Her starter is 122 years old, kept alive and fermenting in Lucille’s refrigerator.

To maintain a starter this old, Lucille, 83, keeps it in a ceramic jar with a lid. When baking for guests, she takes the starter out of the fridge a couple days ahead of time. She removes a half cup to one cup of starter, puts it in a bowl on the counter and feeds it flour, sugar and water to make batter. Just before adding in eggs, oil and more sugar for pancakes, she puts a half cup to one cup of batter back in the starter jar, then back in the fridge.

Let’s be sure about one thing: The idea that sourdough starter is tough to keep is a big misunderstanding, Lucille said.

You don’t have to bake with it every week to keep it alive or have someone babysit it while you’re on vacation.

In fact, when Lucille’s mother died, winter, spring and summer passed before Lucille could clean out the house. In the fall Lucille finally brought home the sourdough starter, untouched for months. She baked pancakes with it just fine.

Lucille’s advice: “You just have to not be afraid if it doesn’t look good.”