The Kitchen is bubbling over with excitement because of all the recipes that are filling up the Recipe Box! Do you know that we now have over 100 Amish Friendship Bread recipes? Yup, that’s right!
And all of these recipes have one thing in common: they all use 1 cup of Amish Friendship Bread starter. It’s the Bisquick of Amish Friendship Bread baking, and the heart of Darien’s novel, Friendship Bread, which was published last Tuesday by Ballantine Books (Random House).
This week’s special giveaway hearkens back to our early Facebook giveaway earlier this year. Remember one of our first contests, Who Gave You Your Starter? So many wonderful stories were shared, and it became one of our most popular posts.
Now that our numbers have grown, we’re hoping the stories have, too! (Oh, and a special thanks to Tania Opamin, Veronica Gantley, and the Campbell kids for sharing their starter pictures!)
From now until 11:59 pm PST Sunday, April 17, join us at the Kitchen Table and share your story for how you got your starter! If you made your own, that’s okay, too — just let us know what inspired you to start it. And if you have a picture of your starter, you’re welcome to share that, too!
If you’re new to our site, the Kitchen Table is our forum for discussion all things Amish Friendship Bread. You can always check our FAQs for commonly answered questions, but sometimes you just need to ask other home bakers for a little help and support, and that’s what the Kitchen Table is all about.
In keeping with tradition, the winner will receive a Bormioli Fido Clear Glass Jar with lid! The Italian-made Bormioli Rocco 1.5 liter jar is a favorite among sourdough bakers. It’s perfect for storing your Amish Friendship Bread starter — just give your starter a quick stir once a day!
- Clear glass hermetic jar allows you to see your starter clearly.
- 1.5 litre/1.59 quart capacity
- 4 1/4″ square x 8 3/4″ H
- Metal clamp and gasket seal helps keep starter fresh and contaminant-free
- Made in Italy
So go to the Kitchen Table, join our forum, and tell us how you got your starter (or why you started your own!) and where you’re from! Comments posted here will not be considered. This contest ends 11:59 pm PST Sunday, April 17, 2011. We’ll post the winner at the Kitchen Table. Good luck!
This contest is now closed. The winner is Michele Blaylock from Pierre, South Dakota. Congratulations, Michele!
Rhonda says
April 14, 2011 at 11:44 pmI got my first starter from a friend,michele & my second one from a lady at work noel,now i am making my own,thanks
Tracy Tibbels says
April 15, 2011 at 8:08 amWhen I was in my early 20’s and living on my own (nearly twenty years ago), I got my first starter from my mother, who got it from someone she worked with. Back then, we didn’t use bags to store the starter–we’d keep it in a Tupperware bowl and cover it with a kitchen towel, stirring it once or twice a day with a wooden spoon. Occasionally, I would get tired of making it, so I’d pass the starter to my Mom for a while, then she’d pass it back to me or to one of her sisters… It may still be going somewhere amongst my aunts! Even back then, we enjoyed playing around with different flavors of pudding, using different pans, adding nuts or chocolate chips, etc.
cranbery says
April 15, 2011 at 9:07 amMy Sister-in-Law years ago………..I have just started wanting to do this again. Your recipes are so great! All I had then was Herman!
carolyn miranda says
April 15, 2011 at 10:44 ammiss laura, joshua’s mom, i did daycare for them, now he is getting ready to go to school, tied it with a cute ribbon, intructions and different ingrediants that can be mixed in to make all kinds of yummy breads!!!!!!!
Barb Schumacher says
April 15, 2011 at 1:52 pmMy sister-in-law gave me starter years ago. I have kept it, passed it on, frozen it, restarted it and people LOVE the breads that I can make with it. Of all the flavors, my son’s favorite is plain cinnamon!
Dana says
April 15, 2011 at 3:42 pmI rec’d my starter from an old friend from out of state….It makes us feel closer!
Morgan says
April 15, 2011 at 6:42 pmMy friend gave me my started. I love it, and I was SO happy to find this website and see all of the great recipes. Thank you so much!
anita neilson says
April 15, 2011 at 11:12 pmMy sister gave me the starter and let me tell you it was the most moist and flavorful bread i have ever tasted…. Nita Neilson
Ruby says
April 16, 2011 at 12:22 amI was lucky to find this site!
A co-worker years ago gave me my starter. Made a lot of bread using the Amish Friendship Starter and gave a lot of starter away as well as gifts of bread. Being a Military Family, my husband received orders for Germany. Couldn’t take the starter with me, so lost it. No-one I asked had a recipe for the starter so it was lost to us for years. Now find this site with the starter recipe and more recipes also. Good to have this “friend” back. Thanks!
