It’s been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.  My son woke up sick, my dog got off her leash, my oatmeal was runny, I put yeast in the flour canister instead of the mixing bowl, and my washing machine detergent dispenser is clogged.

I think I’m going to Australia.

I’ve hit a snag in my bake-through of The Bread Baker’s Apprentice, too.  Peter Reinhart’s French Bread really gave me pause.  I have made most of the recipes with relative ease, but this bread proved to be a little more ‘sensitive’.  Making the dough was not difficult, but when it came to baking the loaves I couldn’t seem to get it right.

I started baking the loaves with my baking stone on the bottom rack of my oven.  When I checked them, they had gotten way too brown and the tops were still white.  So I moved the stone to the middle, but by the end of the recommended baking time they were still not brown on top.  I turned off the oven and left them in until they were brown enough.

The result?  Very tender with lovely holes on the inside, but a little too tough on the outside.  But I’ll keep working on it.

Just not today.

Interested in The Bread Baker’s Apprentice?  Preview it here.

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst