Greetings from Oregon
Hello from another baker in Oregon (Eugene).
I was so thrilled to find this site. What an incredible resource... thank you all.
I used to make bread many years ago when we referred to the healthy whole wheat bread as "lead bread" due to its being heavy enough to use as a door stop. It had been a long time since I'd done any serious baking. But I woke up in 2008 with an overwhelming desire to start baking artisan-type breads. I recalled a newspaper clipping from over 10 years ago that I had filed away -- an article about someone in town who was baking his own breads. After much searching, I located it. His recipe was was quite vague, so I started doing some searching on the internet and found your site -- which, of course, has lead me in a hundred MORE directions!
I got started with the simple instructions in Peter Reinhart's "Bread Upon the Waters" and have moved on from there. I have been very pleased with all the results, my latest being a beautiful, huge loaf of the Poilane-style miche. (I'll have to do a little research to figure out how to share pics.)
In my town, there is no lack for wonderful bakeries, but nothing quite compares with baking your own.
Anyway, I'm very happy to have discovered this lovely community!