After 27 hours it was finally time to feed my starter....1 cup of regular, all-purpose flour seemed almost anti-climatic after the long day of anticipation and worry. Maybe it was the dry milk, but it just didn't look like it had obtained the yogurt consistency I needed. Before unwrapping the plastic, I couldn't help but worry: was there really yeast fermenting in there? I was only barely decent at creating the magic that was bread using store-bought insta-active-dry yeast; was I over-reaching by trying to create my own....? Neer one to dwell on potential failure, I embraced my "Go down fighting" attitude and took the plastic off....no movement...gentle shake of the glass bowl...JIGGLE!!!! It was thick!!! It was gloopy!!! It was not the thin, watery concotion I had mixed yesterday! I had successfully completed step one!!! 

Bolstered by this victory, I carefully measured out the cup of flour. 

I didn't have a plastic spoon, so I used my red, can-withstand-the-fires-of-hell Kitchenaid set icing spatula. The recipe said to "blend" it in until it was smooth, but I was so worried that mushing everything around would separate the milk from the water from the yeast (if there was any even in there yet) I more or less gently folded some in....and quickly found it was getting sticky....suddenly, with far more than half a cup to go, I was doing more scraping than stirring. Out of blind faith, or perhaps just to avoid losing my nerve, I steadily folded in the rest of the flour. 

Here's what I was left with, after getting out as many lumps as I could: 

It's not the greatest picture, but it's almost a dough in and of itself. Now I'm waiting for it to get bubbly. I hope I know when to use it...two to four days...I know I'll be checking every day.

******UPDATE*****: Complete and utter failure. :-( I came home on Day 3 and found that I grown about four to six different types of mold. It was not fun to clean up, either. So, for now, active dry yeast in a jar it is.