I just started bread baking again a few months back and since then, I've been attempting to improve my pain de campagne from Bernard Clayton's book and by George, I think I got it. It's so tasty and airy with a wonderful feel in the mouth. I tweaked things a bit and retarded the final rise and it all came together, finally. Just as I'm about to try a TRUE sourdough starter for the first time. I just bought the ingredients yesterday.
Truly, sometimes it really does take practice, practice practice. I'm not saying it's what some of you pros/near pros can do, but for me, this is HUGE! And this bread is huge. It's 13" diameter and 4" tall.
It's so wonderful when a bread finally comes out the way you want it to!
That looks beautiful.