No, sadly, that's not the loaf of bread I managed to turn out on Saturday. Not that my bread was bad. No, not at all. It just, well, looked horrible. After about an hour of kneading the bread it still felt too sticky, but I was exhausted and my arms and shoulders were sore from the word, so I left it to rise for an hour and a half and went to brunch.
When I got back the dough had easily doubled in volume, so i figured that was a good sign. I turned it out and worked it down and then formed it into baguettes, which as far as I can figure, is really an acquired art rather rather than something you can simply do from the get-go. I left these to rise on a bread sack (which I forgot to flour, problem number one) and went to do some shopping. I got back and noticed that the bread was now all touching together. I hadn't made the pleats in the sack high enough (problem number two), so I sliced each loaf free. The oven was at the correct temperature but when I went to slide them into the oven using an over turned cookie sheet, they didn't really slide (I guess I need a peel), so I had the oven door open too long (problem number 3).
But like, whatever, it's bread. Right? Right! After about 15 minutes I pulled the bread. They were barely brown and all completely mis-shaped. After cooling for an hour I cut into one fearing the worst. Amazingly, the bread was great. A good developed yeast flavor from three days of maturing the sponge, and a nice tightly packed crumb with a good chew. They just looked horrible. I guess it's time to practice more!
I'm no chef. I'm barely a cook. And certainly not in the professional sense. I work in mobile for a living, but I enjoy cooking almost as much as I love 
