There are a few reasons to make your own bread, even if you don't have a nice brick or adobe oven. First of all, in this country good bread is extremely scarce. Second of all, the bread you make yourself, while it may not compare with a fine artisanal loaf from a real bakery, will undoubtedly be much better than practically anything else. So, go for it, and embrace the magic of yeast!
1 and 1/3 c water warmed to approximately 112 degrees farenheit, with a tbl of sugar dissolved. Add one tsp or one package of yeast and stir and let sit until foamy.
In a seperate bowl, 3 c of BREAD FLOUR with 2 tsp of salt mixed well. Add the liquid, knead into a ball by hand and set it, covered with floured plastic wrap and let rise, for as long as you want, even overnight. You can let your dough rise as many times as you want, which is very convenient as sometimes it is difficult to be the domestic goddess you know you are, so you can just punch it down and let it start all over again.
When you are ready, punch the dough down and split into two equal parts. Form them into baguettes and let them rise again, covered with your floured plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm spot (I like to let it rise in the oven, or in my old house in the summer on the terracotta tiles in my garden. Sigh.)
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees for 10 minutes then lower the heat to 350 degrees for another 20 minutes and voila!
Here is a photo of the recently formed baguettes, just before I put them in the oven to rise.
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