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
Shortbread 
Took me two tries to get this close to right.
Yours looks fantastic. Great holes.
Can I come with you? 🙂 Like the new blog!
Poor thing-sounds like a horrible-good-for-nothing-but-a-stiff-drink-kind-of-day!
This bread looks amazing!!!!!
LOVE the new look on your blog!
Yes, yes it was.
Oh, I think your bread looks wonderful. I wish I had a piece of it right now. Gorgeous, really. LOL on the Alexander book…I have a son named Alexander and he always said he was going to change his name b/c of that book! It was too easy to say, when he was in a grumpy mood, “a terrible horrible no good very bad day.” We cut him some slack and let it drop, I giggled when I read your post.
The true beauty of food blogging is that your bread looks absolutely perfect. Beyond perfect, actually. I believe you that it was too tough on the outside, though. Mine was not browned at all, but I pulled it out anyway. Between us, we probably had a perfect loaf! Oh, I have that dish towel, btw.
I always love your posts – so creative!!