Asheville, NC
First, we did not have the company we hoped for (Kathy & Al), as they took their grandkids out for dinner then to a movie and got back too late to visit. But they did stop by for a 5 minute chat before hitting the road; a quick hello-goodbye.As for the title - this really was incredible (I actually meant to write about this yesterday). Along Mitch's route on Friday, he was surveying a meter at someone's house, where there happened to be lots and lots of chickens running around. The owner came outside and Mitch, friendly guy that he is, started up a conversation (that's how we met our very good friend Ethylin when we first arrived here). Anyway, Mitch sort of half-jokingly asked the guy whether he wanted to sell any eggs and the guy was more than happy to do so ($3.50/dz). Some of them were laid 3 days earlier and the rest the day before. So we're talking FRESH, organic and free ranging -- not from a commercial farm. Having never been in an area where egg laying chickens were something almost everyone had in their back yards, and certainly never living near a farm, the only eggs we ever tasted were the commercial ones.
I always thought an egg was an egg was an egg, but let me tell you -- that is NOT true!!! For starters, the colors were so much different. The outer shells were brown or light brown, not the bleach white color. The yolk was a bright orange, not drab, and after cooking them (scrambled), they were almost a neon yellow, not drab canary. And the taste? Heaven! I couldn't believe that's what an egg is supposed to taste like - incredible! I have a feeling, though, that buying the organic, free ranging eggs from the supermarket will still not be the same. I have a feeling that's only part of the deal, but the rest has to do with freshness - a day or 2 old rather than a few weeks (but we may splurge and buy a dozen just to compare. If I'm wrong, it may be worth spending 2-3 times more money once in a while to enjoy such a treat).
Free range organic cage free eggs are well worth the money! The grocery store ones like that are good but not as amazing.
ReplyDeleteYes, definitely better when they are free range! We raised chickens on our ranch and nothing like it! Egg shell color has nothing to do with taste though. Certain types of chickens will lay white, brown or colored eggs (shades of green, blue and sometimes pinkish). White chickens (Leghorns)lay white eggs. Most others will be varying shades of brown. Hope your weather is getting a bit warmer and you'll be on your way to somewhere new soon!
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