*Note: did you know the reason its so easy to peel store bought eggs, is because they are typically already 6 months old?  Google it,  I am not kidding!  They dip it some kind of preservative to make it last longer.

I finally found the answer from Dale’s brother who is a great chef:

The key is to pre-crack the uncooked eggs! Who knew?! (still do salt too, I think it helps)

Take a spoon and just thump it once in the middle, to break that outer shell. The inside lining keeps the egg in tact, but allows water to seep through, making the shell easier to break off later.

You’ll be able to tell later, which ones were perfect and which ones were thumped too much!

Perfect

Too much

You’ll get better at it as you go!   :)

You can’t see the size here, but these are very small pullet eggs.  Our kids love to eat these little eggs for breakfast, hard boiled and rolled in kosher salt.  They are perfectly bite size for Dale, too!  And I am not joking, one bite and they are gone!  He LOVES when I have a dish of these ready in the fridge.  :)

Speaking of Breakfast, look what we came up with in a bind, when we remembered it was our turn for Sunday school breakfast. 

Canadian Bacon Egg Cups

Ingredients:

Canadian Bacon

Eggs

Cheese

Chopped Veggies

Salt and Pepper and Garlic powder

Take a full sized muffin pan, and place Canadian Bacon circles inside each hole.  Dig around in the veggie drawer and see what needs to be used up quickly, we had green onions in ours, slice or chop accordingly.  Crack a 8 or more eggs into a bowl and whisk with salt, pepper and garlic powder.  Pour a little egg into each Canadian Bacon cup, filling just below the top.  Sprinkle on your veggie of choice and top with cheese.  If you like baked eggs, you could crack the egg directly into each cup and THEN season and top.  Bake at 375* for 17 minutes.

Enjoy!

  Everyone in my family LOVES Egg salad, served on Ritz or wheat bread, with squares of cheese and raw veggies. I love that when we are busy playing, or this week…at Vacation Bible school….lunch is already waiting in the fridge for us. 

  I know everyone has their favorite egg salad recipe, but I am pretty proud of this one. It’s the only one my mom, Grandma and Aunt use, I added a “Tonya Twist” to it, naturally, but it’s a keeper for sure!  We took it on a field trip, and several teachers asked for the recipe, proclaiming it as DELICIOUS!  I told them I’d put it up on the blog so they could print it. 

Dilled Egg Salad Sandwiches

• 12 whole Eggs, Hardboiled
• ½ cups Miracle Whip
• 2 teaspoons Lemon Juice
• 2 Tablespoons Sweet Relish
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
• 2 teaspoons Very Finely Chopped Onion
• 1 Tablespoon Yellow Mustard
• Generous Dash Of Salt, Pepper And Garlic Powder
• 1 Tablespoon High Quality Dill Weed, I Like Pampered Chef’s Best

Boil, cool and peel eggs. Give them a rough chop and place in a medium sized bowl. Add remaining ingredients, adding more miracle whip or mustard or seasonings per your taste. I always have to taste and add a bit more of this or that.
Refrigerate until serving time. Serve on wheat bread or Ritz crackers with cheese cubes for a delicious, easy lunch!

~T

The other day I used the last of the recent batch of just laid eggs that my friend Gail hooked me up with. Fresh eggs from free range chickens taste dramatically better than your average store bought egg, and lend them selves perfectly to honest use such as poaching, boiling, or sauteing. This sauteed shellfish risotto cake with caramelized onions got way better when i put a sunny side up egg from Gail on it! Thanks Gail!

Most healthy, some not so healthy, but all delicious nonetheless. So I just had to share!

Here goes…

1. Life Alive Adventurer Bowl. Last Sunday evening, Will and I were both starving, yet also both feeling too exhausted to even think about cooking. We don’t get takeout very often, but this was just one of those days. We decided to go with a local vegetarian restaurant seeing as we both felt like we needed a fresh, clean, healthy meal to cap of the weekend.

