Well "she did it again". Making bread is a time consuming task and truthfully I have never made an artisan type bread before. That is what being a Daring Baker is all about and "rising" to the challenge...and conquering!! I conquered it all without a stand mixer, bread peel or bakers oven and using Canadian flour and not the less glutenous French flour that Julia suggested. You are most likely inundated by 100's of French loaves today by our fellow bloggers who have followed the icon Julia Child's French bread recipe to a tee. Kudos to all who completed the challenge!! Your loaves are a thing of beauty!!Today is February 29 and it will be 4 years before we are able to post on this day again. Perhaps every 4 years we should be baking bread in memoriam. The Daring Bakers are the brainchild of our lovely and industrious co-founders Lis at La Mia Cucina and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice . They started baking in their kitchens and it has grown to a movement of over 500 strong dedicated bakers. The greatest thing about belonging to the Daring Bakers is all the support from the DB community. I appreciate all the comments and encouragment from every one of you. My baguettes are not the most beautiful in the bunch you will see today but they were delicious, with a light crumb and a crispy crust. I liken them to the childrens story of the Ugly Duckling who grew up to be a swan!! It brings back memories of eating bread fresh straight from the oven slathered in butter and lovingly made by my dad. I cheated a bit because by making baguettes I was able to eat one of the loaves fresh from the oven :D I hope Julia Child would be proud of me for trying.
**Pain Francais (French Bread) **
(From Mastering the Art of French Cooking: Volume Two by Julia Child and Simone Beck)
Hosts: Breadchick Mary (The Sour Dough) and Sara I Like to Cook
Recipe Time: 7 – 9 hours
To continue with Julia's recipe check it out here at Breadchick .
**Pain Francais (French Bread) **
(From Mastering the Art of French Cooking: Volume Two by Julia Child and Simone Beck)
Hosts: Breadchick Mary (The Sour Dough) and Sara I Like to Cook
Recipe Time: 7 – 9 hours
To continue with Julia's recipe check it out here at Breadchick .
Great job with your baguettes! i love the creative picture! I too did it all without the tricks and whistles, all by hand and regular flour, regular oven. Makes it more of a challenge at times, but much more satisfying that "regular" people can also bake beautiful and delicious bread. Congrats!
ReplyDeleteVal it will have to take me another four years before I follow this recipe again (not that I wasn't happy with the results!) lol Great job!
ReplyDeleteReally lovely-looking baguettes!
ReplyDeleteOh Val-it looks great! I am very impressed that you did it by hand. I used to make all of my bread that way. Nothing quite as satisfying is there!
ReplyDeleteNice going Valli. If I lived closer I would be knockin' on your door for a loaf! Julia is one of my favorite ladies and I have quite a few of her books in my little library. Also a good read is "Food and Friends" by Simone Beck. What a pair they must have been!
ReplyDeleteVal, you did Julia proud!!!I love the photo with your baguettes in the flour pot too. You did a fantastic job,all by hand, without the bells and whistles, (me too) and it shows!
ReplyDeleteI can say I loved the bread but I am ready to move on to the next challange! Love the baguette picture!
ReplyDeleteVall, I really love this Daring Bakers!!! so beauty all the breads are beautiful in my friend's bloggs, I love yours and of course where you place the bread!!! Congrats dear. xxxx Gloria
ReplyDeleteHa ha Vallie, I think your loaves are lovely and they came with house perfume didn't they! The wonders of bread baking. Great job!
ReplyDeleteYou sound somewhat disappointed--I think it looks awesome and I'd gladly take it off of your hands. ;-)
ReplyDeleteBravo. They look lovely. I applaud you doing it without all the modern appliances. I need to recover a bit from this one. I love making bread but this was a doozy!
ReplyDeleteoh so cute and they are sitting in the jar! good job, now we can relax! lol!
ReplyDeleteHi val you have done a great job here with your French sticks. I just love the smell of homemade baked bread eaten warm with lashings of butter - now what time did you say you wanted me round to taste your bread *giggle*
ReplyDeleteRosie x
What a great idea - post about bread every leap year!! Although I do plan on baking this again before then...
ReplyDeleteVal- what a great job you did!
ReplyDeleteGreat job Val, those loaves look a lot better than mine. At least I tried :D
ReplyDeleteGreat job, Valli! I walked away fromt he computer and now I can't remember if I all ready commented or not..
ReplyDeleteThe picture is wonderful.
Nice photo, Valli, and great-looking bread.
ReplyDeleteVal your bread looks terrific! I love how you have them sticking out of the flour jar! I found it pretty satisfying to "rough it" and make the bread without all the fancy gadgets. Lovely job!
ReplyDeleteWow, your loaves look seriously awesome!
ReplyDeleteAwesome! They are beautiful and I want to eat them...right now! I only have cornbread in the house...bummer.
ReplyDeleteJulia Child's great gift was that she was proud of everyone for trying. She was a nurturing teacher and cook who, though she was quite serious about cooking, never took life too seriously. She would love your loaves!
ReplyDeleteVal! I hate the time difference. I kept checking on your blog the whole day but it was worth the wait. Your bread looks just awesome!! I like how you put the bread in a flour jar too!! Fantastic job!
ReplyDeleteEverywhere I look, I see delicious bread! Nothing like the smell of freshly baked bread and of course the taste of bread right out of the oven.
ReplyDeleteWell done, Val! You certainly "rose" to the challenge!!! :-)
ReplyDeleteLove that shot with the bread in the flour canister.
Making this bread once every fours years sounds like a good plan ;-)
Have a terrific weekend,
xNora
She would be proud!
ReplyDeleteFrom what I've been reading, this recipe was long, and difficult to read.
If it tastes good, that's all that matters.
Bravo, and a job well done.
I'd be happy to met you here in four years and make bread again! Your baguettes look great!
ReplyDeleteNice looking bread!
ReplyDeleteyour loaves look great!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't wait either and ate one of the small loaves directly from the oven...
ReplyDeleteBeautiful bread. i didn't make it this challenge. I'm jealous of eveyone who has this delicious bread to eat.
ReplyDeleteYou did it. Congrats. That's a lot of work.
ReplyDeleteVery pretty bread!
ReplyDeleteJulia would have loved to see us all baking this bread. Love to see how you did! Wonderful job
ReplyDeleteWell done and great picture!
ReplyDeleteGreat job, Val! I love the photo. I think that this was a tough challenge, but I've never seen so much beautiful bread! I sneaked some too! Couldn't wait!
ReplyDeleteIt may be another four years before I use that recipe again! Your bread turned out beautiful! WTG on the challenge!
ReplyDeleteWow, I'm still coveting the cheese in the post after this one.
ReplyDeleteGreat job on your bread, I know for sure that Julia would be proud. And I will mark my calendar for February 29, 2012!
Yea I wasn't even thinking about it being leap year when I picked the posting date so it ended up pretty cool huh! Your bread is perfect and glad you had good results.
ReplyDeleteThanks for baking with Sara and I
Thank you one and all for all your kind words and encouragment!!! We all did a grreat job!!!
ReplyDeleteThe bread looks quite nice and if tasted good then that's all that matters.
ReplyDeleteterrific bread. Well done
ReplyDeleteLove that picture!
ReplyDeleteI love your bread sticking up out of that wonderful crock! Wonderful hand crafted artisan loaves!
ReplyDeletex x x
Well I think they are some of the lovliest I've seen in my over-a-week-now Reading Of The Blogs. hehe!
ReplyDeleteYou are always such a delight, Valli!
xoxoxo