# Farm fresh eggs



## lizflowers42 (Mar 21, 2013)

I challenge every one of of you to purchase farm fresh eggs sometime if you have never tried them.  You will love how orange the egg yolk is in comparison to grocery store eggs!  I used to be able to buy them from a co-worker who has a farm, but when the weather got cold her hens stopped laying (she thinks they are getting old), so I was left seeking out a new egg dealer.  I've resorted to buying them from the store because of this.  So when my MIL showed up last weekend with 4 dozen farm fresh eggs, I was in heaven!  But...it's just 2 of us...and that's a lot of eggs.  

What are some of your favorite ways to dress up the incredible, edible, egg?


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## Genny (Mar 21, 2013)

I love farm fresh eggs!!  
We get them from our neighbors in trade for soap.
With 7 of us in our house, we go through at least a dozen a week, if not more.


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## houseofwool (Mar 21, 2013)

I love spaghetti carbonara!


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## lsg (Mar 21, 2013)

We have farm fresh eggs from our hens and farm fresh milk from our Jersey and Dexter cows.  Nothing can beat them.  You can put them in puddings, desserts, use them for baking, in casseroles, deviled eggs and egg soap.


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## Pepsi Girl (Mar 21, 2013)

Love the but not the chickens!  So I get them from a friend.  My husband is forever bugging me to get chickens.  Not going to happen.


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## Genny (Mar 21, 2013)

Pepsi Girl said:


> Love the but not the chickens!



Okay, is this supposed to say, "Love them but not the chickens" or is it, "Love the butt not the chickens"?


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## christinak (Mar 21, 2013)

My girls started laying again since the sun's been shining...I have SOOOOO many eggs.


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## Badger (Mar 21, 2013)

I actually just went to a pot luck dinner and brought two pans of kugel in which I used a dozen eggs (I don't have farm fresh eggs, but I do buy cage free).  My kugel was cinnamon apple and went over very well


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## AngelMomma (Mar 21, 2013)

I was wondering if anyone around here had chickens.  We have kept them for their eggs for about 8+yrs now. LOVE the eggs of all colors.  We had 13 old hens going into winter until a coon got into them a couple nights in a row.  Down to 8 until this am.  My youngest and I went to the feed store and picked some up them morning.  They are so stinkin CUTE!!!  I especially like Americanas from chick to adulthood and love their green eggs.  This time we got some Bantam Silkies and Cochins to try out.  I am sure they are going to be fun too.  We always have plenty of eggs to share in the summer time too.


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## AngelMomma (Mar 21, 2013)

Oh, and egg salad, tuna salad with eggs, cheesecake, omelet, bread, pudding, boiled, deviled etc.

A trick I learned for boiling these hard shelled home grown eggs so that they will peel super easy.  Hold the egg in your left hand with the fat end up.  Use a paring knife with a sharp point and tap gently on the top end of the egg, making a tiny pin hole.  Boil as usual.  It makes the peeling so much easier.


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## Badger (Mar 21, 2013)

Ah, they are adorable chicks!  One of my sisters has some chickens and her husband makes chicken coops as a side job.


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## AngelMomma (Mar 21, 2013)

And BREAD pudding!  YuMmY!  That uses plenty of eggs, cream and sugar.  All my favorites


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## christinak (Mar 21, 2013)

Chickens are wonderful, wonderful pets.  They are cute, VERY entertaining, and eat THOUSANDS of bugs everyday.  My husband complained about the poop when they come on the porch so I left them in their runs for a week and in that short time, he noticed tons of bugs in the house!  He said "let them out...." and in days the bugs were gone again.  I adore my girls, they are loving and really contribute to the family.


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## twinmom (Mar 21, 2013)

Lizflowers42 Thanks for the challenge.  We will never buy store bought eggs again!!!  After having our own flock for 6 years now we see the difference in vitamins in the yolk.  Now if I only had a milk cow like lsg!!!  A friend has a mini jersey and that milk is just amazing.  What we put in our bodies from store bought processed food and produce shipped hundreds of miles picked upripe is truly sickening.  Of course that rant is for another time!  Support your local growers and producers- it's good for everyone!


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## lizflowers42 (Mar 21, 2013)

I'm so envious of your chickens lsg and Angelmomma! Thanks for the suggestions. One more question for you two especially since you have lots of eggs on hand  What would you say the in the fridge shelf life of the eggs are if they haven't been washed? (someone once told me if they were washed they don't last as long...never really understood if that was true!)
I always wash my eggs before putting them in the refrigerator.  I think the danger of contaminants is worse than the danger of shortened shelf life in unwashed eggs.  Cold storage eggs from the store are kept stored for much longer than my farm eggs.


