Surrendering to the challenge...

Sometimes the challenge is in finding the ingredients (or the implements)...

Sometimes the challenge is in a new technique, like pastry crust...

Or a scary one, like caramelizing sugar...

This month the ingredients were simple ones: flour, salt, water and yeast. And the recipe... the recipe was what our hostess called Julia's 18-page love letter to French bread, a treatise on combining simple ingredients into bakery-worthy bread. What I love about Julia is that her recipes and her techniques are accessible to the home cook. She takes something you're convinced you'll never master, walks you through the process, at the end of which you've done it. You've beaten boeuf bourguignon and bouillabaisse, conquered cassoulet and coq a vin.

In February, the challenge for me wasn't about the ingredients or the technique. It was about carving out the time. And I regret that between professional and personal commitments, I wasn't able to fit it in this month. So you'll have to check out the Daring Baker Blogroll to see how my brothers and sisters in pastry fared with this month's challenge.

I'm sorry Mary. I'm sorry Sara. Know that I was with you in spirit. And that when I *do* make the time to work through this recipe (and I *will*) , it will be in the spirit of the challenge the two of you presented...

Technorati Tags: Daring Bakers