Bread from around the world

I (Steve) am reading a book called Julie and Julia, about a woman who decided to tackle Julia Child's entire Mastering the Art of French Cooking in one year. It's so-so so far, but it got me thinking- I've got plenty of great cookbooks I don't cook much from, so why not try something similar. And the challenge I settled on:

Bread: the breads of the world and how to bake them at home by Christine Ingram and Jennie Shapter

I'm not going to bother cooking everything from the book in a year, because I frankly don't think I'd have time or come close to finishing. But, I may as well bake all the recipes at least once. Unlike Mastering the Art of French Cooking, I'll never end up with poached eggs en gelee; the worst it may get is a boring flatbread.

Today marks the beginning of the attempt, even though I've made some of these recipes before. The focaccia is fantastic, so it's been made repeatedly. Today, though, before going on a gorgeous bike ride up Grizzly Peak with Marty, Allon, Joe, and Cater, I mixed up a batch of Petit Pains au Lait. Unfortunately, I didn't have the foresight to make a double batch. They turned out great. Thanks to the leftovers from last night's Chinese, we didn't even eat all of them. We'll bring them to Scott and Sarah's tonight instead.