Sourdough Hatfield

Not only is maple syrup - the real thing, especially - good on pancakes, but it also enhances the flavor of a cup of coffee if you generally stir in some sugar.  Whenever I get to have breakfast at a Cracker Barrel I ask for an extra couple of the little bottles of syrup they serve.  Just the right size for two cups of java.
At home, when I can't get to the store to pick up the real stuff, I make artificial syrup from my own recipe which is similar to the ones here.
Birch syrup isn't bad either, although less flavorful than maple.  But all I have now are black spruce trees and they don't produce anything but firewood!

Forgot to mention - many things besides pancakes can be made from the sourdough starter. It's pretty much up to the cook's imagination. 
One day, when the wife made the mistake of going off and leaving me in the kitchen unsupervised, I got the cooking bug.  Had a big pot of starter sitting there waiting to be used, and it wasn't breakfast time, so I had to come up with something else.  Donuts, bread, biscuits - can't remember what all came out of the oven or off the stovetop that afternoon, but it was all good (or at least edible), and it only took a few days to get the kitchen back to normal.

In addition to storing the sourdough in the fridge, a small amount may be mixed into a thick ball, and stored in a small plastic bag of flour.  The storage life is as long as that of the flour.  To re-activate, the ball of sourdough only needs to be placed in a container of flour and water (a little sugar helps to speed things up) and given a few days.
This was the way sourdough was transported in days long past, when travelers had no means for refrigerating the 'dough, but wanted to be able to whip up some pancakes in camp.

PS:  Here in Alaska, Sourdough is a term applied to long-time residents, mostly in rural areas.  At 50 years here, I'm starting to feel like one.

A rank noobie here - really enjoying your site & forum.  Good, practical, advice.
Regarding cast iron:  In the past, when encountering a well-used pan, thickly encrusted with the residue of too many past meals on the outside, I've placed it into a bed of glowing coals in a fireplace, or a large fire outside as it is dying down. 
Leaving the pan in the ashes 'til they've cooled down, it has to be washed, and then reseasoned just as a brand new pan would be.  This needs to be done right away, as the super dry cast iron will develop a patina of rust quickly if not oiled.  If the pan has had a lot of use in the past, it won't take as long to have it back in good working order as with a new pan.