Irene, that photo is meant to capture what many people who have neglected jars of starter in their refrigerators looks like. If you had a jar of starter sitting there for a month without feeding it, it would look pretty much the same. Many people believe that something that looks so (relatively) unappealing must either be a) dead or b) somehow beyond redemption. Neither are true. With regular care and feeding, that starter became the happy, bubbly one you see at the end of the post. Susan

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