I’d like you to meet my Amish Friendship Bread Starter.
Mel was born in 2018, had a couple of good rounds, and then I had to go on vacation. Mel was fed, divided, and then transferred to a Ziploc bag and popped into the freezer. About four months later, Mel re-emerged from her (yes, Mel is a she!) cryo-nap and has been bubbling on the counter ever since.
Traditional sourdough bakers are known for naming their starters. After all, the starter is alive and growing, requiring regular feedings, just like a pet. Naming your Amish Friendship Bread starter (or starters, in my case) also helps differentiate one starter from another. You wouldn’t give all your kids the same name, would you? Naming your starters makes it easier to keep track: their DOB (when you made/received them), where they came from (made from scratch, received from a friend), which ones are tougher than others and quick to bubble back, and what they’re made of (Mel is a mix of flours (all-purpose, GF) and milk (regular, almond) and isn’t as sweet as other starters as I sometimes halve or skip the sugar feeding).
Also on my counter or in the freezer:
- Riley (a hardy starter made from AP and whole wheat flour–I thought I might try rye flour at some point but haven’t yet): 1 year old
- Serena (ode to the tenacious goat in my second Friendship Bread novel, The Avalon Ladies Scrapbooking Society, published by Random House): 3 years old
- Deidre (ode to the TV-show/lifestyle-maven protagonist in my first novel, Good Things, published by Penguin, written as Mia King): 8 years old
- Bex (a newer starter, inherited by a 12-year-old neighbor): 7 months old
I sometimes make new starters and give them away before I’ve had a chance to name them. I’ve also made starters and baked them without even a hello (sorry, but the oven beckoned). All of the above starters have beget more starters that I’ve shared with others, but I always keep a bag in the freezer with their name on it, just in case.
Need some inspiration?
Emily Spurlin, executive pastry chef at Bad Hunter in Chicago, calls her starter Clint Yeastwood. Read these posts and comments at Food52 and Bon Appétit that have inventive starter names like:
- Emilio Yeastevez
- Little Bread Rising Hood
- Carrie Breadshaw
- Rye Breadbury
- Augustus Gloop
- Bread Pitt
- Jane Dough
- Dough Jackson
- St. Joan of Starch
- Fred Farter the Bread Starter
- Vincent Van Dough
If you haven’t named your starter and you’re having problems coming up with a name, use this name generator that I love (and use for my novels when I’m stuck). The best part is, you can generate a regular name (like Annette), fantasy names (like Zealot Floratomb), cat names (like Linx), even wrestler names (like Y. Z. “Admiral” Cooper).
What’s the name of YOUR Amish Friendship Bread starter?
Diane R says
April 20, 2019 at 12:56 amI’d name my starter Grace or Sadie. They were my Grandmothers and I like both their names.
Wanda says
April 20, 2019 at 1:09 amAPRIL? As in this reminded me I need to start my starter again!!
Michelle Champion says
April 21, 2019 at 1:21 pmI guess I would name my starter Imma. I always say, “I’m going to bring bread to the potluck” (read it fast imma going to bring bread)
Val says
April 20, 2019 at 1:25 amGlutinny….I am trying a gluten free starter and it will either be mutiny or gluttony.
Lou Buckner says
April 20, 2019 at 4:55 amHello my name is LouB a nickname given to my owner from a family friend. I was started in March of 2019. So far the family loves banana nut Friendship Bread.
Misty says
April 20, 2019 at 4:57 amI had a starter for several years before life overcame practice. Never heard of naming one! So, now that I’ve started again, I think I’ll call it “Henrietta.” When I was a girl, my dad would call us that in jest.
Susan Tritsch says
April 20, 2019 at 4:58 amI call my starter Beastie due to it’s amazing rate of expansion rate and high yield. Little beastie was given to me by a lady friend from church last November and has generated a cake per week and approximately two dozen bags for my freezer. I have 2 gallons to give away this weekend – Wishing everyone a Happy Easter!
Patty says
April 20, 2019 at 5:50 amMy starter name Brenda Lee Johnson
Connie says
April 20, 2019 at 6:13 amOnniec came into my life in the summer of 2011. She was a gift as most new starts are.I had quit working in one town moved to a new one, started a new career, when one of my co-workers gave me a large zip-loc with instructions. Rumor had it that the starter had once been “the latest thing” circulating the company for a few years now. But folks were now tired of it, many loaves had been made and shared, but most of the starters had fallen victim to complacency and ended up being tossed, or neglected. As it turned out, I was the last to receive it in our department, as workers moved on to other careers, lives changed, personnel changed. Everything changed during the six years that I remained, the directors changed, the presidents changed, even the mission changed, after six years had past I too changed in so many ways, some wonderful, and some painful. Onniec and I were together though all the changes, enjoying the simple pleasure of nurturing each other in quiet moments. I gave her flours, sometimes whole wheat, sometimes white., Sugars, sometimes white, sometimes organic, and Milk,both natural and raw or pasteurized. But no matter the variances, she was always happy to be fed, always happy to share when the occasion arose, and best of all, she was versatile. She could be baked in Loaves, Muffin tins, or a round pie pan, no matter what form or flavor she took, she arose to her peak of crusty perfection. She was ageless, full of creativity and sometimes very surprising! Onniec and I moved six times and two states, in a blink of an eye a decade had passed. There were times she would rest for a while, refrigerated, dormant in her tulip shaped Weck jar. Once, she spent six months in her jar in the back of a dark cool cupboard of a travel trailer, while she waited to buy her new home. The changes had rolled over like the waves of the Pacific, and finally she was free to rise from the constraints of confinement once more. We now reside togather in Oregon, we are growing old togather in a cottage in a quaint beach town, we are settled in for a peaceful life near the sea, and just maybe.. you could say we’ve become Domestic, well, at least partly. After all deep inside her stir the Wild Yeasts of her many years of places, travels, and adventures!
