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Julia Child's French Bread!


So, I am very excited to announce that I have become a member of an amazing group of bakers called the "Daring Bakers." Each month, I will be faced with a new challenge...probably something that I've never had the guts to attempt before...case in point - Homemade French Bread. And not just any ole' bread, but Julia Child's French Bread.

This month's challenge was hosted by:
I have to admit that when I first saw this recipe - and what a whooper of a recipe! - I was pretty intimidated. After all, it took up 15 pages when I printed it. Yes, you read that correctly - 15 pages! I've made homemade sourdough bread before. In fact, that was my very first blog post a few months back. So, I thought maybe I could conquer my first Daring Baker challenge okay. It really wasn't as bad as I thought. Basically, the only ingredients are flour, yeast, salt and water. The recipe simply takes patience.

After putting it off for several weeks, I finally decided to put my apron on and start kneading last weekend. After an entire day of mixing, kneading, rising, baking, and re-reading the recipe I finally ended up with somewhat beautiful French bread. I started the process around 12pm, and I bit into my first piece of French bread yummy-ness around 11pm (yes it was late, and no we couldn't wait until the following day to try it!). I was proud of my efforts and the final product. My husband, Brad, usually isn't a bread person. But, he couldn't get enough of this stuff. I am a self-proclaimed bread girl, so I was excited to finally finish the challenge. I will admit that I was nervous though. I was worried that my entire day in the kitchen was going to be wasted if the bread wasn't any good. I anxiously watched as Brad took the first bite. After a few long seconds, he finally plastered a big smile across his face. At that point, I knew my efforts had been a success!


We love eating bread with seasoned dipping oil, so we of course had to try this bread with it. It was delish!

Because the recipe is so very long, you can use this link to view it in its entirety:
http://breadchick.com/?p=336
Don't let the recipe scare you. If you take the time to attempt this recipe once, you'll realize that it's worth almost an entire day in the kitchen!
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Comments

~Amber~ said…
Your bread turned out beautiful! Congratulations on a first successful challenge.
February 29, 2008 at 9:23 AM
Melanie said…
Congrats on your first challenge! Yours looked great and I should have thought to use the dipping oil...we love that, too, and my somewhat dry finished product could have used the boost! Good job.
February 29, 2008 at 2:59 PM
Gretchen Noelle said…
Your bread looks terrific! Congratulations on completing your first challenge! Welcome to the Daring Bakers! Love the dripping oil...makes me want to bake some more and dip it!
February 29, 2008 at 10:04 PM
Anonymous said…
Gorgeous job! I also love to eat mine with olive oil.

BTW... I also got to meet Tyler Florence, just last weekend. Is he adorable or what? Pics in my blog! - Candace
March 1, 2008 at 8:10 AM
Lunch Buckets said…
Great job! Your bread looks delicious :)
March 2, 2008 at 1:14 AM
breadchick said…
Congrats on the roaring success of your first challenge. That bread dipped in the oil looks so good!

Thanks for baking with Sara and I
March 2, 2008 at 8:39 AM
Sara said…
Great attitude! Thanks for joining us this month.
March 3, 2008 at 12:56 AM
Jaime said…
great job! this was my first DB challenge too :)

did you know there is another sugar & spice blog?
March 14, 2008 at 7:06 PM
A Musing Mother said…
I tried the bread recipe, too. I was amazed at how well it turned out. So well that I had to try it again to make sure it wasn't a fluke. And then again. I ended up easing up on the salt. Still good.
September 5, 2009 at 2:40 AM
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