Ruby
Marg Leman says
April 16, 2011 at 5:15 pmMy starter arrived on April 9, 2011, a gift from Carolyn Breedveld, a young mom from our church. Carolyn is a “super mom” who has time for work, raising 2 active boys, and one very busy husband. When I was a child, my mother was a “from scratch” cook who baked all our bread in a coal/wood stove, using her homemade sourdough starter. It was fantastic! She has now passed on, but I am certain she would approve of my attempts to follow in her footsteps.
sway2865 says
April 16, 2011 at 5:15 pmMy mother, grandmother and aunts made friendship bread when I was younger and I always dreamed of doing it myself when I grew up. Learning about the book sparked the memory and I can’t wait to being. My mother and grandmother have passed away but I plan on mailing some to my aunt when I get finished.
Melanie Tyler says
April 16, 2011 at 8:08 pmYou did Darien! Or well your website did! I am now just beginning to experience all the wonderful recipes and beginning to share my starters with all my friends!
anna4bama57 says
April 16, 2011 at 8:08 pmI got my starter from a co-worker. I have not made the bread in several months but may start more soon.
Christine Rapave says
April 16, 2011 at 8:08 pmI received my first starter in a gallon sized ziplock baggie from one of the moms in my girl scout troop & have made about 7 batches of it since then…I just keep making it over & over again! My family is addicted to it, especially my husband! I am even making a whole bunch of loaves to sell at my girl scout troop’s bake sale next month…I have several large & small loaves in the freezer so far, and will be making more into muffins also! It’s soooo YUMMY!!
Melissa Dyson says
April 16, 2011 at 8:11 pmMy friend Cheryl Banigan had given me my very first Friendship Bread starter. Once I began it I had 6 going on at one time, some with fruit, some not. Some with English Walnuts, some not. I gave them as Christmas gifts one year. Then I moved to Alabama some 15 years ago and have greatly missed it. Many down here have no clue what REAL Amish Friendship Bread is. Wow, what they are missing. I sincerely miss the love and friendship it shows. God Bless, Melissa
Jennifer says
April 16, 2011 at 8:15 pmI received my friendship bread starter from my very best friend, she moved away many years ago, where she moved to has many Amish in the area, she got some starter from a roadside stand and on one of my few visits there she had given me the starter and every time I have bread I think of my friend . thank you
Nadine Smith says
April 16, 2011 at 8:17 pmI gave my starters to two people below, Amie Smith sister n law, Kirsten McCurley a friend, and I have other set getting ready to give to give another set to go!!!!!!
Debbie says
April 16, 2011 at 8:19 pmMy sister in law got me started many years ago. Even to this day I can always count on her to give me a starter. The only problem that I have ever found is we always have friendship bread available, but then again that really isn’t a problem. It sure is good!!
Linda Myers says
April 16, 2011 at 8:42 pmI’ve been sooo impressed by some of the stories I’ve heard here, and with all of the wildfires here in Texas and a lot of my friends going thru some rough times….I feel led to share a little happiness and bake some Amish Friendship Bread! I will be making my own Starter Recipe and start sharing it along with a loaf of delicious bread with some VERY special people in my life! Thanks for setting up this website and sharing your recipes!
Jennifer Hobbs says
April 16, 2011 at 8:46 pmMy sister in law gave me my first batch and I gave some to a friend I used to work with. A couple of years ago during a bad storm we lost all of our freezer foods and my husband threw mine away- Well thank God the friend that I had given some was still making hers and gave me a second start- thank God for friends and friendship bread!!
Eva Roberts says
April 16, 2011 at 8:52 pmMy first starter was given to me by a close friend. She also gave me a wonderful recipe. I made mine in muffin pans and everyone love the subsitution of applesauce for the oil.
Betsy Hansonl says
April 16, 2011 at 9:07 pmMy landlord about 15 years ago, but then I moved and a lady that was staying with us threw away the starters I had. Yes I cried and I have never been able to get a start going again or haven’t found anyone with a start!!!! ~:((((
So if anyone knows how to make another one PLEASE PLEASE email me!!! I MISS MY BREAD!!!
Mary Zylo says
April 20, 2011 at 1:20 pmI’d be happy to send you some if you e-mail me your address at [email protected]
Nancy Rose says
April 17, 2011 at 2:33 amMy mother gave me the starter, many years ago. Some one in the family has always had one going. I have shared the starter with many a great friends over the years.
