Sam Whitaker · June 11, 2026
That back corner of my counter, right next to the old proofing box I built during my microbakery years, is where Harold’s jar has lived for as long as I can remember. My husband wandered past one morning, leaned down out of habit for a whiff, and snapped his head back like he’d just inhaled … Read more
Sam Whitaker · January 25, 2026
Why does your starter suddenly smell like acetone, and does that mean it’s dead? No — that sharp, nail-polish-remover scent is almost always fixable, not fatal, and I learned that lesson while hovering over Harold’s jar, one hand fanning the fumes away from my face, the other frantically typing “my sourdough starter smells like acetone” … Read more
Sam Whitaker · January 21, 2026
A brutal cold snap had locked onto my kitchen that January, and by day fourteen it had quietly exposed the real problem. The jar sitting on my counter looked like slightly lumpy paste — no bubbles, no dome, nothing that resembled life. Sourdough starter won’t rise, I typed into Google for what had to be … Read more
Sam Whitaker · January 19, 2026
The lid barely cracked open before that sharp, boozy tang hit me — sitting right on top of my starter was a thin layer of grayish liquid I hadn’t seen before, pooled like something had gone wrong overnight. This was a starter I’d been babying for three months, and my brain immediately jumped to worst-case … Read more
