[boar_d_laze]

Well, there's a lot more to it than just the visual -- although that's critical too.

I already mentioned the Bread Baker's Apprentice in another thread, and Willie got it here. The guy who wrote it, Peter Reinhart, has a particular style for making European and American type breads that's based around an extra rise which is usually slowed (aka "retarded") with refrigeration. Because of the "extra" (compared to most home bakers) rise, it's not a particularly convenient or quick way to bake.

Nevertheless, it's part of the technique I usually use in my own baking; and almost always in the recipes I write for others. The improvements which come from the extra time are well worth it. (The trick is finding ways to give the dough time, without totally screwing up your schedule.) So, Reinhart is a must.

IIRC, I left you the url for The Fresh Loaf forum on the gift certificate thread. The KA site is also good. Not bad flour, either.

A common misconception is that the best way to bake bread is to follow "perfected" recipes with perfect measuring; and if the measurement is less than perfect, the recipe will likely fail. It's a comforting thought, but largely not true. There are so many environmental factors that effect quantities and time, that your tactile, visual, and olfactory senses are more important than whether you weigh or scoop, or whether your oven is 5* off or not.

That takes us back to kokopuff's point, I suppose. If it didn't, it should have.

To be a good enough baker to control what you're doing and can exercise some of your own creativity, you're going to have to accept that the learning process includes some failures as you become familiar with how things should feel, smell and appear at any given stage in the process.

You certainly don't need (knead?) a monster stand mixer to be a good baker; and in some ways it's going to slow down the learning process. But it makes baking a lot easier, a lot more attractive, and a lot more frequent. When it comes to practice, you can't beat more.

This is going to be fun. You might as well reconcile yourself to it.

BDL

PS. I didn't forget the sharpening instructions. Life intruded. Plus, I'm procrastinating.