A double whammy

It has been quite awhile since I've baked much of anything, particularly sourdough, as since getting pregnant in March I've found the smell of the sourdough and the thought of making it completely nauseating (which is bizarre seeing as I was totally addicted to it before getting pregnant, and baking everyday.  Or maybe that is why....)  Anyway, this pregnancy has seen the nausea last an unreasonably long time, so only in the last few weeks have I felt inclined to get back to baking.  When I was baking regularly earlier in the year, I deliberated over the available options for a dutch oven, and really wanted to get one, but did the usual thing of researching myself to exhaustion then forgetting about it for awhile, and so I never got around to buying one.  I live on another continent than my mother, so when she comes to visit we make a point of getting out together without the children at some point for some rummaging through charity shops and vintage/antique stores (something I don't get to do much on my own without someone around to leave the children with and someone to go shopping with!).  We were on our morning out and I mentioned that I'd really like to buy a dutch oven, but hadn't thought about it for awhile, but if we happened to see one I would definitely want to get it.  Imagine our delight to spot a bright orange, rectangular enameled cast iron lidded dish in the window of a really great vintage shop along our wander!  For a moment I thought that the handle might be plastic, but it turned out to be metal, so we snapped up the bargain, at a paltry £10.  After bringing it home and giving it a little wash, I looked carefully at the faded name inside the lid and could just make out "Le Creuset" and "France" and the number 35.  Le Creuset!  I was pleased enough to have a genuine Le Creuset cast iron pot, but even more incredible was that it turned out, with some research to be from the original line of Coquelle pots designed by Raymond Loewy, and I found a black pot of exactly the same model listed on a website for several hundred dollars! 

So, all in all, a fantastic find!  But to the really important bit, how my first loaf came out!  Can't take a crumb picture (sorry!) because the loaf is for my father-in-law, but you can see it has lovely crusty ears and (you can't see) a lovely crackle all around after cooling down.  I am totally thrilled with my new piece of bread baking equipment!