I’ll start this off by saying that I am not a vegetarian, in any sense of the word. I love chicken, steaks, burgers, fish… you name the animal, and I’ll probably eat it. (Well, within reason).  So when Will suggested this restaurant, I was hesitant at first, but honestly too tired to suggest anything else.

What I ordered was the Adventurer, and it was a delicious bowl full of heaven, for lack of a better description.

Ok ok, I guess I’ll give you the actual description: Corn, Beets, Broccoli, dark greens, shredded cheddar, tofu, and tamari almonds over quinoa and brown rice, all in a Sesame Ginger sauce.

Talk about a combination of foods that were meant to be together!  If you live in the Boston area, check out Life Alive Cafe, in Central Square, Cambridge. It is all vegetarian, but even for you meat lovers, the flavor combinations and heartiness of their meals more than makes up for the lack of meat. I will definitely be heading back there to try more of their awesomeness!

2. Smoothies! I know, I know, this goes without saying, but I’ve been making an awful lot of them lately. Three that I’ve been making loving are:

Peanut Butter/Banana (Or a Jimmy Carter)

Almond Milk

1 Banana

1 Tbs Peanut Butter

1 Scoop protein powder

Little bit of greek yogurt to thicken

Strawberries and Cream

Almond Milk

1 Banana

Frozen Strawberries

Fage 2% Plain Greek Yogurt

1 Scoop unflavored protein powder

(Usually I’ll add some Kale into this for some green goodness!)

Cherry Chocolate

Almond Milk

Plain 2% Greek Yogurt

1 C frozen cherries

1 Banana

1 Tbs unflavored protein powder

1 Tbs cocoa powder

YUM. This one is my favorite for now!

Smoothies. SO simple and easy, yet so good, filling, and nutritious.

3. Garlicky Smashed Potatoes

I saw a recipe somewhere (but sorry I can’t for the life of me remember where I found it) for a little bit of a twist on baked/roasted potatoes and thought I would give it a try.  Basically, what you need to do is boil small round potatoes (any of the small varieties will work) until they are soft. Place them on a cooking sheet, and smash each one with a potato masher so that it flattens (almost like a cookie). Brush them with olive oil, salt, pepper, and any herbs or seasonings you like, and bake them in a 450 degree oven for about 10 minutes or until lightly browned.  I tweaked the recipe a little bit and added in 3 cloves of crushed garlic to the olive oil before brushing over the potatoes, which honestly was probably the best thing I could have done. For a great, fast, easy alternative to your basic mashed potatoes, try these…but be careful, they’re addictive!

4. Farm Fresh Eggs

We picked up some delicious farm fresh eggs from the farmers market last weekend, and I have been loving them scrambled, over easy, and on some open faced breakfast sandwiches. It really is amazing how much better eggs are when they come from a local farm and from free range chickens. And I won’t get into the ethical and health benefits in this post, but that’s definitely something to take into consideration too.

Eggs overhard on an Ezekial English Muffin…One of my favorite recent breakfasts!

5. Frozen Yogurt of course!! Now that it’s officially warm outside, my cravings for FroYo have increased exponentially. I actually had been craving FroYo so much over the past two weeks that I had it for dinner the other night. Frozen Yogurt for dinner? YES. And it was Damn good.

This is a recycled pic, not my actual dinner the other night…But you get the idea. 

I’m a huge believer in everything in moderation, and within that is the belief that if every once in a while you want to fulfill a meal with something that’s maybe not the best choice, hey that’s ok!! I did end up having to have a protein filled snack later on because my FroYo dinner didn’t really pack a protein punch (no surprise there). My absolute favorite place to go is BerryLine, which is a Boston based company and in my opinion has the best quality of the “tart” type of FroYo in the Boston area, with some absolutely amazing choices for toppings. YUM-O.

So those are some of my favorite foods lately…As I said before, some are healthy, and some are not so much, but even the less healthy options are not that bad for you when consumed in moderation!

Now I’m off for an errands and packing filled weekend because I’m leaving for Europe on Monday!!!! I’ll be back for one last post before I go, don’t worry.

Happy Friday!

