It's Aliiiiive!

Jim Sartain, of Sartain's Sauce fame, brought me some sourdough starter yesterday. He is an avid bread baker so he always has some starter on hand. Blogging pal, Cookiecrumb, had suggested I try making savory waffles instead of sweet, so I thought sourdough waffles was a good substrate to play with and Jim is always looking for a home for his excess starter.

Jim is a great guy, at least 6'5" with a shock of silvery hair and a big laugh; when he wears a hat, he seems even taller. He brought the starter packed neatly in a box with a bottle each of his sauce and marinade. He has given his business to a local high school, to allow students a chance to learn all the aspects of running a business, but he still has access to some of the sauce. I asked him how he developed the sauce and he described a painstaking trial-and-error process that would have daunted a lesser man. It took over a year to tweak the recipe.

He and cousin Jan came down from Petaluma to have lunch with me and to bring the starter. I left the jar in the box on the kitchen counter while we had lunch down in our little village, and when they headed on their way back home, I did a little grocery shopping, then laid down for a nap.

When I awoke, it was to find the starter, which had been at about the level of the blue rubber band when it arrived, had risen dramatically and even forced up the cap to spill over into the box!  When I went to unscrewed the cap, it popped off into my hand with some force. When I say, "It's aliiiiive!" I'm not just whistling Dixie!

Jim also brought me several recipe suggestions to go with the starter, so I have my work cut out for me, but I'm kind of a glutton for punishment so any suggestions from the peanut gallery for how to use this sourdough bounty? Waffles, yes, certainly, but what else might you suggest? I'd love to hear your ideas.