Hello from Madrid

Hello to everyone,

I am another new member here, having just joined a few days ago. I recently dicovered this site--fantastic information and amazing photos. Very generous members.

I am very new to bread making, just started February of this year.  I am also a novice cheese-maker (I just read the Introduction post of Peter from New Zealand and I am envious of his milking goats and cows--!). I am interested in making bread in an artisinal fashion, using the hands a hundred percent. I think bread making can teach very valuable lessons, especially if done slowly and with patience. We have very good bread over here in all the regions, so the bar is very high...

I have a very basic kitchen as a workplace, as I imagine the other members here all had once upon a time. I have very basic rudimentary equipment, but since I like doing things by hand, the absence of a stand mixer doesn´t really bother me. I do, however, have very good access to a 14% protein flour and fresh yeast is always available and easy to find.

I made this barra de pan a few days ago. Everyone knows it as a baguette, I suppose the French name has a better international projection. I worked up to this after having tried basic white loaves and the round rustic types (we call them "hogazas"here). I find the baguette type to be quite tricky to master. This was my fifth (?) try and my own recipe after trying other recipes and reading up on the subject for weeks and gleaning information from different sources. I was quite happy with this one, although I still want it to improve. Please do comment and tell me what you think...I would love to hear what the experienced ones have to say. I have a long way to go and I appreciate any help I can get.

Well, happy baking to everyone and hope to hear from you soon!

Carlos