Bread Baking Babes: Pain Francese

It has been awhile since I joined in to become a Bread Baking Buddy, and I almost passed up this month. I'd glanced over a few blog posts, but kept hearing about a levian and a chef, and did not feel I really had the time to deal with either right now. Some encouragement, and "education" from my bread baking guru Breadchick, however, cleared up my misconceptions, which is why I'm here now, trying out the Pain Francese, this months BBB choice, chosen by fellow Canuck and DB'er, Sara.

Before I could start, I had to bring out my sour dough starter, Marvin, and give him a wake up. Poor Marvin almost lost it during our recent move, he was nearly thrown out at one point by someone unaware of who and what he was, and then was nearly abandoned in our old home when no one knew what to do with him, and I was not available. (Truth be told, I got some very funny looks from some family members when, with everything else coming and going and the stresses, I went into near panic mode, ripping containers apart, trying to find what had happened to Marvin. Unless you've put the time into making and nurturing your starter, how can you understand?) Fortunately he was found, safe and still dormant, but had been sitting quietly in my fridge since the move.

Using some of Marvin instead of the chef, I set out to work. I had forgotten what I both loved and hated about making bread. I love the feel of the dough, the way things come together, the destressing that comes with kneading, and of course, the final outcome, warm, fresh bread. What I dislike is the mess, on my hands, my clothes, my counter. And waiting. Waiting, waiting, waiting.

This bread involved alot of mess and alot of waiting.

And when all is said and done, I can't tell you if I like this bread or not. Yet.

See, my "new" oven works on convection, and while I've figured out the adjustments I have needed to make for most baking, it didn't work for this one. The picture you see of the bread I made looks lovely, golden with a very hard crust. What it doesn't show is the burnt bottom and the almost raw, doughie inside. I was able to cut off a bit of the bread to share with the family, since they were starving and could not resist, but not enough for me to really have an opinion about this bread.

Another consultation with Mary has resulted in another batch rising on the counter right now. So I haven't given up on this yet, I just won't have a finished, cut, product ready in time for joining in.

Thanks for the "kick in the butt" Mary, and encouraging me to get back into bread. Now go see the other BBB's bread, and be a budy yourself. (And if you will excuse me, I need to go see a starter about some bread.)