As you might recall from a few weeks ago, I’ve been sharing my sourdough starter Priscilla with friends. Here are the latest additions to her family tree:
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Offspring: Shebru (Peter and Anne in Wellington, NZ)
Our old friend Anne has hit the ground running with her androgynous starter (“Shebru” being a contraction of “Sheila” and “Bruce”). And despite never having baked bread before, Anne managed to produce not only a beautiful loaf on her first attempt, but also a half batch of sourdough bagels…
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Daughter: Kate (Jo in Queensland)
Lovely fellow gardener Jo was keen to compare Priscilla’s daughter Kate against her old starter, and baked two loaves – Kate’s is the round freeform one on the left with the highly coveted blistered crust…
The feedback I’m getting is that Priscilla is far less sour than most wild yeast starters…
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Daughter: Maggie (Clare in Victoria @ The Life of Clare)
We were delighted when Clare named her starter Maggie (we lost our chook Maggie recently), and even more delighted when her very first loaf turned out so sharp! Clare’s off and running now, and recently baked her first fruit loaves. You can read all about it here…
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Daughter: Cordelia (Tandy in South Africa @ Lavender and Lime)
My friend Tandy lives over 11,000km away in South Africa and as I’d never mailed anything there before, I wasn’t sure that my envelope of dodgy looking white flakes would actually make it through the postal system!
Thankfully it did, and Tandy has truly embraced the sourdough adventure – her first loaf (top right) had so much oven spring that it touched the top elements, and since then she’s baked an English muffin loaf and rolls. I’ve been excitedly following her baking adventures on twitter…
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Son: Thing Two (Heidi in Ohio, USA @ Steps on the Journey)
I was so happy to send a little bit of our starter to darling Heidi, as I knew the Bread Queen would do wonderful things with it! She too pointed out that Priscilla is far less sour than her existing starter, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, as her husband Frank really liked Thing Two’s loaves. Have a look at all the amazing things she’s been baking (and also read her views on bread making) here…
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Son: Dillon (Emilie in New York, USA @ The Clever Carrot)
Lovely Emilie is a kindred spirit and a fabulous baker! Her starter Dillon (named by her son) has been turning out beautiful loaves in her kitchen. I can’t wait to see what she does next with him…
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
My word – she does get around! And they all look so lovely – just like their mother. ;-)
I’ve been so chuffed that everyone’s loaves have been working so well! And they’re now all being passed on to, so Priscilla is getting “grandbabies”! :)
There is some seriously good baking going on Celia. Lovely to see in all its forms, and bagels, wow! Hello from Marion to all her brothers and sisters. Xxx
Bagels next, Ali! Isn’t Anne amazing – she FT’d me from NZ and said, “I had some starter leftover, so I thought I’d give bagels a go as well..” :) As you know, the process is pretty addictive! :)
AMAZING – best chain mail ever – BREAD!!! Thanks for sharing – Have a Great Day:)
Renee, that’s the perfect way to think of it – bread chain mail (only it’s completely obligation free!).. thank you! :)
Tsk Tsk, what a hussy that Priscilla is! But I must say, she has lovely looking offspring!! :)
Thanks Lina! Hope you get yours soon! :)
Wow, Priscilla sure likes to share the love around! Cannot believe that person made bagels even though they’ve never baked before.
Mel, our friend Anne isn’t one to be daunted by a new challenge! :)
I take notes of all your bread recipes, I want to try one day. But I am not so good as you dear. Thanks and Love, nia
Nia, I hope you get a chance to try them one day! Thank you! xx
Great post, Celia! I’ve been baking up a storm- and the loaves just keep disappearing- Frank loves Thing Two! I’m going to do a bread post very soon with pictures . Wish I could share the aroma of my kitchen and a small bite along with the pics!
Heidi, you are SO clever! I’ve never really made sourdough pizza work! I can’t tell you how happy I am that Frank is enjoying the loaves! :)
Wow. God I love bread! My sourdough and bread making adventures started last weekend, I produced two lovely loaves. Tonight I’m going to attempt a sourdough pizza base. I’ll let you know how that one goes.
Stephen, that’s wonderful news, congratulations! It’s an exciting adventure from here on in! Which of your starters did you use? And good luck with the pizza base – I never managed to make one that we liked from sourdough, but look at what Heidi was able to turn out from her Priscilla clone!
http://www.heidiannie.com/journeys-in-bread-making/
Hello to all Big Kev’s brothers and sisters! I wish I had more people to feed so I could make bread more often!
See, now you’re all starting to understand. You all think I’m a good sharer, but actually what I am is an obsessive baker! :D
Everybody is doing a great job. Congratulations to them all.
