Sourdough Lore

November 27, 2018 by paladinipotpie Leave a comment

Happy birthday to my starter! Thirty Nine years today, and still going strong.

It all began in November of 1979. Or maybe I should say, it all started. I made a batch of sourdough starter that has been going strong now for almost 33 years. It has made hundreds of beautiful braided loaves of bread and countless pizza crusts. It’s also the matriarch of dozens of smaller jars of starter that have been given to friends over the years.

Gold prospectors in Alaska and California during the 1800’s were nicknamed sourdoughs because among their provisions there was always a bucket or jar of sourdough starter. In the absence of yeast and baking powder, they used sourdough starter as leavening for biscuits, bread and pancakes.

So there I was in 1979. I put 2 cups of milk into a jar and covered it with cheesecloth and set it on the counter for 24 hours. Then I stirred in 2 cups of flour, covered…

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Author: paladinipotpie

Welcome! My name is Andrena Paladini and this is a blog about family and love and faith and fun. I call it Paladini Potpie because a potpie is like an adventure in a crust. You never know what might come up, but it’s always going to be good! Think of the best potpie you’ve ever eaten…hot flaky crust holding a rich savory sauce and all kinds of pieces of meat and vegetables…and who knows what? As a family, we’ve chosen to live within the parameters of God’s love and protection. This is the crust of our Paladini Potpie. The crust never changes. Within this crust, the savory sauce of family love binds it all together. That is also fairly constant. But beyond the crust and the sauce we can add just about anything! Good ideas come our way and we’ve adopted and adapted them to add to what John calls our treasure box of memories. These stories and ideas from John’s treasure box of memories are the ingredients I’m putting into our Paladini Potpie. (Okay, so this ridiculous mixing of metaphors about treasure boxes and potpies is exactly what I’m talking about. Silly and ungrammatically correct. But both illustrations work… so we’ll mix them together and it’ll be just fine!) John and I have been married for 30 years. Our children have wonderfully doubled in number since David married Amanda, Monica married Dan, and Matthew married Sarah. And the newest little treats that have been added to our potpie are six adorable grandchildren - Ethan, Angelina, Nathan, Audrey, Maleia and Caleb! I hope you’ll subscribe to my Paladini Potpie blog, and keep up with all the fun new ingredients I add. Hopefully you’ll enjoy our stories and ideas, and find something you’ll want to put into your own potpie! Bon appétit!