The "Mother" is Dead...

The Bloated "Mother" on Day 8.

And I killed her.  She was so demanding, so needy.  I just couldn't deal with feeding her every five days and making bread every ten days, even on a busy work day.  Any reasonable jury would have called it justifiable homicide, especially if a member of the jury had ever been saddled with a starter for Amish Friendship Bread.  In fact, I don't know anyone who's made Amish Friendship Bread who hasn't eventually done the same thing.

I tried to find another use for it when I knew I couldn't keep going.  I should have made waffles or pancakes out of it.  After all, thanks to The Amish Friendship Bread Pancake Challenge, I have some great recipes.  But I forgot to feed the "Mother" a couple of times and by the time I remembered I was afraid she'd gone bad.  It didn't seem worth poisoning my family out of guilt about throwing away 27 cents worth of ingredients.

I remember this "Mother" fondly.  Thanks to her, I made some bread my family loved and I had a great time hosting the challenge event.  It was a wonderfully kooky version of Sunday dinner which did exactly what Sunday dinner is supposed to do.  It brought family and friends together to enjoy each other's company and eat good food.  And the "Mother" provided a great topic of conversation.  While she lasted, the "Mother" made life fun for everyone, except me.  The Mother.  As mothers often do, this "Mother" worked hard for the benefit of her family and we ate her alive.  My mistake was that we didn't eat ALL of her when we had the chance.  It would have been so easy to mix up an extra batch of waffles.  I could have stashed them in the freezer for some easy kids' breakfasts in the future.  (Yea, we DO eat frozen waffles.  And they're always homemade.  Wanna make something out of it?)

Waffles made with the "Mother" from Amish Friendship Bread.

As you can tell, I feel a little defensive about the "Mother".  Producing guilt can be a mother's greatest triumph.  Or her downfall.  We can all learn a little something from the "Mother".  I know I did.

Palaczinta made with Amish Friendship Bread "Mother".

If you've ever killed the "Mother" for Amish Friendship Bread, I'd love to hear about it.  And I want details...  How long did you have it?  How many batches of bread did you make?  How many "Mothers" did you manage  to give away to unsuspecting bakers?  And how long did you let the "Mother" fester before you finally gave up and threw her away?

If you've got a "Mother" bloating up in a corner of your kitchen right now, don't feel bad about putting her out of her misery.  But if you have the time, make pancakes... or waffles, or palaczinta.  You don't really need the "Mother" to make these recipes, but using up the "Mother" in such a delicious way will help you remember her with love.