Homemade baguette

I love baking baguettes and eating them too. When my husband and I took a trip to Paris, we practically ate baguette all day long. While in Paris, we saw the Parisians carried baguette in their brown bags every where they go. When we were at sacre coeur, we saw a lot of the Parisian, picnic out with their baguette, cheese and wine.   It's so cool and they are incredibly D-licious. Foods in Paris are so expensive, so if you are going to have a fancy breakfast every day in Paris..., it's not worth it. Before you head out to your tour, stop by at a bakery and pick up a baguette. In Paris, you can find two bakeries in every block. They sell really great pastries...I love Paris. I am not really crazy about their food, but I am insane for their pastries. And baguette is on of the best bread out there. I pretty much eat them with anything, from Ham & cheese to butter & jelly. My husband loves eating his pasta with a piece of baguette. Here's my easy baguette recipe. I do it with bread machine, but if you don't have one, then you just do the old style.

1 cup of luke water
1/2 teaspoon of yeast
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of kosher salt
Let it sit for 10mins for proof then add:
1 tablespoon of olive oil  
approx 2 1/2 - 2/3 cups of bread flour

1 egg yolk whisked with 1 tablespoon of water for brushing on the top.

Since, I used my bread machine, it does the mixing and kneading. Basically, I waited until it finished kneading, then I took it out from the bread machine and placed it on a bowl. (I covered my bowl  and the dough with olive oil generously, because I don't want to have a dry skin while waiting for the dough to rise.) If you like crust skin, then do not put olive oil. I don't really like crusty skin, so that's why I put a lot of olive oil.

Wait about 1 hour approx on 85F for the dough to rise. If you live on a colder area, then try to put the dough inside an oven, put a boil water inside the oven and close the oven, so the warm temperature from the water won't escape. OR, you can preheat your oven to 200F for about 3-4mins, then turn it off, then let the dough sit inside the oven.
After the dough has risen, then shape it (you can use corn meal or bread flour to help with shaping) and put in the baking sheet.
Let it rise again for about 3-4 hrs (depending on your home temperature, if your home is below 85F, you can repeat the procedure above) Once the dough has doubled it size, cut the dough diagonal or straight on it's skin (don't cut it too deep). After cutting, let it sit for 10mins, then brush it with egg yolk and then you may bake it. Preheat your oven to 350F, and bake it for about 10-15mins, depending on your oven. After 10mins, I advisedly to check constantly.

Before going inside the oven

Good Luck!!!