> have all Ms. Birnbaum's books and I think she has a deservedly first
>rate reputation among her peers and duffers like me for what she does

One thing I don't like about Biranbaums recipes is she makes it
complicated to the experienced kitchen practitioners...Its likely what
she had in mind when writing his books are amateurs...
Unforunately she did not do it well....The complexity of his recipes
intimidates baking enthusiasts ...in the same way she earns the scorn
from the bakery professionals....by being too fussy..

She is not a baker by heart but a food professional working the recipes
in her ivory tower. devoted to likeminded fellows...

When she wrote the bread bible and it appeared, When the opportunity to
browse it in the bookstore came. I just flipped the pages quickly and
it did not get me interested and dump it back to the shelf ,while I
took time to read the contents of the Jeffrey Hamelmans piece...