Glenda, aren’t they all just so clever? :)
It must be gratifying for Priscilla to see her spores not only travel the globe but to thrive wherever they go. Those loaves all look beautiful. I’m sure you’re pleased to see them all — and rightly so! :)
John, this really has been the best fun I’ve ever had with Priscilla – she’s traveled far and wide this past month. And the best thing is – each reincarnation will be slightly different, and each baker’s loaves will be unique. Which means it really is like having offspring rather than just clones! :)
OK: my starters came from NorthWestern but are not related [?] to Priscilla? Loved ‘Lavender & Lime’ using the name ‘Cordelia’!!!! Why not?? Tho’ a little New Australian gal in High School I happened to take to Shakespeare with ease and seemed to be in every School & Education Dept play/film. Refused to do male parts!! So, tho’ I was offered ‘Brutus’ in ‘Julius Caesar’ I picked the couple of lines of ‘Calpurnia’ [Caesar’s wife] and played it with every female vile I knew at that tender age :) ! SO, ‘Calpurnia’ and ‘Brutus’ they shall be – do not yet know to which of my two to bestow the ‘et tu’ part :D !
Eha, Priscilla is the evolution from (I think) a combination of the NW and San Francisco starters, so all our starters share common ancestry! And great names you’ve chosen! :)
I wish I didn’t have to work in the mornings as I would be baking bread every day. Yesterday I made the rest of my sourdough pancakes from Sunday’s batch and they were amazing. The left overs are in the freezer :)
Tandy, I know, I know…if we could we’d just bake all day long. And I say that after six years of doing it! :)
Two quotes for you this morning:-
‘Only Connect’ and ‘Ripeness is all’ What a wonderful celebration of your craft and your love, do not underestimate yourself xx
Thank you, dearheart. It’s been such a joy these last few weeks to see everybody so happily baking with Priscilla’s clones!
Such wonderful relatives my girl has! And thank you for pointing out the crust – I still don’t know why it’s highly coveted or why it didn’t happen on the other loaf – they were in the oven together.
A real globetrotter gal, your Priscilla. Lovely looking photos, Celia.
http://lindasgarden.wordpress.com/
lovely post, my latest blog is my starter for sour dough, when it was ready to bake with, but Able did not like the bread maker. my other loaves were in the oven turned out fine
Go Priscilla, Queen of the Sourdough. I seriously want a bagel now, right dang now! Hugs, Maz
Some truly beautiful sourdoughs pictured here! I don’t know what to make of this, but I still think the very best sourdough loaf I ever baked was my very first one! Don’t know if that was because I fell in love with the sourdough taste immediately, or if there really was something uniquely amazing about that particular loaf. Whatever. I still think it was the best.
Congrats to all.
Priscilla is prolific. She has off-spring EVERYWHERE. I’m moving house today and the previous occupant of the new house hasn’t organised a disconnection of her phone and until she does, I can’t get a connection! Not sure how long I’ll be without the internet but it could be a few weeks (she says, screaming loudly and tearing out her hair). xx
They all look amazing, I am in envy :( I have been trying to perfect my sourdough for a long time now and I seem to have lost the ability to make a good loaf, I am not getting any oven spring and the loaves are heavy would make good bricks lol. Any tips would be appreciated.
Shirley, maybe you need a new starter? I originally bought mine from Teresa at Northwest Sourdough, and her starters are very consistent – I wrote a bit about them here (at the bottom of the post):
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2013/02/22/priscillas-family-tree/
What a proud Grandma you must be Celia! Either that, or perhaps it’s a secret plot to take over the world one kitchen at a time :) xox,
Ha! Becca, you know me too well… ;-) xxx
A great post Celia, part family saga, part travelog!
Liz, Priscilla has certainly wandered further than I ever thought she would! There’s still more to come! :)
Priscilla’s family is certainly going strong! You must be very proud to see these :D
Must get you some when I next see you – can’t wait for you to join in! :)
Oooooo I’m so happy to see my Dillon up there! I just love looking at all of the different loaves…We just returned from vacation, and before I even had my coat off I was feeding my starter! I’ll be baking bright & early tomorrow! Thanks Celia! xx
Emilie, your Dillon loaf was just beautiful – very excited to see what you come up with next! :)
I didn’t know you could send starter in the mail. What a great idea and that they all have names. How wonderful!
Maureen, I love that everyone has named them (I did ask folks to, but of course, they didn’t have to!). It’s been a really fun couple of months!
That really made me smile, I love the idea of your sourdough having such a global family! You’re also shaming me into thinking about doing something with my poor neglected starter – I feed it regularly but haven’t baked sourdough in months!
Caroline, you’re already doing a great job just keeping it alive – I think if I didn’t bake regularly, I’d be ignoring my starter as well! :)
Time for another baby …. this week… excited :)
I think I have one of her relations. Linda from the Witches Kitchen sent me some starter from her “Navarone” and I called it Elvis (My first starter also called Elvis died). I then used some of Elvis (a white starter) to make my “Prisilla” (a rye starter).
That’s wonderful! :)
Wow. How amazing. Would you be able to give some tips on growing a starter. I’ve tried a few different times and each time mine ends up watery and horrible resulting in me having to throw it away. I would appreciate any tips you might be able to give. I’ve been making my own conventional bread for years now and I’m ready to try something new.
Kindest regards
Andrea Saunders
Andrea, sorry, I never had any luck either! I’ve always bought mine! Originally from Theresa at http://www.northwestsourdough.com/ – if you don’t see any on her website, drop her an email. Also, my friend Brydie has a page on how to make a starter here: http://cityhippyfarmgirl.com/2011/06/15/how-to-make-a-sourdough-starter/
Hope that helps!