Throughout my long cooking and baking career I have baked many kinds of breads and sweetbreads, experimented with my own recipes and found great satisfaction in producing nutritious and good-tasting products for my family. Their appreciation of my baking efforts and my interest in formulating new recipe combinations and presenting them at table has never diminished.

Nonetheless, my husband who has a great curiosity that encompasses just about everything, one day years ago succumbed to the allure of purchasing a bread machine. He just cannot resist sales. And this one was on sale. So he bought it with the firm intention of using it. And use it he did. With a good deal of success, so he was enormously pleased with himself. He even insisted on baking special breads for me, to suit my taste, heavy and dense with seeds and dark rye flour. After several years of good use his interest in baking bread waned. So for a year that bread machine saw no use whatever.

Early this week the impulse overcame him to bake a French bread for himself. The technique he used was the old familiar one, with simple, basic, called-for ingredients. When he set the bread machine on, he took himself downstairs to his workshop to re-commence working on his latest project. When the machine finally pinged itself to completion he discovered within its innards an inedible brick. He was puzzled and blamed the yeast, but this was the same yeast I use continuously when I prepare bread-type doughs throughout the week.

He put on another bread, same recipe, same protocol. And watched. This time there was no busy-noise-making from within the machine. It had pooped out, was no longer capable of doing anything, its electronics somehow become inoperative. So off he went the following day to replace it. He brought home a refurbished Cuisinart breadmaker with some additional functions and convection capabilities. And set about to produce another bread.

And with the assistance of his new breadmaker out came a successful, fragrant, crusty loaf of French-type bread.