Folks, I must issue one of my periodic shout-outs to our patron FloydM for his marvelously simple, direct and darn-near-fail-safe "My Daily Bread" recipe and lessons. I discovered The Fresh Loaf almost exactly a year ago and have been happily experimenting, testing, trying out and expanding my baking skills since then, fueled predominantly by the inspiration I have found at this site.

Like all of us, I have had my share of triumphs and embarrassments, but Floyd's Daily Bread (aka "pain sur poolish"), I must say, always comes out on the triumph side. I made it today for a small dinner party. My sister, who has taste-tested probably scores of my efforts over the past year, pronounced it "your best ever." A sweet compliment, yes. But in fact every time I make that recipe, one of the tasters (and I have a small core of regular quality-control types, including some food professionals) will say "This is your best one ever." My sister has probably said that a half-dozen times, at least.

Point being: Floyd, you are the The Hombre. Thanks for the site, thanks for the great recipes, thanks for the clarity and encouragement of your lessons, thanks for the kind and welcoming tone you set for this site. Because of you, I have become the Bread Queen of my circle of friends and family, and it's a role I enjoy more and more every time someone says "this is your best ever."

Live long and prosper, sweetie. We all love you to bits.