Greetings to all from Upstate New York

I have been an avid foodie for as long as I can remember.  I consider myself to be a pretty accomplished cook. I simply cannot resist buying a new cookbook (and consequently have WAY too many).  Among my collection is Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads (1987), which I have owned for the better part of thirty years now. I'm sorry to say I only baked out of it once and the result was disappointing.  All these years I have wanted to learn more about making breads, bagels, pretzels, pizza, and sweet doughs in all there glorious iterations.  Several weeks ago I happened on this website, which lead me to many other websites, which led me to the bookstore, which led to the grocery store, which led me to (I know you all know where this is going)  All I can say is THANKS!  I've baked four rounds of italian, made using Clayton's Pain Ordinaire recipe (which I weighed rather than measured) but using autolyse, mixing, folding and shaping techniques found here.  I made Richard Bertinet's sweet dough and turned out beautiful cinnamon rolls and challah braids.  And best of all, it's FUN!  I'm hooked.  Tonight I'm putting together a 100% poolish, tomorrow I'll decide what to make with it. I can't thank you all enough, and I'm looking forward to becoming a contributing member of the community.