Hello,

I am a total newbie wanting to try her hand a making bread.

I want to ask Santa for a Zo for Christmas, but I'm a little skeptical about what he'll say. You see, my Santa is from France, and so of course he has a high standard for bread. I know he will say: "You will never be able to make a really good loaf with a machine." My Santa is a pretty proud Frenchman and a purist. His brother is a baker! Where we live in Montreal we can buy some pretty good bread, but I would love it if we could make our own. I read in this forum about buying the book: Rustic European Breads from your bread machine, which sounds great. But I would love to know the opinions of all you bread folks out there. Can I get a really good loaf (nice and crusty, for example) - something that would satisy even the pickiest of Frenchman - with the Zo?

(FYI, I bought a self-freezing ice cream machine this summer, against Santa's advice, and am able to effortlessly make THE most delicious ice cream!)

I thank you all in advance for any advice you can provide.

Amy