I created my Sourdough Starter on July 1, 2007 and have been keeping it active ever since with refrigeration and once a month feeding. I learned that it is not a crime to pour a cup or two cups of starter away if no one wants any and it is time to feed the starter. Basically I learned that I don't feel the need to bake something every time I feed my starter. The older this starter gets the better it gets. I have made breads, pizza dough, pancakes, waffles, sourdough biscuits which are a big hit and homemade sweet rolls. I have given some to other family members and they have also enjoyed the above items. Creating a sourdough starter is very easy and maintaining it is also easy. Once a starter is created and maintained it will last as long as you want it too. There are stories of some starters being used that were created over 200 years ago and passed down to family members who now value it as a family treasure. I created my Starter with 1/4 cup of all purpose flour, 1/4 teaspoon of sugar, and 2 full Tablespoons of warm Spring Water ( Some tap water is treated with a lot of chlorine which can prevent your starter from well becoming a sourdough starter), I have no problems at this point using my tap water to keep my starter active you might just need to experiment. The container you will need or use can be plastic or glass, but aluminum cannot be used. Stir the above recipe together and let it sit at room temperature with no lid or just a paper towel on top of the container. The next day you might see lots of tiny bubbles forming which means that good yeast is forming but most likely you want see any activity until day 3. You will need to feed your starter so do the exact same recipe and measurements as above stir and leave sitting at room temperature. On day 3 you should see some activity with the tiny bubbles. Today (Early Morning) measure out 1/2 cup of all purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon of sugar, and 1/4 cup of warm water. Stir together and leave sitting at room temp for 24 hrs. On Day 4 you might see larger bubbles forming and the starter might have risen some in the container. Today you will pour 1/2 cup of starter into a measuring glass. Now discard the remaining starter. Wash and dry the container then pour the remaining starter back in. Add 1/2 of flour to the starter, 1/2 teaspoon of sugar, and 1/4 cup of warm water stir and let sit at room temp. Day 5 early morning you should see a frothy starter that has increased in size. Give it an early morning feeding of 1 cup of flour, 1 teaspoon of sugar, and 1/2 cup of warm water and stir. Leave at room temp till that evening. Now discard half of the starter (1 cup) and then add 1 cup of flour, 1 teaspoon of sugar, and 1/2 cup of warm water and stir. Leave sitting out at room temp. The next morning hopefully your starter has doubled in size if it is sluggish just allow it to sit for another 12 to 24 hrs without any feeding. If the starter has doubled then again repeat with discarding half of the starter and feeding just as the above. That evening discard half again and same feeding. The next morning keep 1 and 1/2 cup of starter, then feed with 1 and 1/2 cups of flour, 2 teaspoons of sugar, and 3/4 cup of warm water and mix together. Leave out at room temp. The starter should have doubled in size and is probably ready for use at this point. You can choose to bake or refrigerate your starter. If you refrigerate then for the first month you will need to discard half, and feed your starter once every 7 days. After that time period you can then feed it every 3 weeks. Do not be alarmed if liquid forms on the top of the starter and even if the liquid turns black. This is called "Hooch" you can choose to pour it off or just do like I and stir in back into the starter before I discard any and repeat my feeding. I try to maintain at least a 3 1/2 cup amount of starter as some recipes will call for 2 cups. That leaves me 1 1/2 1/1cup left to feed and build my starter back to the 3 cup amount. I do this by just adding 1 1/2 cups of flour, 2 teaspoons of sugar, and 3/4 cups of warm water and then stir and let sit at room temp for at least 24 hrs before I sit back in the refrigerator. I encourage others to try your hand at creating your own starter and maintaining it as it really is something unique and makes wonderful baked breads and other baking items. The longer you maintain it the more of a treasure it will become not only for you, but your entire family and extended family as you will be able to give them a cup of the starter instead of discarding it and who knows a hundred years from now they will be talking about that starter which is still being used that was created by one of their relatives many, many years ago.