bread alone's french baguettes {recipe review}

For a novice this is just flat out amazing. On my first try I made four beautiful French baguettes. Is this unprecedented? Have I won a world's record, or something?

I owe it all to the cookbook by Bread Alone. I bought it on a whim, figuring I love their bread and should have the best teacher when attempting something as daunting as baguettes. Then, as with most of my recipe books, it sat on the shelf for years.

With pizza dough under my belt I started to think that I may have a chance at a real loaf of bread, complete with poolish (I had no idea what that was) and seven steps, taking two days to complete. I confess I did not hold fast to the entire recipe - there are many steps all of which require specific time frames to complete. My schedule just does not allow for this kind of precision.

But, even with all my altering of time left to rest, and not taking the temperature of the bread, the oven, the room, I ended up with four fabulous loaves. So even if you don't follow it to the letter this recipe comes through.

And then you have fresh baked bread to share with your honey... and your sweetie too.