This month the Daring Bakers challenge is Julia Child’s French Bread and is being hosted by the equally lovely Breadchick  Mary from The Sourdough and Sara from I Like to Cook.

Read the recipe here.

It was fun to spend time with Julia Child, in a sense, by connecting to her through the words and instructions in Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 2.  Rick and I had  listened to her autobiography, “My Life in France”, while on a road trip to Napa and Sonoma California last Summer. So we knew how hard she had worked on developing a French Bread recipe that could be made by the home cook but still approximate the bread available in Boulangeries all over France. We learned that it is not necessary to bake bread if you live in France because each neighborhood has its own baker. You buy fresh bread every day from him (or her) and do not bake it yourself. (more…)