Hannah says
June 7, 2019 at 12:03 pmConnie this is such a lovely story! This is exactly why we love Amish Friendship Bread! It’s amazing how our starters carry little pieces of our kitchens and our lives. Thank you so much for sharing your story with us.
Natalie says
April 20, 2019 at 6:13 amI need to start another one I’ll probably name it June since that’s when I’ll be able to start it. I’ve got a big move coming and I’ll be getting a huge freezer so I’ll have room for one that I can keep going for a long while.
Christy Collacott says
April 20, 2019 at 7:44 amMy starters name is Marge. It just feels like a Marge lol. Shes only 2 weeks old but the family really enjoyed the Friendship Bread. Thanks for all the recipes, looking forward to trying them out!
Anna Centanni says
April 20, 2019 at 8:01 amAunt Lilian! For some reason, that name always struck me funny when Audrey Hepburn uses it the movie, “Charade”! I don’t have an “Aunt Lilian”…… I just like the name! 🤣
Carol G says
April 20, 2019 at 8:38 amI’ll name my starter Lola!!!!!
Kelly Showalter says
April 20, 2019 at 9:27 amNever thought about it, I also never name my vehicle. LOL But I’ve always liked the name Winter, although thankfully we are now in Spring!
Debbie says
April 20, 2019 at 10:15 amYeasty Beastie is my name for my starter.
It always reminds me of making good things.
Debbie says
April 20, 2019 at 11:25 amI’d name my starter Dorothea. It was my mother’s name before she had it legally changed to Dorothy.
Tracy says
April 20, 2019 at 12:21 pmI’m thinking of naming my starter Louisa.
Susan says
April 20, 2019 at 12:26 pmYears ago we called this Herman. Well times have changed but the starter is pretty much the same. So having said that, I’d name my starter “Hermette” (Which I think is the female version of Herman.
Alainya Falk says
April 20, 2019 at 12:40 pmMine just died, so RIP?
Hannah says
June 7, 2019 at 12:05 pmOh no! It happens to all of us, Alainya. If you want to “start” over you can check out our Amish Friendship Bread Starter recipe here. Happy baking!
Minnie Gray says
April 20, 2019 at 12:49 pmMy starter is named Noel, because I like to pull it out of the freezer and bake loaves for Christmas.
Dorothy says
April 20, 2019 at 1:11 pmI’ll call my starter “Star” because it makes a star out of my baked goods. And thanks so much for the great recipes.
Janet Hoonard says
April 20, 2019 at 2:51 pmMy starters name is Suzy Q. How do you do ? Very well thank you !
Amber says
April 20, 2019 at 4:26 pmMy starter and I are ‘frememies’ so I think I’ll call her Stephanie.
Debra Combs says
April 20, 2019 at 4:34 pmMy starter is named Mabel, she’s named after a great Aunt who was a wonderful baker and had an awesome sense of humor. When I give Mabel a squeeze I think of my great Au t Mabel and giggle.
Barbara Stoakley says
April 20, 2019 at 5:33 pmMy starter is called Ci-Ci, for my playmate Pug..:-)
Terry Hale-Hicks says
April 20, 2019 at 7:16 pm3 weeks Newbie! Started on my own without a starter. Calia is her name, she is very bubbly and active. I’ve passed her to only one person and have 8 starters in my freezer. I’ve made chocolate chip cookies and Southern Brown Sugar biscuits in a cast iron skillet that are great with bacon and eggs, also great warm with butter and honey, and equally delicious with strawberries and whipped cream.
Carol Dean says
April 21, 2019 at 3:19 amI call my starter “George” and I often hug him and squeeze him! (From an old Bugs Bunny Cartoon with the Abominable Snowman!)
Joanne Eck says
April 21, 2019 at 8:20 amMy starter is called “Santas Favorite Girl”
flora says
April 21, 2019 at 9:10 amI call my starter Fluffy. It rises and gets bubbly and makes such good cakes and cookies
Jessica Shelton says
April 21, 2019 at 11:02 amMy starter would definitely be Jessie Pearl after my ma!
Maureen Hann says
April 22, 2019 at 4:30 amHaving fun with the starter and baking nearly every day. My friends and family who share are very happy.
Julie says
April 22, 2019 at 7:47 amMy starter is Herman. I received some many years ago from my best friend on the farm. She always had a bit in her fridge. She stirred, fed, and made many recipes with Herman. As an adult each time i make a batch, i name it Herman again, and relive the memories of my childhood with my friend on the farm.
Roberta Giordano says
April 22, 2019 at 12:48 pmI would name my starter after my grandmother who made homemade bread everyday of her life she dies several years ago at the age of 98 1/2 So I am going to call my next starter Lucy!
Corry Oosterhouse says
April 23, 2019 at 6:18 amI’ll call my starter Bethany Joy. I bring my breads to Bethany’s Thrift Store in Grand Rapids, Michigan where I volunteer every Monday. They love the variety of breads I bring! It gives me joy to be able to treat my friends there, my family and at my church. Years ago, when I first received my starter there were only a few recipes that were shared. Now we have your wonderful website with all the different ways to use our starters!! Thanks so much, Darien!!💗
Carol says
April 28, 2019 at 6:20 amMine is called Herman. My mother and grandmother had starters that were called Herman and Herman Jr, so I thought I would honour them by carrying on the tradition.