Friday, June 20, 2008

Natural Beauties

I just LOVE fresh eggs! And you can't get much fresher than this! These lovely beauties come from some very happy, well kept, free range chickens. We have the good fortune to have met Shirley, an ex-co-worker of my daughter Kate, who lives close by on a small farm. We refer to her chickens as "Shirley's girls". I love the colors of the shells...soft to sage green, and the lovely browns...and i cannot get over the color of the yolks...dark orange and so rich. I got so attached to these eggs and the chickens who laid them that last Christmas, my daughter gave me a photo of "Shirley's girls" as a Christmas gift! Now that's Love!
**NOTE: I got a few emails asking if the free range, fresh eggs tasted different from store bought eggs, and i have to say YES they do! The shells are thicker (more calcium in the chicken's diet?) the whites cook up nicely(less watery) and the yolks are a deep rich orange color. The flavor of the egg is more intense...Maybe we will hear from a few experts who have chickens and eggs who sometimes check in on my blog..Paula? Amy?

7 comments:

Murray said...

They look beautiful, delicious, no beautiful. Honestly I don't eat eggs, but I love the way scrambled eggs smell.

Kate said...

They way you guys react over these eggs, you'd think they were filled with 24K gold or something. I'm with Murray, eggs are gross, but the duck eggs rock when it comes to baking.

Mare said...

You know i got a couple of email asking if the fresh, free range eggs taste different, and i have to say yes they do! Everything is different about them-the shells are thicker(more calcium?) the whites are fluffier and cook up nicely, and the yolks are dark orange and so rich. Yum! What's up with you guys?!! Eggs are DELICIOUS! ;)

Phill said...

The colors in those eggs are just gorgeous - they look terrific next to your Cape Cod painting! Wish I could have chickens, but I'm not full-time at the country place. Someday.

ananda.tashie said...

We get our eggs through a local farmer's coop - they taste a million times better than traditional store-bought (even store-bought organic ones that aren't local). :)

Paula said...

Hey Mare... I just now saw this post....
one reason fresh eggs or "free range" eggs are so much better than store bought is that a lot of people don't realize the conditions commercial egg layers are subjected to- they are kept in a small confinement, usually in bunches, never seeing the sun and fed a ration that only helps them produce more and more eggs... it has no real health benefits to the hen. On the other hand, a free range hen gets not only sunlight which naturally stimulates egg production, but also nutrients from the grass and dirt they scratch in that they can't get from just egg rations alone, so they are overall a healthier chicken which means better eggs! Also, a lot of people don't realize how OLD some of the supermarket eggs really are... eggs have a pretty long shelf life, and I would venture to say some of the eggs in a supermarket are 3 to 4 months old! One good way to check and see if you have "old" eggs- when you boil an egg, and have a large void or space at one end when you peel it, is a good indication your eggs are old! Sorry to be so long- just thought you might like to know!

Mare said...

WOAH! I never knew that fact about hard boiled eggs! I think from way back as far as i can remember,i always thought that when you hard boiled eggs, they just cooked like that, with the little hollow part at one end!!!!! ugh!!!! That does it! Now i know i am NEVER goin back to store bought eggs! Thanks Paula...