I made French Bread!

Today was a day unlike most early March days in the south--it snowed!  In my 53 years of life, I have only experienced snow in March one other time, the blizzard of '93.  Today wasn't quite like that day on March 13 seventeen years ago (snowed about 18"), but it was a day to just sit back and chill.  Only, I didn't do that, I decided to make French bread! The last time I got the urge to bake in this way was probably about 25 years ago, a time when there wasn't a great French bakery just around the corner. I actually have a real, honest-to-God, professional baguette pan; you can cook six loaves at a time.  Got it out, dusted it off (real dusty, but I decided it needed a good washing), lightly oiled two of the "cavities" and waited patiently for the dough to go through its three risings. It doesn't fit into my wall oven!  No problem, I have a heavy-duty, cavernous professional range--the door won't open!  Since I renovated my kitchen a few years ago, this professional range is only used on the high holy days--Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, just a few times a year. But now, the one time I need to use it, it's on the fritz! Heated up the pizza stone instead and cooked the loaves directly on the stone.  This is Julia's recipe, so it turned out beautifully. I can't say that it was the most perfect French bread that has ever been baked or even the best I have ever tasted. It was probably a little dense, probably a little too browned, but there is absolutely nothing like bread fresh from the oven.  JD and I ate an entire loaf almost before we could get the rest of the food on the table. With butter, with olive oil, it was so good--so much for trying to shed a few pounds this Lent!