I’m not an expert, by any means, but I have baked many a loaf of bread and done some experimentation. I think I can make a solid recommendation that you start with just making bread in the most straightforward way possible, and do that enough times that it’s not a big deal to up and decide you’d like fresh bread today. I know people are generally inspired to try breadmaking because they have something fancy in mind, but I don’t think it’s ever a good idea in any art or craft to skip learning to grind through the basic stuff until you can do them automatically.
I started by working with a book called Ratio, which I may have seen recommended here on the Straight Dope. It deals with how many recipes at the fundamental level involve ratios among basic ingredients. From there you can get as complicated as you want.
Basic Ingredients: Basically bread is 5 parts flour to 3 parts liquid by weight. But you also need salt (which is generally recommend as 1% of the weight of the flour) – multiple sources will tell you it’s because it just won’t taste right otherwise, but I think the sources that say that the salt is needed to moderate the growth of the yeast are more on point. But, yeah, you’ll notice something off if the salt is missing. =)
Basic Technique: Motherfuckers will tell you that you need to knead the dough until you can stretch it to near translucency without it breaking. Those motherfuckers are involved in cruel conspiracy. Oh, it’s possible, but as you’ll learn later, different styles of bread ask for different dough consistencies, and most of these ranges produce something you’ll be glad to jam in your face. There are even recipes in which you just leave the stuff alone and a good enough gluten network forms its own damned self. Also, go ahead and screw around hand kneading just let the nature of the dough make an impression on your mind, but invest in a stand mixer with dough hooks as soon as possible.
Yeast: I entirely skipped all this business with buying yeast in packets. My grocery store sold it by the jar, and it was cheaper. I don’t proof yeast, I just let it sit on top of the water I’ll be mixing in for a few minutes while I do something else - which technique was recommended to me when I used to homebrew, because the yeast wakes up in the water, and has oxygen from the air to get it fired up. However, now I only use Saf-Instant yeast that I buy online, putting some in a yeast jar and freezing the rest. It is made not to need proofing or other preparation. Just throw it in.
Moving on: As delicious as bread is with just that crap, you want to start throwing in some source of fat as soon as possible. Usually butter. It’s tasty. But the main reason I recommend it is that it creates a different texture. Your bubbles will be smaller, making it more versatile for applications other than just tearing it in chunks and jamming it in your mouth.
Right. So do that a bunch of times until it doesn’t seem nearly so laborious, then start planning all those tricky bread styles with exacting ratios and techniques.