What's In Season Sunday: Eggs

I don't have chickens, but I will someday.

Then I could eat fresh eggs all the time. Instead of eating meat, sometimes I opt for eggs instead. Eggs are a familiar breakfast food, but they can be used in many ways for lunch and dinner too. Eggs are delicious in egg salad sandwiches, in egg burritos, in home made mayonnaise, salad dressings, salads, with roasted asparagus, in custards, bread pudding, and other baked goods. There are so many uses for eggs. I guess that is where the slogan comes in, "the incredible edible egg".

Yesterday I visited a friend's farm near Royal City, WA. His family gave me almost two dozen farm fresh eggs. Thanks Brett! I was in the hen house when they were collected and saw the chickens. Any farmer would probably laugh and say, "big deal". It is a big a deal. Us city folks, those of us who don't have urban chickens wandering our backyards anyway, consider this an adventure. We simply don't get to see the chickens that lay the eggs we eat. It is as simple as that. I think about it often. Having the story behind the food I eat, makes me enjoy it so much more. Breakfast isn't just breakfast, it's an experience.

Farm fresh eggs have good health benefits over their grocery store counterparts. They have a third less cholesterol, a fourth less saturated fat, two thrids more vitamin A, two times more omego -3 fatty acids, three times more vitamin E, four to six more times vitamin D, and seven times more beta carotene. That is fantastic! Read more about it here.

Farm fresh eggs are becoming available at some grocery stores. Make sure you ask your grocer where they came from (so you are aware of how the chickens were raised) and when they arrived. Farm fresh eggs can also be found at your farmer's market or from bartering with an urban farmer in your neighborhood. It is becoming increasingly popular to raise backyard chickens. Seattle and Portland both have annual chicken coop tours. Plan ahead and go to Seattle's here!

So, who's with me? Let's go buy ourselves some chickens!