Baked!

One of my hobbies is baking... I particularly enjoy baking bread. I got started making French bread 17 years ago, shortly after Lydia and I were married.

Since then, I have followed, altered, created, and tested hundreds of recipes. I've cooked for hundreds of people and taught quite a few how to bake.

My favorite recipe is still French bread... The one I learned from my Kitchen Aid cookbook. I have come to understand that it's the foundation for all other yeast breads - and understanding how the dough should feel is key to all other breads. All others are simply variations on French bread.

The my sister married a guy from France. Needless to say, I was intimidated to cook for him. He was gracious and taught me the key tests of a good loaf of French Bread were the squeeze and tap tests, which should result in (imagine French accent) "crack, crack. Boom, boom" respectively.

Tonight, that's exactly what we enjoyed for dinner, to which my daughter declared a third component to the tests... "yum, yum"

It's no secret recipe. But it has become a great Sunday evening tradition.

What, you wonder, does this have to do with insurance? Absolutely nothing. This is my day of rest - and I haven't thought about insurance a bit.