Sourdough starters can be purchased commercially or they can be started on your own. Your own might be more fun. One cup of water is mixed with 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 cup flour, and 4 tablespoons commercial buttermilk. Mix all of this together and place it in a glass or stainless-steel bowl. Do not use aluminum. Cover this with a towel and allow to stand in a warm place for a few days, or until it has begun to ferment and has a wonderful sour smell. You might keep this on the top of the water heater or in your oven and leave the light on all the time. The starter should be the consistency of pancake batter and it can be covered and stored in the refrigerator. Use this as your starter in any of the recipes that follow.

The old-timers claim that you can get a sourdough starter going by just mixing flour and water together and allowing it to sit in a warm place for several days. This may work, but it is not terribly reliable.

Hint: On Storing Sourdough Starter. When storing sourdough starter in the refrigerator, remember that it should be kept at around 42ø. If it is too cold, it will take a long time to come around again, to come back to life. Your refrigerator is probably colder than this, so perhaps you may want to store the starter in a very cool place.

From <The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American>. Downloaded from Glen's Mm Recipe Archive, http://www. Erols. Com/hosey.