Grease 1 baking sheet or 2 twin open-ended baguette pans.

To make the starter, in a medium bowl, measure the flour, non-fat dry milk, and yeast. Stir in the hot water to make a batter. Cover tightly with a length of plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature. The batter will rise and fall and continue to ferment and bubble during a 24-hour period.

The next day, make the sponge: turn back the plastic wrap and pour the hot water into the starter. Stir in the white flour. The batter will be thick. Re-cover and leave at room temperature, another 24 hours or at least overnight.

BY HAND OR MIXER

To make the dough, remove the plastic wrap from the bowl. Stir briefly and add the salt. With a large wooden spoon or rubber scraper, stir in the white flour, 1/2 cup at a time, by hand or in an electric mixer. When the dough becomes dense and difficult to stir, work in the flour with your hands or with a dough hook.

While this is an elastic, soft dough, sufficient flour must be worked into the mass to enable the shaped loaves to rest on the baking sheets without slumping, as hearth loaves are prone to do.

Knead the dough with a dough hook, or turn the dough out of the bowl onto a floured work surface and let rest for 3 to 4 minutes before kneading. If the dough seems slack, without body, or is sticky, throw down liberal sprinkles of flour to work into it during the early kneading.

A dough scraper in hand is convenient for keeping the work surface free of the film that often collects while the dough is moist and sticky. Lift the dough above the work surface occasionally and bang it down hard to break the kneading motion, and, at the same time, hasten the development of the dough, 10 minutes.

BY PROCESSOR

Prepare the starter and sponge by hand in a medium bowl, as above.

To make and knead the dough on the third day, attach the short plastic dough blade and scrape the sponge into the work bowl. Add the salt. Pulse.

With the processor running, add flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until the dough becomes a mass that will ride on the blade around the bowl.

Let the machine run for an additional 45 seconds to knead the dough. It may be sticky when it is taken from the bowl, but sprinkles of flour will allow it to be formed into a ball and dropped into the bowl to rise.

Wash and grease the bowl. Drop the dough into the bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Leave at room temperature until the dough more than doubles, about 1-1/2 hours.

(If prepared with a new fast-rising yeast at the recommended higher temperatures, reduce the rising times by half.)

Punch down the dough and turn it onto the work surface.

For a large loaf use all of the dough, about 4 pounds. If making a grape leaf and cluster, reserve 1 cup of dough.

The dough may be divided into small loaves. While the loaves may be put directly on the baking sheet to rise, they will have better shape if first placed in cloth-lined baskets (bannetons) or wedged between folds of cloth (couches). After the second rising they are transferred to the baking sheet.

If long French bread pans are available, the dough may be placed in these to rise and to bake, without being transferred to a baking sheet.

In forming a ball of dough for the basket, pull the surface taut under cupped hands. Place the ball of dough in the basket with the smooth surface down and wrinkled side up. When the dough is turned on the baking sheet, the smooth surface will be on top and the seam under.

In rolling a length of dough for a baguette or bâtard, keep it taut by striking the length of dough with the side of your palm 2 or 3 times as it gets longer. After making a crease down its length, fold in two (lengthwise) and continue rolling. This forces out air that is trapped in the dough that might cause unsightly bubbles in the bread, in addition to stretching the surface of the dough.

Carefully cover the loaves with wax paper or woolen cloth. Leave at room temperature until the dough triples in volume, about 2 hours. The large cell structure so characteristic of French bread depends on this extra period of rising.

Shortly before the dough is completely raised, make top decorations, if desired.

Grape: If possible, use a grape leaf, cluster, and tendrils or a picture to model the decoration. Roll the dough 1/8" thick for the leaf, trace the design, and cut with a dough wheel, razor, or sharp knife. Work carefully to trace the veins of the leaf. Pinch off 2 dozen small pieces of dough, and roll into balls between your palms or on the work surface. Carefully roll out a long string of dough to resemble a tendril. Reserve. They will be assembled on top of the risen loaf.

Wheat Stalk: Shortly before the loaf is completely raised, divide the reserved cup of dough into 3 pieces. Roll each into a long strand (under the palms) 12" to 14" long-no thicker than a lead pencil. Place the strands parallel and, beginning 4" from one end, braid to the end. Turn the strand around and spread apart the strands to make it convenient to cut the wheat design on each. With sharp-pointed scissors, make small cuts from the top down 5" of the strand-alternating right, center, and left-to create the illusion of grains of wheat protruding from the stalk before harvest. Leave the remainder of the stalk uncut and bare. Repeat the pattern for each strand. Lightly brush the top of the loaf with water, and then position the wheat stalks. Fan the upper stalks apart.

Place a broiler pan on the bottom shelf of the oven 20 minutes before the bake period. Preheat oven to 425°. Five minutes before the bread is to go into the oven, pour 1 cup hot water into the pan. Be careful of the sudden burst of steam. It can burn.

Uncover the loaf or loaves, lightly brush the tops with water, and position the decoration. If you are not making any decoration, slice the top with 5 or 6 parallel jets or cuts in one direction, turn the loaf, and slice 5 or 6 parallel cuts in the other to end up with a checkerboard pattern.

Place the loaves or loaf on the middle and top rack if both are needed, and change their positions 20 minutes into baking.

The water should boil away about the time the loaves begin to take on color so that the bread will finish in a hot, dry oven for a brown, crispy crust, 35 to 40 minutes. If the water has not evaporated, use less next time.

The loaves are baked when a light golden brown and are hard and crusty when tapped with a forefinger. If the bottom crust is not crisp, turn the loaves over in the pans and return to the oven for 10 minutes.

(If using a convection oven, place a shallow pan on the bottom. Three minutes before baking pour 1 cup hot water into the pan to create steam. Reduce heat 50°.)

Remove the bread from the oven and turn out, if necessary. Place on metal racks to cool. The bread is best when cooled, which allows the baking process to be completed. Warming bread after it has cooled is another matter. But fresh out of the oven it should be cooled or nearly so before it is introduced to the knife.