Before going in to the oven, I simply brushed the top of the loaf with plain water.

As you can see, someone got to the bread before I could, with my camera. But that attests to its great taste and appeal. Page 24 from Bernard Clayton’s New Complete Book of Breads!

I need some sort of regular, yet stimulating routine to keep me going through this dreary mid-to-late Northeast Kingdom winter. Something apart from the exciting peaks and valleys of law practice. Today, the answer came to me while I was poring over Bernard Clayton’s classic tome: The (New) Complete Book of Breads. It’s a volume that never fails to inspire me, where I always find some interesting recipe or piece of information about baking. Until now, though I’ve just chosen a few recipes here and there that seemed to work for me. But today, I’ve decided to throw caution to the wind.

Admittedly my plan isn’t terribly original. Those of you who have seen the fabulous film Julie & Julia will remember how the contemporary Julie, inspired and obsessed by Julia Child, decided to make every recipe in The French Chef–and to blog about it. I’ll never forget the scene when the contemporary Julie has a meltdown in her kitchen after a failed attempt and lies prone on the floor, sobbing.

I’m going to see if I can actually make a loaf of bread each day. That might be unrealistic. But at the very least, I will try to get through every single recipe in Mr. Clayton’s book and see what happens.

In the oven as we speak is Mr. Clayton’s recipe for Cuban Bread, pages 23-24.

Here is what it’s supposed to look like. Wish me luck!

Yesterday, January 28, was the statutory deadline by which all who wish to run for Town Office must submit their nominating papers, also known as “petitions.” Without meeting this deadline, your name can’t appear on the election ballot on Town Meeting Day (Tuesday, March 5)

This day is always an interesting one in Town, because it’s now we know for certain who will be running and which races are contested. As we get closer to Town Meeting, I’ll have some thoughts, questions, and even criticisms to offer about the candidates who have declared themselves.

But for now, I’m more interested in who has not declared. It’s notable that not a single person turned in a petition to run as Road Commissioner. This is especially surprising, since one can make a credible argument that Road Commissioner is right up there with Selectboard and Town Clerk as among the most crucial of municipal officials. One of the main functions of municipal government is to oversee and maintain our roads. Furthermore, an enormous chunk of the municipal budget goes toward that function.

The fact that not a single person expressed interest in the job (and it’s a paying job, too) is especially surprising in light of recent history. At last year’s Town Meeting, as many will recall, the warning contained an article proposing that the Road Commissioner position be an appointed, rather than elected one.

The question was controversial. There was considerable debate on the matter, with many arguing vehemently that it was important to keep the position an elected one so that the person in that role would be more closely accountable to the voters. And in the end, a substantial majority defeated the proposal, keeping the job elected. (By way of full disclosure, I supported making the position an appointed one, and have written elsewhere on this blog about why.)

Given that vote, and the passionate feelings that a number of citizens expressed about keeping it elected, you’d think that at least one or two people would come forward to run for the office. But no one did. What gives?

And who’s going to be in charge of our roads now?

A snowy day in mid-January. The perfect time to spend a weekend day alternating between a good book in front of the woodstove and in the kitchen, concocting a lovely vegetarian chili and some scrumptious sourdough bread.

I’ve been a vegetarian for decades now. During the initial transition time to a vegetarian diet,  I learned that some things just didn’t work without meat, and I cut my losses.  But I wasn’t ready to give up on chili.  Still, I could never find vegetarian chili quite as satisfying as I had during the  carnivore period.  The chili usually resembled and tasted like a soup or  gruel, lacking density (or perhaps simply, carbohydrates.)

But a few years ago, when I was Town Clerk and looking for a vegetarian chili recipe to satisfy both meat eaters and veggies among the election day volunteers at the Town Office, I found this!

The recipe–from Martha Stewart– involves the usual array of vegetables and kidney beans,  but also features chick peas and bulghur. The bulghur is the real miracle-worker here. While simmering, it expands, thickens the chili into a stew-like consistency, and makes it utterly satisfying. Here’s the recipe:  Vegetable Chili

Last week, I got a hankering for homemade sourdough bread.   Earlier in 2012, I’d finally thrown away my sour dough starter.  After several years, even with replenishment, it was simply getting too tired for the job. But rather than buy starter from a commercial outlet, I decided to create it from scratch myself, which is a surprisingly simple enterprise. All I needed to do was throw together some honey, yeast, water, and flour, and let the mixture ferment in a closed container near a warm spot–for five days. Voila!–beautiful, pungent sourdough starter! (Note that you can even create your own starter without yeast–it just requires a longer fermentation period, in order to capture the wild yeasts in the air.)