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## AngelMomma (Mar 21, 2013)

I have heard the same thing, that there is a natural coating on the eggs that can be washed away, shortening the shelf life.  I wash all eggs that go into my fridge.  I keep eggs at least a couple of months.  I read somewhere that you can do a 'test' to see how old an egg is by putting it into a container of water.  If it floats then its bad.  But I'm not really sure how accurate that is because really all its testing is how much air has gotten into the shell.  The shell is naturally porus and air will seep in over time.  Not much help here really because we just wing it.   I do rotate though to make sure we don't miss a carton in the back or something like that.


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## AngelMomma (Mar 21, 2013)

And I wash them because, after all, they do come out of the chickens butt!  HAHA! :crazy:


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## Cherry Bomb (Mar 21, 2013)

I love deviled eggs and the older the eggs are when you boil them, the easier they peel. We had farm fresh eggs growing up (oh the stories of the chicken coop and clipping their wings) and I had a pet chicken named Henrietta. She was awesome and loved to be held when she roosted for the night. But as the story goes....a coyote got her.  that was a sad morning. On a happier note....I also challenge you to bake with fresh goose eggs if you can find them. You will be amazamed in the quality of your baked goods when you replace regular eggs with goose eggs. They are larger in size so I'd do one goose egg to two eggs. Play around and see how you like them!


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## marghewitt (Mar 21, 2013)

Um.... Hello..... Quiche! They freeze well after baking them.


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## ruby61 (Mar 21, 2013)

I have had chickens just for 6 years, funny how chickens and soap go together.  I give my friend eggs and chicks in the spring and she gives me goats milk for the soap.  I would rather have my own goats but dh won't cross that  the line between me raising the horses/chickens and ducks and oh yeah I breed blood hounds.


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## Pepsi Girl (Mar 21, 2013)

Genny said:


> Okay, is this supposed to say, "Love them but not the chickens" or is it, "Love the butt not the chickens"?




OK Funny Girl  I don't love chickens in my yard or anywhere around me, "but" I do like fresh eggs from my friend!:smile:


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## christinak (Mar 21, 2013)

Eggs last a LONG time.....I have 35 chickens and Im getting about 20 eggs a day right now....8 x 18 packs in the fridge! LOL.  Ive had them in there for 3 months at a time with no problem at all.

In the summer the eggs are really clean so I wash them as I need them but when its rainy and sloppy out they get muddy from muddy chicken feet so I do wash them before I put them in the fridge.  They do stay longer if you don't wash them though.  There is a bloom on them that keeps them protected and air-tight.


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## melstan775 (Mar 21, 2013)

Freaking sooooooo cute  Love the baby chicks!

I like regular fried eggs and scrambled. Farm fresh ones just taste better and have a better texture.


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## lizflowers42 (May 11, 2013)

Yep, I have 5 dozen eggs again...lol back to creative cooking!


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## AngelMomma (May 11, 2013)

liz, have you ever tried refrigerator pickled eggs?  I'm not big on them but my family is.  They like me to use the Mrs. Wages Dill pickle mix you can get in the canning section of the store.  But they like it with a bit more vinegar added than the instructions call for.  And the hubby likes me to add hot stuff to his.  I really only like them chopped up and added to other foods, like potato salad, chicken salad etc.


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## jenn624 (May 11, 2013)

we keep chickens too, so all we eat are farm fresh eggs


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## lizflowers42 (May 11, 2013)

AngelMomma said:


> liz, have you ever tried refrigerator pickled eggs?  I'm not big on them but my family is.  They like me to use the Mrs. Wages Dill pickle mix you can get in the canning section of the store.  But they like it with a bit more vinegar added than the instructions call for.  And the hubby likes me to add hot stuff to his.  I really only like them chopped up and added to other foods, like potato salad, chicken salad etc.



I'm not big on anything pickled really, unless they are fresh from the garden cucumbers that you marinate in vinegar-those are the only pickles I will touch


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## AngelMomma (May 11, 2013)

I like many pickled things.  But pickled eggs is just not my #1.  I really don't understand why my fam are so into them.  They devour them!  I have to hide them towards the back of the fridge so they can sit long enough to really get a good 'pickle' before they eat them.  

What I would really like to try is a Scotch Egg.  I have seen them made and seen recipes quite a few times but never tried it.  Maybe I will when my young Layers get started with their egg laying.


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## lizflowers42 (May 11, 2013)

AngelMomma said:


> Maybe I will when my young Layers get started with their egg laying.



Again, so jealous of your chickens!  Maybe some day down the road if we move to a country home...


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## AngelMomma (May 11, 2013)

lizflowers42 said:


> Again, so jealous of your chickens!  Maybe some day down the road if we move to a country home...


 
:sad: Wish you could too.  I live in a small town, so its ok for us to have them.  Many towns allow it, with some rules attached.  

So where did you get all the eggs from then?


