Bread Baking 101

I'm not sure what's gotten into me, but how fun it is to make bread! Yesterday, on a whim, I decided to make some focaccia. I haven't made a lot of yeast breads in my time- a half dozen batches of cinnamon rolls, french bread once in college I think... and that's about it. So I had the ingredients in my kitchen for a Parmesan focaccia and I gave it a whirl! This is all that's left- it turned out pretty good! The bottom was a little more crispy that I'd like, and it could have used some more interesting flavors, but not bad for a first try. Tonight I'm making lentil soup for dinner so I thought a hearty, rustic white bread would be fantastic. I didn't have any bread flour, but my cookbook said I could just use all purpose flour and the crumb would not have the same chew but it would work. So, again, I gave it a whirl. Of course, as everything was in the works, I ran out of flour entirely. Not being much of a baker, there's only so much that fits in my little canister and I used it all up between yesterday and today! If only I remembered that i had whole wheat flour in the fridge- I *just* remembered that right now. What an idiot!! I decided to go ahead and finish the loaf as best I could with it being a little sticky. (see here, the dough is supposed to be tight and smooth.) I figured it would be okay. The finished product: kinda flat and way too brown. Disappointed novice baker:
'Til next time!