French Baguettes

I ordered a wonderful little book by Peter Mayle recently called "Confessions of a French Baker." It arrived Friday -- what fun! So seeing as it's a 3-day weekend, I dove in and gave Baguettes a try. Anything that promises to be this good is certainly worth a little time and effort -- which is a good philosophy when you're contemplating making Baguettes. 

While the ingredient list is not complicated, in fact it's just 4 ingredients long: flour, salt, yeast, and water, the "complicated" part is the mix, rest, knead, rise, shape, rise, shape, rise series of steps. None of these steps are hard, given that Peter Mayle and Gerard Auzet (AKA the French Baker) do a good job explaining what you're going for in each and every step.

The results, were impressive. A nice crust, spongy, yeasty goodness inside and when buttered -- divine.

I held two loaves back from baking in the refrigerator in order to try baking them off tomorrow. If it works, this may become a weekend ritual. Honestly, who can resist fresh-from-the-oven French Bread?

                                ...certainly not me!

PS -- the refrigerator plan didn't work -- that's ok though it'll still be worth it fof the day of.