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## Birdie Wife (May 11, 2013)

I've got nearly 20 chooks so I'm overrun with eggs just now. .. bit of a famine and feast going n because I prefer rare breeds which lay hardly any eggs through the winter but live longer than hybrid hens. Made lemon curd yesterday, baked cheesecake today snd it's not really made a dent in the egg mountain. .. they are funny characters though, I love having them around.  Just don't let them near your flower garden,  they will merrily scratch it up in search of bugs


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## lizflowers42 (May 11, 2013)

AngelMomma said:


> :sad: Wish you could too.  I live in a small town, so its ok for us to have them.  Many towns allow it, with some rules attached.
> 
> So where did you get all the eggs from then?



My mother in law works with someone who has a bunch of chickens, so she brought me a bunch this weekend!  We all had scrambled eggs for breakfast of course!


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## CCa1892 (May 11, 2013)

I have chickens as well. One of our favorite snacks to make is Egg Custard with nutmeg, topped with a mound
of homemade whipped cream. A great year round treat that you can dress up to your liking. 
We love our girls!


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## AngelMomma (May 11, 2013)

A few more ideas for using eggs......

Frittata, Angel Food Cake, Custard Pie (like CCa said), and Chocolate Mousse......oh my goodness!  YUM!


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## Birdie Wife (May 12, 2013)

Oh, I nearly forgot,  chef Raymond blanc has a recipe for a lemon cake which uses 5 eggs. It's really, really yummy  just Google it.


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## lsg (May 12, 2013)

lizflowers42 said:


> I'm so envious of your chickens lsg and Angelmomma! Thanks for the suggestions. One more question for you two especially since you have lots of eggs on hand  What would you say the in the fridge shelf life of the eggs are if they haven't been washed? (someone once told me if they were washed they don't last as long...never really understood if that was true!)
> 
> 
> > I always wash my eggs before putting them in the refrigerator. I think the danger of contaminants is worse than the danger of shortened shelf life in unwashed eggs. Cold storage eggs from the store are kept stored for much longer than my farm eggs.


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## Smee (May 12, 2013)

CCa1892 said:


> I have chickens as well. One of our favorite snacks to make is Egg Custard with nutmeg, topped with a mound
> of homemade whipped cream. A great year round treat that you can dress up to your liking.
> We love our girls!



Excuse me for pointing out the obvious, but we will be needing your
egg custard with nutmeg recipe here in the food & spirits forum.  Please?
Pretty Please, even??


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## babysoap (May 12, 2013)

I would like to get some chickens. How many eggs does a hen lay each day?


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## lsg (May 13, 2013)

A hen will usually lay one egg every other day. Sometimes they will lay one egg each day, if they are young hens.  But you need to know that hens go through what is called a molt, when they lose old feathers to be replaced with new.  They stop laying for several months during this time.


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## CCa1892 (May 13, 2013)

Smee said:


> Excuse me for pointing out the obvious, but we will be needing your
> egg custard with nutmeg recipe here in the food & spirits forum.  Please?
> Pretty Please, even??



Hello Everyone, I hope you all  had a nice Mother's Day!
 Here it is Smee, happy to oblige, but I can't take credit for it. I got the recipe from this website. http://www.paulnoll.com/Oregon/Cooking/Dessert/dessert-egg-custard.html

Bernice Knoll is a sweet lady from Oregon, who kindly posted all of her recipes online. Many wonderful old fashioned recipes, (and great practical kitchen knowledge), that remind me so much of my own grandmother. My husband loves this recipe for the same reasons-it's
traditional, and tasty either warm from the oven or cold-year round!
I use a slightly less sugar than the recipe calls for, and grate whole nutmeg on top....and of course homemade whipped cream!

Enjoy!


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## Smee (May 13, 2013)

CCa1892 said:


> Hello Everyone, I hope you all  had a nice Mother's Day!
> Here it is Smee, happy to oblige, but I can't take credit for it. I got the recipe from this website. http://www.paulnoll.com/Oregon/Cooking/Dessert/dessert-egg-custard.html
> 
> Bernice Knoll is a sweet lady from Oregon, who kindly posted all of her recipes online. Many wonderful old fashioned recipes, (and great practical kitchen knowledge), that remind me so much of my own grandmother. My husband loves this recipe for the same reasons-it's
> ...



OMG!  I think I found my grandma...okay, maybe my mom if you
must be age-picky...still, what an amazing website!  And from my short
time on there already, what an amazing couple! Thank you for sharing


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## ParkSoap (May 13, 2013)

I get them from a local farm (yes, NYC has lots of local farms!) with the bloom intact, so I don't even refrigerate them. I'm a single gal and I go through a little over a dozen a week. I love to make fritatta with whatever veggies I have that I need to use up, as well as quiche. My favorite way to eat them is poached over a nice piece of nutty bread, or over rutebega hash in the winter.


