Still working on the silly little loaf. I've actually gained a lot of confidence after a couple HUGE failures... I'm still struggling quite a bit with surface tension and shaping (which go hand in hand) of the high hydration loafs. I think so much of it really really is practice. I can't think of anything major that I did differently... Just repetition. I did start substituting flours... bread flour, corn meal, whole wheat flour.... I really like organic corn meal in the french loaf. It really makes a moist crumb with a slight yellow hue.
Bread failure: Whoops on the bubbles! Dried it and it made really good bread crumbs, with which I breaded and baked zucchini. yum!