I love bread and have dabbled in making it for some time. But I’ve always felt like an amateur (because I am actually less than an amateur). I recently bought The Bread Baker’s Apprentice by Peter Reinhart at Powell’s on our Portland honeymoon and now I’m obsessed. Not so much with the actual baking but with becoming a better baker.
I spent way too much time this week looking online for a bread baking class. There’s good stuff out there but the timing, location, or price doesn’t work right now. Until I can find a good one I’m going to keep practicing on my own.
After a spectacular bread baking failure last night I took to the interweb for some research. So, in case it helps anyone else out, here are my findings:
Smitten Kitchen’s Eight Tips For Less Intimidating Bread
The King Arthur Flour Community Message Board Page
Oh, and before I forget…
Things I Bought This Week: King Arthur Sir Lancelot High Gluten Flour, King Arthur 100% Whole Wheat Flour, SAF Red Instant Yeast, Fleischmann’s Active Dry Yeast, Bob’s Red Mill Vital Wheat Gluten. And I plan to buy some more bread cookbooks tomorrow!
Domestocrat 
I totally want to make beautiful artisan loafs too. The Tartine Bread Book is on my wishlist.
I just saw a whole slew of comments on other blogs about that one! I may check it out this weekend :)
I enjoy making bread – I make my own wheat bread all the time.
It’s definitely going to be my summer project. There is just so much to learn!