Oh The Things You Can Do With Free-Range Eggs

egg...

meets asparagus...

meets ham!

We have a three-day weekend, which leaves time to create some eggy concoctions. I'm not sure what is more gratifying, collecting the eggs, or creating something yummy with them. This morning's fare was organic ham, asparagus, and gruyere quiche, this evening I'm in the "cooling off period" of making my first batch of ice cream in many years...maple pecan. Sadly I don't think it will be ready for testing/tasting until the morning, unless we stay up past our normally early bed time.

Christmas Present From A Leghorn, The Gift of Eggs

What a beautiful present from one of our four Leghorns. I believe in Christmas elves, and in this case, I'm wondering if an elf or ostrich snuck into the hen house and deposited this humongous gift. Photos don't do it justice, it's about 1/3 larger than any of the other eggs. The egg carton won't even close! Don't know if this is an anomaly or if we can expect more colossal deposits in the future. Either way I feel for the hen who laid this one.

Today is the first day one of the chickens decided to come check out our pantry. Maybe she feels that since she left us a nice gift she's now entitled to house privileges?

It's been an egg-stravaganza here lately and we've been able to gift 4 dozen eggs so far and still have plenty for everyday use.

The Dirty Dozen

Despite the shortness of days, some of the young ladies are beginning to lay. Last week saw our first brown egg, a gift from the shier of the two Rhode Island Reds. What a joy to check the nesting boxes to find not one, not two, not three, but four eggs in one day! An astonishing feat considering winter's fast approach. Since the Blue Lace Red Wyandottes went on strike several months ago, visions of winter custards, souffles, quiches and the like were snuffed, only now to be reignited!

Proudly, we have our first dozen eggs that include two browns. They may not be as pretty as store bought eggs; the bloom is still on the egg.