My first loaf!

Familiar - welcome to the bread bug soon you may find you have all sorts of tools and gadgets to help make bread at home which is one of the greatest joys considering the fact that store bought bread really pushes the limits of the traditional definition of bread (aka flour water salt and yeast). A little sidenote on flavor - sourdough is not the only way to coax flavor from wheat - I personally would rather eat a really tasty yeasted bread over a sourdough loaf. As a general rule the longer you can ferment a yeasted bread the more flavor can be drawn from the wheat as there are many processes going on during the period from adding water to going to the oven. Sometimes it seems sourdough may actually mask a lot of that goodness but it all depends on the individual taste buds. Happy baking !

You'll find there are loads of alternatives to making bread, from ingredients to methods and strategies, and then some. Even bakers' approaches differ, from those who step logically through mastering stages of difficulty, to those who dive in head first and try everything. Regardless, we've all experienced successes and failures along the way - the important lesson is to learn as you go. This site has loads of information in its archives, and friendly members who will help answer questions.

Welcome, and best of luck to you!

Cathy

it is very nicely shaped and well scored for a first attempt.

I had two thoughts about your flavor issue:  make sure you didn't leave the salt out.  I did that once, and the loaf looked and smelled fantastic, but tasted like a kitchen sponge - no flavor at all.

Also, unless you really hate a darker crust, you might try baking a touch longer for a bit more color on the crust.  Carmelization and the Maillard reaction contribute to the darkened color of heated starches/sugars and they both contribute a lot to the flavor of the crust.

Also, try taking a look at this post where someone asked a very similar question to yours: My Bread is Tasteless.

a couple of things you can try in the interim are no-knead bread that uses a long fermentation to develop flavor, and using a pre-ferment like a poolish. 

That's really a great loaf for first try. For flavor you might want to try, as others have mentioned, longer fermentation. Maybe experiment with a sponge.

is to bake bread.  Sad but true.  However, the good news is that you will have home made bread to eat, and soon your family and friends will be asking, "Could you bring some bread?" when you're invited over.

There is So Much on the internet.  A good and free place to start.  And I've found that much of what's on the internet will cycle back here.

Do you have a bookstore near you?  I have not read it, but there is a book called "Tartine Bread" that has caused a big stir and has converted many people to the author's methods.  For me, the book that turned on my lightbulb, so far as getting spectacular loaves of bread is concerned, was "Crust & Crumb" by Peter Reinhart.  If you have a bookstore near you, maybe you could go, find a corner somewhere, and read for a while, and maybe buy one of them.

There are some wonderful recipes on this site as well - along with notes on how they were made.  There is some technical jargon that you'll run into - which is explained in Crust & Crumb.

We are all of us a little bit crazy, and we don't care, not even a little bit.

Welcome!