If you like really good bread...

I love fresh-baked bread. Well, who doesn't, right? I don't make it often, but my life, or at least as far as bread baking goes, has changed since reading My Bread by Jim Lahey. I had read about this recipe more than a year ago, but was only recently inspired to try it after talking to friends who make it all the time. Lahey's recipe is no-knead, but it does take planning because it needs at least 12 hours to rise. So I mixed it up one night, and then left it. I was just sure the recipe must have a typo, because it only called for 1/4 teaspoon of yeast. When I looked at it next morning, it looked kind of grey and goopy, and I was afraid my concerns were justified. But I persevered, which meant leaving it to its own devices for about 5 more hours before actually baking it. It would be kind to say it looked less than promising going in to the oven--but it was delicious. That loaf was gone within 24 hours. Time to make another one, and maybe time to checkout some new cookbooks in search of yet more culinary inspiration.