Today was the end of the five days and I used my new starter to bake two loaves of crusty French sourdough, recipe courtesy of the great Bernard Clayton, Jr.

School Board Director Helen Martin has resigned, with more than a year to go in her term. At last night’s meeting, the School Superintendent delivered her letter of resignation to the other board members. Mrs. Martin did not come personally to inform her fellow Board members of this.

In my view, this resignation was long overdue, and I would have preferred that Mrs. Martin  come and face us directly.

Nevertheless, I applaud her for taking this step. I think it was the honorable thing to do.

Since her election in March 2011, I  and many others believe that Mrs. Martin has made a series of choices which sadly, squandered any potential she might once have had to be an effective board member. In August 2011, she used her majority with Board member Matt Smith in voting to tuition out Smith’s own child, despite a statute which forbid such conflict of interest votes, and despite the fact that voters had only months before said no to the tuitioning out of 5th graders.

Worse, Mrs. Martin did not appear to recognize she’d made any mistake, even after numerous citizens expressed their disappointment and outrage, by attending and speaking up at meetings, by rescinding the controversial gifted and talented article, by writing letters and petitions, and even after some citizens finally took the serious step of filing a lawsuit.

Indeed, in early 2012, in an angry outburst, she voted with Matt Smith to freeze the checkbook of the Guildhall School District, an action which arguably jeopardized the continued operation of an entire school, simply because she supported Matt Smith in his attempt to get his own child’s tuition paid.  Through those choices, for many of us, she lost  credibility, and instead became a largely polarizing figure in our community.

Many of us wondered why she did not do what clearly seemed best for the Town and School and step down, allowing the School Board to move forward with a clean slate. Again, to the very end, Mrs. Martin did not seem willing to consider that she might have made a mistake. She seemed to persist in her belief that citizen activism, including  the filing of a lawsuit was some kind of personal attack, anti-democratic maneuver or was based on some mysterious political agenda. What she failed to understand–or so it seems– was that citizens, when they believe their elected officials have acted wrongfully, use the democratic process, including the courts of law, to take action and seek redress.

So her decision, although it comes late, is the right one, and I appreciate it.

With this development, I believe we can open a new chapter in our School. When Mrs. Martin and Matt Smith used their majority on our School Board to act as they did, that was a radical change in how the Town operates. We can now reverse course. Mrs. Martin’s resignation is an important step toward rejecting the politics of special treatment and favoritism and making our government accountable  for the good of everyone, not just those who have power, a good name, or friends in high places.

We started off 2012 in Reykjavik, Iceland.  Great city, with great people, fabulous bookstores, and fantastic music, including the beautiful, talented Lay Low.

In March, we made our annual pilgrimage to Doyle’s Cafe, in Jamaica Plain, for St Patrick’s Day.  We ate corn beef and cabbage, drank endless rounds of Guinness, and caught up with the neighborhood pols, including the legendary Gerry Burke, Doyle’s proprietor.

In April, with David Williams and Brooks McArthur as my sponsors, I was sworn in to practice in U.S. District (federal) court in Burlington–before the Honorable Chief Judge Christina Reiss.

This month, real broadband came to our home and village.  It’s been life-changing!

Our beloved dog Belle-Reve’s Minerva–the last of her generation–passed away on April 28.  She was almost 13 years old.  Fortunately, there was no long illness.  In fact, she had gone for a long hike up Mt. Prospect with Edward just two days prior to her passing, something she absolutely loved to do.

In May, we got a new puppy, Sumerwynd’s LABELLE, at 6 months of age.  LaBelle is a beautiful but troubled dog.  Still, she’s made enormous progress and bit by bit, learns how to overcome her fears.

June: I took the leap and opened my new law practice, with a beautiful office located next to the Essex County Court House.

July: We got Victor Hugo, new puppy at 8 weeks old.  Hugo is a remarkable dog, sometimes too good.  We call him the golden boy.  We are now  a three-dog household once more….

