Artisan Bread (for the Very Frist Time!)

I have had a book on Artisan bread for nearly 3 months now, and never quite had all the supplies, or wimped out, or didn't have the time.. or ANYTHING that would keep me from doing it (not on purpose) would come up. Well, yesterday, I finally decided I would make it, and that I would let nothing come in my way of finishing it. 

I started out by burning my flour, as I didn't realize that you shouldn't flour the baking stone til right before the dough goes in. Oops. I thought nothing of it for the first 25 minutes, just assuming that nasty smell was something burned onto the bottom of my over (sigh, yes, that would mean I'd need to clean it. But that was nothing to worry about right away.) More time went by and it was smelling worse and worse. What on earth? I thought to myself. It was snowing pretty hard yesterday morning, and was brutally cold, yet I shoved two windows wide open to air our the house. (I have a strange fear of smoke alarms, I think because when growing up, we had such high, peaked ceilings that a person had to stand on a step ladder to shut them off. I didn't like standing on ladders. Therefore. . .  )

Several times, I peered into the oven, but seeing nothing amiss, I would shut it again, just to keep smelling the bad burning smell. Eventually the flour turned darker, and darker, until my final peek into the oven and saw it had turned the color of cinnamon. Not good, not good! I grabbed an oven mitt and yanked it out as quickly as I could, rushed it to the sink, and scooped the flour off. It still smelled awful, so I can some hot water over it.. (I also have a slight fear of baking stones, as I think I will crack them somehow. Then I *really* won't be able to make artisan bread. So I was half-expecting the water to shatter it. Yes, silly, I know.) 
Once clean, I ran a paper towel over it and looked at my mess. I was pretty sure by now the bread would not turn out, because 1) my stone was not floured and it would stick, and 2) there was a ghastly smell of burned flour in the whole oven, so likely the bread would come out with the flavor all over it. I was about to throw away my already-formed loaf, when I decided I'd just make the loaf anyway, and if it was inedible, well, at least I knew how to form and bake it. Seemed worth a shot. 

30 minutes later, I took the bread out.. it smelled absolutely scrumptious. I waited about 15 minutes, then sliced the end off. Typically I do not like the "butts" of bread, or the "heel" as everyone else calls it. It's just too dry and bland for me. But OH MY GOODNESS. I am officially in love with artisan bread's crust. It was the perfect crunch, with a very moist, chewy crumb.. I ate another slice, both lathered in butter. YUM. 

Since my loaves were each 1 lb each, there were only 5 slices, and since I ate two, I put the other three on plates and took them to my girlfriends with whom I was having lunch later that day. To my great happiness, they loved the bread as well. I am very certainly going to make this again. <3<3