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Monthly Archives: January 2011

I flunk the Creole test

This platter gets an F. In my ongoing efforts to break out of the same-old-breakfast routine, this morning I attempted baked grits with cheese, blackened beans, and fried apples. The beans were terrible. I had never attempted that sort of seasoning before, and I don’t think I was quite clear on the concept. And though […]

The Anglican choral tradition

YouTube: King’s College Choir An article in a recent New Yorker magazine made me even more appreciative of the choral tradition of the Anglican church, not to mention more glad that I had the opportunity to sing in the choir at an Episcopalian Christmas service last month. The article is in the Jan. 10, 2011, […]

Rehabilitating the rabbit patch

Ken piles debris onto the brush pile. We hope the rabbits like it. If I myself had to do the work of tidying up the grounds around Acorn Abbey, it probably never would get done. Ken has been plugging away at this work for a month now. The area most in need of cleanup is […]

His own private Idaho

Have I mentioned that Ken is weird? It’s not enough that he’s immersed in the quiet and solitude of Acorn Abbey, where there hasn’t been a car on the road in a week and where the only sound on a winter afternoon is the quiet hum of the heating system and the occasional patter of […]

A country-style no-egg breakfast

Here’s a serious attempt at making a low-cost, country-style, no-egg, no-meat breakfast with a little excitement to it. The beans are homemade baked beans, made in a crock pot using organic white beans bought in bulk at Whole Foods. The sausage is my homemade vegan sausage based on mashed soybeans and wheat gluten. The yellow […]

Hawk 0, Chastity 2

Chastity, the day after the second hawk attack. Her eye is OK, but she’s squinting from the hawk-peck wound just below her right eye. The hawk came back. Once again, it went for Chastity. Ken found her lying on the ground beside the chicken house, in a state of shock. He picked her up and […]

Has a fox family moved in?

A cozy fox den? There is very good evidence that a fox family has moved in just downhill from the abbey. While clearing brush, Ken came across what appears to be lots and lots of fox poop. Nearby, in a deep brush pile (near a ravine where the bulldozer pushed the stumps when trees were […]

Vegan barbecue, Lexington style

Vegan meat analogs have become a staple around here. The most recent experiment was an attempt at Lexington-style pork barbecue. There’d be no mistaking it for the real thing, but it was very good. We even ate the leftovers for breakfast (with fried apples, yellow grits, and warmed-over biscuits). The basic ingredients for the meat […]

The day the hawk swooped down

By Ken Ilgunas I was sprinting toward the fence gate. With arms pumping, eyes bulged, and teeth clenched, I flung one foot forward after another—my shoeless soles making soft thuds in the grass as the wind swept my hair back, revealing my otherwise cleverly-hidden and regretfully-high hairline. “NOOOOOO!” I bellowed. “THE CHICKENS!” It was a […]

More shiitake mushroom logs

Ken has finished a second batch of shiitake mushroom logs. This time, we used oak, plus a couple of locust logs as an experiment. The first batch of logs have not yet shown any sign of production. It’s too early — five months. But we did the work in August, which is the least favorable […]