Also in July, I ran in the 5K Lancaster Road Race, and won a prize in my age group!

August:  I threw a big reception for the grand opening of my law practice.  Over 50 people came to help me celebrate.  To this day, when I’m sitting in my office, I look around and remember that day fondly.  I love the idea that I had such a great party there, with great people and good food and drink.

September: I completed the Dixville-Notch Half Marathon in record time (for me!).  I’ve spent the whole spring and summer training and this makes me feel accomplished.

November: Barack Obama re-elected, Romney defeated, a slew of Democratic women elected in neighboring New Hampshire, marriage equality progresses inexorably across the nation, Elizabeth Warren is elected in Massachusetts, Peter Shumlin re-elected as Governor of Vermont.  The millionairess Republican gets squat in Vermont.  The election outcome makes me happy beyond belief.

Also in November, Ed and Laura make two long overdue technological advances–we got smartphones and a new digital television with internet streaming.  This has definitely changed our lives and  for what it’s worth, caught us up with some popular culture missing from our lexicon.

Finally, here’s to some new people who have entered or re-entered my life in 2012 and made it immeasurably more interesting and tolerable:  Corby Gary, Audrey Carpenter, Jess Carter, Lynn and Will Berry, Brad and Cheryl McVetty, Matt and Sharal Plumley and Karen Guile.

I’ve been steadily training since May.   I’ve run this race twice before. This time, however,   the course had changed. Previously, runners started off at the Balsams’ golf course, then wound down to near the hotel and onto Rt 26 west to Colebrook.  Because the Balsams is now closed, the new start was at Coleman State Park, an equally beautiful location. But Coleman State Park is at a significantly higher elevation, which meant a lot more downhill–and I find downhill to be tougher on my legs than uphill running.

The running crowd gathered at the park, registered, chatted, and warmed ourselves by the huge fireplace. When we went outside to hear our race instructions, a light drizzly rain started. As we started on our way down the hill, I knew that my legs would pay the price, probably when I wake up tomorrow morning.

At approximately mile 6 or so, the drizzle turned into a virtual downpour. But everyone kept going. During long distance running, it generally takes me awhile–usually until about mile 5–to find a comfortable pace. Once I found it today, I stuck to it and was like a machine. I’ve learned the hard way to avoid the temptation to jackrabbit ahead or sprint too much.

This race doesn’t have all that many runners. For that reason, once you get into the meat of the race, the runners are dispersed and you often feel quite alone, with no one visible behind you and only a few far ahead in the distance. Given the rural location, it  makes for a bit of a lonely and sort of existential run, with lots of time to contemplate and few distractions. (Utterly beautiful, however, especially during foliage season!)

At about mile 10.5, I faced a crisis. No emergency or physical injury, but just a bit of an emotional meltdown. It happens. I had the overwhelming desire/temptation to just stop and forget about the whole thing. It didn’t help that at precisely that time, several runners passed me, looking particularly perky and energetic. (I later realized they may well have been relay runners, who were only doing one quarter of the course.) I had less than 3 miles to go, but those few miles loomed ahead discouragingly as if they were 30.

I somehow got through that–by focusing on steady breathing, lifting my chin and shoulders, and thinking about people waiting for me at the finish line. The last half mile was particularly excruciating, but I made it to the finish intact and on my feet. I had a brief moment in which my head swam and I thought I might pass out, but that didn’t happen.

Teri Anderson, Rose Fitzgerald, their new puppy Belle, Susan McVetty and Ed Clark were waiting for me at the finish cheering. And I was very excited to learn that my time was better than anticipated: 2:05:40!!

Then there was music, conversations, munchies, and a lovely hot shower at the Recreation Center. Finally, I won in my age group!

The rest of the day is devoted to lying on the couch with my computer, a pile of books, a plate of pasta, and lots of fluids. I feel achy but accomplished!

I have a license to practice law in Vermont, a beautiful new office, a growing number of clients, and a spanking brand new website.  Check out the site here.

This week, I’ve sent out a mailing to people and organizations across the NEK and Vermont announcing my existence and the kinds of law I’m passionate about.

This week, over 50 friends, family, neighbors, fellow lawyers, and others helped me celebrate by attending my grand opening here in Guildhall, Vermont. Thanks to everyone who has helped me in ways large and small!