Bethany says
April 17, 2011 at 5:42 amI’d heard of it but never had one until a (now former) co-worker (a man!) gave it to me. No one wanted my starters that I had to share so I did a lot of baking and I still have some that are frozen. Can’t wait to use them and I’m thrilled to have a recipe to make my own!
Rebekah says
April 17, 2011 at 6:50 amOn the first day of this school year, as all the teachers who had attended our “welcome back and orientation day” were walking out, I was taking awhile to gather my things. A teacher that I know, though not so well as to expect to be approached with a “gift” of well…what is this? It was my first starter and since then, August 2010 I have been baking ever 10 days and sharing the divided starters with teachers, parents and friends in my church. What a delicious and relational adventure!
bobbie becker says
April 17, 2011 at 9:59 amI got mine from a friend at work. I miss not having a starter because they are always so good as gifts or little pick me ups for friends!
Catherine Bruening says
April 17, 2011 at 1:57 pmNo one. I am making the starter recipe myself, to give to my mother for Mother’s Day. She is the best. She left her small, childhood home of over 60 yrs to move up to our St. Louis suburban township. We’ve got children with serious health issues, as well as myself, and she has been so supportive. We had to file bankruptcy last year and we don’t have the money to buy her a Mother’s Day gift like we’d like to get her, so I made her some homemade hand soap and am going to give her this starter, which will mean so much to her because my brother lives in a town in PA, and there’s an Amish community around where he lives. She fell in love with the simple, yet beautiful surroundings of that Amish community and this would remind her of my brother, as well as the starter being a gift from me that was made and given to her with unconditional, everlasting love.
Bethany Whitesell says
April 20, 2011 at 1:10 pmI’d love to have some of the starter, but have no idea who has any. Certainly no one I know, because I’ve asked around. I remember having some back in Indiana, years and years ago, but along the way it went by the wayside. Help!
Mary Zylo says
April 20, 2011 at 1:19 pmI made my starter. I’ve never in my life received any. I’ve been sharing the breads and the starter with others since then. I’m from Chicago, but I now live at Williams Creek National Fish Hatchery in Arizona.
JOYCE LANIER says
April 20, 2011 at 2:16 pmI walked into the breakroom at work one day and one of my friends said “Hey Joyce wanna try this bread I made yesterday after work,?” I said no Lorrie no offense but I don’t like bread. She said but you will like this one, it is really good. So not to offend her I cut a small slice and got a soda and sat down to enjoy my break. I ate that peice and then got another and said o.k. girlfriend I need this recipe, so she handed me a copy of the recipe and a starter and I said what is this stuff and so she told me all about Amish Friendship
Bread, I couldn’t believe I had to wait ten days before I could bake the bread and share this most enjoyable bread with my family. That was eight years ago and my family has enjoyed this delicious bread every ten days since. Just before a holiday I start keeping more than one starter and then I bake it up and give it for gifts . Thnx, Joyce
Stephanie M says
April 25, 2011 at 4:08 pmMy friend Aimee gave me my starter. She was stopping by to drop off a Scentsy order for me, and also gave me the starter. I’ve got most of my friends hooked on it, so finding this site is awesome, since I’m running out of people to give it to. I love the variations and I’m sure my family will too, once I bake them!!! thanks for sharing!!
brenda powers says
May 1, 2011 at 2:21 pmI had to start my own starter but I have been blessed with this before years ago.After reading half way through the book the book I had to start one can’t wait to try some of the different ways that it is baked up.
Jo Lynn Haussmann says
May 2, 2011 at 6:15 pmI gotten one years ago and don’t know what happened to it. A friend brought me some one day at work 6 years ago & I’m hooked!!
Betty says
May 13, 2011 at 11:12 amHi,
Actually, I got it from my computer on Facebook. It was one of the small adds on one of my pages. I love baking and cooking, and it caught my attention right away. And I am now a regular member always trying something new from all your different recipes.
thanks,
Betty Horne
Lisa S. says
June 3, 2011 at 6:21 amI got my starter from a woman at work who left them on a table for anyone who wished to have them. Each starter left on the table had the recipe. I am excited to try this recipe and all the other recipes found on this site.
donna smith says
June 25, 2011 at 1:43 pmMy starter was given me by a neighbor when I moved into our new home. I had no idea what it was or what to do with it, but I soon became educated. It was then a race between the two of us to greet other new neighbors in the same way. It is also a wonderful gift for baby showers, and other such occasions!
ella bondon says
July 2, 2011 at 8:06 ami need to know where to get my starter from i had one before but, i lost it, is it anyone out there can get me started again. Please!! I thank you, Ella
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