What foods have you been loving lately? Do you normally go to vegetarian restaurants? Do you shop at farmers markets and do you find it important to buy farm fresh, organic eggs? How do you like your FroYo?

All this is just a hobby to this man who is manager of a medical office during the week days.  When he gets home he says the goats are calling to be fed.  They certainly don’t look underfed judging by their size and the big spotlessly clean stainless steel pot of milk he had just attained as we pulled up.  I guess being a manager is his calling, because as well as managing the office by day, he manages a pretty tidy and sufficient homestead farm in the mornings, evenings, and weekends.  All of his animals look clean and healthy, the eggs taste delicious, and the cheese he makes is so fresh, creamy and wonderful.  I just love that quality natural products like this are just down the street from us, so yes, we will be returning customers.

Just for coming for more eggs and being interested in trying the cheese, he gave us a generous free sample of the chevre and feta that he makes.  He also gave us about two dozen recipes that call for goat cheese.  As soon as I got home I tore into the chevre and had it on some crackers with home made pesto, and and olive slice.  Pretty nice snack!

The chevre cheese was so creamy and delicious that for supper I made quesadillas in flour tortillas with beans, the chevre cheese, and my daughters home made salsa of onion, jalapeno, tomato, garlic, salt, and cilantro mixed in the blender. I’m probably going to gain a few pounds eating so many cheese dishes in the future….but since Mother’s Day is this weekend I feel right in splurging.   Too, I will arrive at myMom’s house with something really yummy.  I don’t want her to have to cook on Mother’s Day.

I decided to make a spinach, leek, and feta cheese pizza on whole wheat crust.  It’s the same crust I made a few entries back with the flour that Jeff and the kids helped grind.  Because of the quality of the cheese, this pizza was far better than the one I had made previously.  I started with extra virgin olive oil spread all over the crust’s surface, then some freshly ground black pepper and sea salt over it.  Next I added the chopped leeks and spinach, then on went a good measure of the lovely feta.  I finished it with a few pinches of thyme and a light sprinkle of garlic powder, then baked it for 15 minutes or so in a 400 degree oven.  It was a huge hit with zero leftover.

I can’t wait to go back to the homestead and buy more of Ben’s products.   I like the sense of freedom it gives me that I can purchase and cook with ingredients that are skillfully, carefully and conscientiously made, that don’t need to factor in the pensions of union factory workers, and that don’t need to be pumped full of additives that in my opinion are there because of a previous litigation, not because it makes it better.  Ben does what he does for the love of it and not for profit.  That is the part that money can’t buy.  That care and not an ounce of greed had everything  to do with the sumptious food we ate yesterday and today, has made it taste all the better this wonderful Mother’s Day weekend.    I’m in goat cheese Heaven!

Two Saturdays ago, Ben let me sleep in til around 9:30 and then whisked me off to Burlington, where we had brunch at the Farmhouse Tap & Grill. The FTG is located at 160 Bank Street-an ideal location as it is right off of Church Street, perfect if you are doing some shopping/exploring, but still off of the “main drag.”

A view from our table…

April 28 & 29 was their first time doing brunch and we arrived just in time. Within 15 minutes of ordering our meal, the restaurant was full. As it was brunch,we skipped the beer and opted for delicious coffee instead. The best part? We never had to ask for a refill on our coffee or water. This was huge. Bravo, FTG!

Absolutely delicious

I ordered the House Bennies with cottage bacon, which came with a tasty salad and Ben got the Farmhouse Breakfast Plate with veggie sausage. We also split an order of mini blueberry corn muffins.

Everything was fantastic, from the still warm muffins to the crispy hash browns and bacon to the fluffy biscuit. Holy Yum!

These muffins warmed my heart.

Another thing I loved? Instead of focusing on enormous portions, they focused on a quality meal, Ben and I were both full, but not so full that we couldn’t spend the rest of the day perusing Church Street.

 They also have a killer lunch and dinner menu and a beer garden for warm weather. The burgers make my heart sing.

The FTG also works within the community to bring local food and farming to the area… Obviously, I love this.

Per usual, the Farmhouse was outstanding. If you are ever in Burlington, you must try this place!

