Baguette Attempt # ??

I bought a beautiful lame from a quaint little cookery shop in Toronto, and obviously the first thing I had to try was basic pain a l'ancienne with it. Unfortunately, my inexperience with hearth breads shows.

Ok, for a more honest and less stylish picture: Yuck!! The ears are all deformed and sad. I slashed the loaves as cleanly and deeply as I thought I should, but it looks like I was again too conservative. The knife blade is VERY sharp though, which makes me happy.

But really, this doesn't deserve much of a write up as a kind of wall of shame post. I will return to this soon! Anyway, the basic recipe is so simple (it really boils down to how patient you are with the fermentation process) that it will allow me many opportunities to practice this. I will master slashing my loaves!