Other than haunch of moose frontier gourmet meals usually started with a superior sourdough starter. This is where the non-dancehall ladies of the North had an advantage over men who liked being called sourdoughs a term they really didn't share with mere women. Our secret knowledge is that women instinctively knew how to care for a baby. Sourdough starters are living things. It is important that the starter be fed on a regular basis.

Starters are often called The Lady (actually they call it "The B--ch" but we refrain here from using that term) Famous chefs have been known to call from far away countries while on vacation to make sure that someone fed "The Lady"

We know of an owner of an Alaskan B&B in Fairbanks that has a starter handed down from sourdough gold miner relatives, that is over 100 years old and has been continuously been fed for that amount of time. Now that is responsibility!

I have heard of experiments that schools have done to help teach to students responsibility by having them care for, for a month, an egg as their baby. Imagine what it would teach if they used the real life form of sourdough starter to teach caring for and keeping something alive. Especially if they required the students to use the portion of starter that they have to weekly take out to feed it for some yummy sour dough concoction for their whole family, rather than throw it away.