January Droops

T.S. Eliot notwithstanding, I think that January is the cruelest month.  No more anticipation of the holidays, just the cleanup and credit card statements.  The coldest and snowiest months staring us in the face.  The inevitable colds and flus.  No herbs growing in the backyard.  And the darkness.  I wonder how anyone avoids seasonal affective disorder (aka SAD).

I tried to snap myself out of the droops by baking some bread.  Now, I have never been a gifted baker, but I received The Bread Baker's Apprentice as a Christmas present, and that has inspired me to work on bread this year.  I started today with a very simple dough, for a bread that Peter Reinhart, the author, calls pain à l'ancienne.  He thinks that it makes the best baguettes in Paris.  Who am I to argue?  I made four mini-baguettes, set aside two balls of dough for pizza tomorrow, and baked and froze two ciabatta-style loaves for later this week.  I'm sure my baguettes are not the best in Washington, but they had a very nice crust, and they made excellent sandwiches with some ham, aged Gruyère, and mustard.  It will be a nice project for 2011 to learn how to make some decent breads.