Not long ago I was working a location shoot that happened to be on my friend Gail Keller’s spread. Gail is the one that from time to time will gift me the precious eggs her hens lay. That day she gave me a dozen just laid eggs, and you could even hear the hens making a racket as they laid their gems.  Her eggs make everything taste better, and my cast iron corn pudding was no exception, thanks Gail!

Other news: Strawberries green but with a bit of sunshine should be ready by the end of the month,

Newly hatched chicks again, more yummy eggs in the farm shop,

Busy making hanging baskets at the moment if you require yours refilling please bring in very soon to avoid disapointment.

The sales area at the nursery is now full of summer bedding plants ready to be purchased.

Mark was on business in Louisville and took this shot his breakfast at the Anchorage Cafe.  I read about this Farm to Table place and Mark said it is worthy of endorsement, “Mom, they make all of their own stuff from local sources.” When I asked him if I could blog his breakfast shot, he heartily agreed. “The Rwandan medium roast coffee was French pressed to perfection.” he told me.   “And the chef makes the scrambled eggs sprinkled with fresh ground pepper, topped with two strips of Benton’s Smoked Bacon. The BEST bacon in the universe.” I asked for more info on the bacon.

He said,” it tastes like smoky smoked smoke”. Hmmmm. Hickory.    I liked how he sent me the details on the food items.  And how he appreciated the chef’s efforts.

Hearing from him makes for a happy day.

Every year, we plant a “home garden.” This is supposed to be a small garden to supply the family with greens, right? Well, it always seems to get a bit unmanageable. This has been extra difficult since opening Grammy’s Pumpkin Patch. We weren’t willing to give up the home garden, but we needed to simplify.

Those of you who have been out to the farm and have met Angie, my sister, know that she is the creative dreamer behind much of the Grammy’s Pumpkin Patch and agricultural education for Johnstown Farm. She is always up for a new experiment.  Angie spent the winter months studying different gardening techniques.  Thus, this spring we are trying “square foot gardening.” The idea is to grow a garden in raised beds much more efficiently (effort and space). Well, once Angie dreams… here we go!

Grammy, Angie, the grandkids, and myself planned the garden with seeds and egg cartons.

We went to work measuring, cutting, and screwing together our raised beds.

A lot of Johnstown Farm soil, some gypsum (because our soil is heavy on the clay), and some compost (because we do not have a respectable compost pile yet-any suggestions?) and the beds were ready to mix. The beds were then gridded into 1 foot squares.

Looks great – the garden and the kids!  This was about three weeks ago. We are seeing sprouts and dreaming of a bumper crop. We did have to modify the beds by covering them with plastic mesh to keep those chickens out. Speaking of chickens- we still have a couple dozen eggs each week that aren’t spoken for yet, so if you are interested in farm fresh, free range eggs email us at grammyspumpkinpatch@hotmail.com

a care package from Grammy!!!Grammy’s know just what to send – chocolate, candy and toys!  This time Gram sent us some “as healthy as easter candy can get”, chocolate covered raisins, and candy coated sunflower seeds.  Cowboy and I really like those!  Though we had to wrestle them away from the Natives and hide them, it was well worth it - we really enjoyed it -  Thanks Gram!  We LOVE you!!!  Then off to the farm

to visit the girls who provide our fresh eggs and the cows who supply our fresh milk. beautiful aren’t they?  Chief got to stretch his legs,he loves wide open spaces!At home, we enjoyed the cherry blossoms.  This is the view from our front door and coming into our drive – striking!  Still the back yard project awaits and we needed all hands on deck(Yes, the baby has clothes.  He’s just refusing to wear them these days because they cover up his Elmo diapers – stylin’!) Now we have stumps to deal with.

Cowboy wants to rent a back hoe and dig them out, but where’s the fun in that?  The Natives and I have a better idea FIRE!!!!!!!

and Nutella Smores!  Now that I’ve figured out my computer glitch, Wordless Wednesdays will be on target for next Wednesday!!

