Has anyone tried growing a starter using the "instant" starter LA-4 for French Soudough that KA sells? I don't mean a new starter each time I make a loaf, but a mother that lives and grows and needs to be fed--getting older and tangier as time goes by. It seems like a great source of just the right bacteria--why not age it a little like a young wine? I used the LA-4 as instructed to make 2 loaves. In spite of my cold kitchen (61) and the blizzard outside for three days, the bread was great. But I'd love to build on the flavor a bit and it's the wrong season to go looking for organic grapes and wild yeast. Suggestions? Recipes? Mari, just take a bit of the dough when you make an LA-4 bread, and use it to start your starter - feed with with equal parts flour and water, and build it that way. Doesn't mean it'll retain that flavor - all starters gradually adapt themselves to your own micro-climate. But it'll be a fun experiment - PJH

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