Cooking with acorns, painting with moss

Heather Buzzard says she likes to "hack away at the barriers between the indoors and outdoors."

By Mary Loftus, Emory Magazine

At Indie Fixx's TreeHouseHold, Emory graduate Heather Buzzard has written how-to pieces on making seed paper, cooking with acorns, and making moss spray paint—all of which might come in handy during her upcoming stint as artist in residence at the Hostel in the Forest, a spiritual sustainability and environmental education retreat center in Brunswick, Georgia.

Buzzard studied sociology, creative writing, religion, and environmental science at Emory. She cites a course called CORE, on religion and ecology, as particularly influential. “I’ve always been drawn intimately to the natural world,” Buzzard says, “but prior to the class, I hadn’t focused much on sharing that with others, being mindful of sacred space, and incorporating a sense of place and roots into how I live daily.”

At the Hostel in the Forest, she will be applying her understanding of sawdust composting toilets, solar panel water heaters, vegetable oil–powered lighting, organic gardening, and living off the grid.

“I like to take specific elements of the outdoors and integrate them into our everyday lives through sustainable art, design, and food, while focusing on the beauty and magic of the natural world,” she says.

And if you’re wondering if you really can cook with acorns, try her recipe.

Acorn Molasses Cakes

1/2 cup acorn flour

1/2 cup cashews, chopped


1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped

1/2 cup raisins or dates

1 cup cooked brown rice

molasses (or honey) to taste

agave to taste

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
a
pinch brown sugar or sucanat

Mix all ingredients together in large mixing bowl. Add enough molasses/honey so that concoction clumps together nicely without falling apart. Prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a thin spread of butter, and ball the mixture together into smallish round cakes. Sprinkle the tops with brown sugar or sucanat. Bake at 325 for 10–15 minutes.

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Image credits: Top, courtesy of Heather Buzzard; bottom, iStockphoto.com.