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## CCa1892 (May 13, 2013)

Smee said:


> OMG!  I think I found my grandma...okay, maybe my mom if you
> must be age-picky...still, what an amazing website!  And from my short
> time on there already, what an amazing couple! Thank you for sharing



Oh I Know! I've spent allot of time at this website, and learn something new everytime. I'm glad your enjoying it.


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## chicklet (May 13, 2013)

I don't have chickens right now and I really miss them!  Besides all the wonderful fresh eggs, they also provide endless hours of entertainment.  My brother has chickens so I do at least get the fresh eggs.  I've made thousands of deviled eggs over the years, but for some reason I had never made egg salad until a couple of months ago.  When researching recipes, I found that just about anything goes in egg salad.  My new fave has lots of chopped red onions that have soaked in water for a few minutes, then drained, and lots of celery.  Those are the main ingredients besides eggs - a little salt, some prepared mustard, a little dill (or I've used dill pickle juice in a pinch), just enough mayo to make it stick together - yummy.


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## AngelMomma (May 14, 2013)

babysoap said:


> I would like to get some chickens. How many eggs does a hen lay each day?


 
You might want to do some research on what breed will be good for your location etc.  My favorite for many reasons is called Red Sex Link.  They aren't pigs (meaning they don't eat a ton of feed).  If you let them free range they are great foragers.  Great temperament, not too flighty.  And they are superb at laying early, laying large(mine have always laid extra large size eggs for at least 2 years.  Then down to large) and laying often, sometimes everyday.  And when they molt they don't slow down too much.  They also lay for a long time compared to some of the other breeds I have tried.  

There are many breeds though that would give similar results.  If you do searches online you will find a TON of information about different breeds.  I like the backyardchicken forum.  There are lots of pictures, experienced breeders and backyard keepers like me.  

Some other nice breeds I have had over the years are Rhode Island Reds, Barred Rock,  Golden Lace Wyandott, Ameracauna(they often lay light green shelled eggs, very pretty. 4-6per week), Silver Seabright, small white eggs, White Crested Polish, small white eggs.  These have all been reliable for us here in the hot South.  This year we have a few new breeds for trying......Mottled Houdans, Silkies(maybe we can start hatching our own babies???) and some pretty white Bantams.

There seems to be a chicken for every situation out there.


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## AngelMomma (May 14, 2013)

*Egg Picture*

I took this picture for my Dad awhile back.  He doesn't live near me.  I love all the different pretty colors.  


I would LOVE to keep some Marans some day (I think I have the name right).  They lay a gorgeous chocolate colored egg!

http://maransofamericaclub.com/page1.php  OH! I was right!  This link has pics of the chocolate colored eggs.  So pretty!

eta: I didn't realize until I posted that you can't really see the green color of the Ameracauna eggs in the top center of the pic   It is a light green.


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## CaliChan (May 14, 2013)

lizflowers42 said:


> I challenge every one of of you to purchase farm fresh eggs sometime if you have never tried them.  You will love how orange the egg yolk is in comparison to grocery store eggs!  I used to be able to buy them from a co-worker who has a farm, but when the weather got cold her hens stopped laying (she thinks they are getting old), so I was left seeking out a new egg dealer.  I've resorted to buying them from the store because of this.  So when my MIL showed up last weekend with 4 dozen farm fresh eggs, I was in heaven!  But...it's just 2 of us...and that's a lot of eggs.
> 
> What are some of your favorite ways to dress up the incredible, edible, egg?



I haven't had a farm fresh egg in years.
Now I just buy range free eggs from the health foods store. With are still better for you than a lot of store bought. I'm still looking for some pasture eggs. Till then I'm out of luck, my moms boyfriend got rid of his chickens and I can't find any farmers that sell them within 100 miles from here


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## chicklet (May 14, 2013)

When I was in my 20's (a hundred years ago, at least) and full of unrequieted romantic notions  I read a novel that I randomly pulled from the public library shelves.  It was set in Tennessee during the civil war... involved a young widow who was running the farm all by herself... a dashing hero rode in from Alabama and, of course, they fell in love.  I can't for the life of me remember the title, but the young widow raised buff Orpingtons so I just had to have me some buff Orpingtons.  Gorgeous hens, wonderful brown eggs, big old scary roosters.    Ahhh.... those were the days.

Years later I raised silver sebrights, golden sebrights, cochins, silkies (nature's incubators!), and a pair of very pretty and stately long tailed Japanese.  All of those were tons of fun, but of course their eggs could not compare to the Orpingtons.


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## AngelMomma (May 14, 2013)

Chicklet, I love reading peoples chick stories.  And Orphingtons are beautiful!


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## Ruthie (May 30, 2013)

If you need to keep eggs for an extended time, you can coat them with mineral oil.  You need to wear gloves as you do this, and turn them over once a month.  If you want to learn more about doing this, check out some of the preppers' websites.


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