
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, December 10, 1993                   TAG: 9312140014
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Wendi Gibson Richert
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

HERE COME DA FUDGE

With the holidays come high expectations from the friends of Roanoke Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Judge Philip Trompeter.

Many of them have become accustomed to receiving and gobbling down The Judge's Fudge, which the Jewish magistrate has doled out each December for nine years. ``Once I became a judge, I wanted to remember people at Christmas,'' Trompeter says.

``Food's kind of a big thing,'' he chuckles. ``It's sort of a holy ground subject.''

Trompeter got the original recipe from Lurlene Todd, who was his Latin teacher at Cave Spring High School. He's tinkered with the ingredients over the years, perfecting his candy until it's good enough to, well, lick the pots clean. Hear ye: It's made with REAL butter and topped with nuts.

Once it's made, Trompeter's modus operandi is to stroll, fudge in hand, the court house, the City Market and points in between, delivering his 5 1/2-by-8 inch slabs of chocolate.

The judge figures that he makes about 50 pounds of the stuff a year. That plus the traditional latkes his family relishes at Hanukkah.

The fudge stays in his chambers while Trompeter's behind the bench, though. ``I just dish out justice in court!''

If you're not on the judge's fudge list this year, don't fret. He's provided us with the recipe. See Page 8.

by CNB