Smells like an open house

Yes, it is what you think it is; warm, yeasty, crusty on the outside, chewy on the inside bread. Here's the deal: I took Martha's Baking Handbook out of the library the other day and have been perusing it daily, drooling and wishing for cold hands and more patience. Today I couldn't take it any more. I made my first cup of coffee and started out bright and early sifting my ingredients. I followed the recipe exactly, and everything was going well until I turned the dough out onto my board to begin kneading. Splat. So I added more flour. And kneaded. And added more flour. And kneaded. And added more flour, and more flour, and kneaded some more. This went on for quite a while. Finally, after much trial and error, I hit the right dough consistency; smooth, not sticky and pliable. I was thrilled - even baking isn't an exact science! Who knew? I might be hooked.