An Open Letter to Our Mammalian Friends

...ytime activity such as the bold raid on our chicken run that took place on Saturday? I’m not going to apologize for spraying you with a hose. Thankfully you had the good sense to run away. If you had grabbed a chicken I’d be organizing small game hunting trips for dentists. It’s bad enough, because of you and your robust fingers, that I had to build a coop that I’ve dubbed “chicken Guantanamo.” I thought I could have a less robust daytime chicken...

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Erik to Speak at South Pasadena Beautiful on June 3rd

I’ll be delivering a talk/rant at the on Saturday June 3rd in the South Pasadena Library Community room at 4:00 pm (refreshments at 3:30). In addition to the usual subjects of chickens, bees, vegetables and the home arts I’ll touch on some hot button issues I find equally important: Tree care in a drought Creating walkable/bikeable communities Gardening with native plants Throwing neighborhood parties Why hay hooks are the new hipster fashion acc...

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Choral Evensong as Meditation

...ts 470-year-old choral music tradition – established around 1549 – is performed live and often to a very high standard. The Choral Evensong website lists places around the world where you can attend a service. If you’re in Los Angeles there is a Choral Evensong performance this Saturday November 17th at St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral at 5 p.m. I will, likely, make an appearance as the Verger. The choir is magnificent and St. John’s is one of Los A...

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The Rye Revolution

...Bakers is hosting a class with the rye expert, Stanley Ginsberg tomorrow, Saturday the 7th of October. There’s still space in the class if you’re interested. Head here to sign up. If you live elsewhere or can’t make it, Ginsberg has penned what I believe to be the definitive book on rye baking, The Rye Baker: Classic Breads from Europe and America. In the book Ginsberg covers every imaginable rye recipe from around the world, from loaves to crack...

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Recipes From the Rye Baker

...housands of miles away. Short of putting Stanley on tour, the next best thing is to take a look at his detailed rye blog which I neglected to mention in my last post. There are enough recipes there to keep you busy for months. The bread recipe we made on Saturday was the Berlin rye pictured above. You can find that recipe here. I’ve had to take a break from baking, but when I get back to it I’m going to specialize in rye exclusively. Why? You just...

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