As it turns out, yesterday’s French bread was not the first time I’ve tried that recipe. The first attempt was made in February. I thought the result then was a failure and tossed the loaf out (apparently without even trying it!). I’m smarter now. My description of results back then closely resembles what I got this time (see below). I think now that I’ve made a few breads with whole wheat flour I know what color to expect the crumb to be, whereas then I hadn’t used it, misidentified the color as “green” and thought something had gone wrong.

A dozen or so loaves later, I also have more confidence that I know what I’m doing. That never hurts.