Beefed up Corn Pudding recipe Inspired by Kodi’s Aunts Recipe but also by a recipe found in Fat-Back and Molasses, a collection of favourite old recipes from Newfoundland and Labrador.

• 1 onion-Peeled and finely diced
• 1 cup cooked and diced Leftover Beef
• 2 cups of canned corn (drained)
• 4 large eggs
• 2 tbsp of olive oil
• 1/2 cup of flour
• Salt, pepper, basil and diced winter greens (about 1/4 of a cup)
• Baked in a bunt pan at 350 for 25 min till golden brown and firm.

Start with your oil, and eggs, beat them together till a nice light yellow color comes, if you want your onion, soft-you will need to precook it, I like the crunch so it went in raw, then the beef, corn, greens and the seasonings went in, mixed well, sprinkle the flour and beat in, then pour evenly in the pan, it filled it about half way, check it with a wooden toothpick to come out clean. Allow to sit for a just a min or two and then flip it out, let it sit and with a little bit of luck, it will come out whole.. Serve hot ideally but can be successfully re-warmed. I recommend it with mashed, a drizzle of homemade gravy with a side of colslaw or carrot salad, but green would work as well if you prefer. Or Go J’s way, mashed, gravy on its own will do just fine thanks…

Kicked-Up Savory Breakfast Casserole
1 pound fresh chicken sausage- I used a hot Italian flavor but a breakfast sausage flavor would be good too!
3 c. frozen shredded hash brown potatoes
1/4 c. olive oil
12 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
1 large onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 red jalapenos, centers cleaned out and finely diced
6 oz. shitake or button mushrooms, diced
1 16 oz container cottage cheese (Look for rBST-free)
6 fresh jumbo organic eggs

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 9″ X 13″ baking dish. In the prepped baking dish, mix the shredded potatoes and the 1/3 c. olive oil. Pat the potatoes into the bottom of the dish and put into the oven to toast while you prepare the remaining ingredients.

Cook sausage in a large deep skillet over medium-high heat, breaking it up into smaller chunks, until evenly browned. Drain and set aside. Wipe out the skillet and saute the veggies in a tablespoon of olive oil till soft and starting to caramelize. Dump this mixture into a large bowl after it has cooled a little bit. Add to the veggie mix the browned sausage, the eggs, the cottage cheese, and all of the shredded cheese (holding back 1/2 cup for the top of the casserole) and mix thoroughly. bring the baking dish out of the oven and pour this mixture over the top of the potatoes. The potatoes will not be cooked at this point, but they won’t be soggy from the freezer either. Sprinkle the remaining shredded cheese over the top of the casserole. You will have to spread the mixture around the pan as it will be fairly thick. Put the entire dish back into the oven and bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before serving. Be sure to refrigerate the leftovers!
We had this for dinner and served it with a salad. And yes, I ate this for breakfast QUITE HAPPILY for the next 4 days! Nom nom! And yes, ketchup goes well with it if you are so inclined! lol

It’s like getting old wall paper off old walls. Usually both have the same outcome…ruined surfaces that turn into egg salad.  Well, egg salad is the better outcome than what I’ve had to do to my walls!

Thanks to Paths of Wrighteousness’ post, this will no longer be an issue and this Easter we can have yummy, perfect, deviled eggs!  If you have the egg shell sticking problem…check out her post!  You will be in perfect deviled egg heaven again!

Hmmm…why do I make deviled eggs for Easter?  There is something wrong with that somehow?!  Maybe I will just rename them.  Wicked-Awesome Eggs.  That’s better!

Saturday again.

Time to hop on the Peugeot cruiser and fill my basket with veggies. With the sun shining and some newly acquired pocket money, I was off. What, oh what, will I find today?

I started with what I consider my staples: beets, parsley, eggs, milk. Normally I buy homemade jam, but I had found a jar of pear and vanilla jam (Poire Williams à la Vanille) earlier that week, so I was not in need of any more confiture.

After the eggs, I did a quick tour to see what else struck my fancy.

Some grapes! It’s been ages since I’ve eaten them. Full of seeds…just like they should be.

As always, the sun blushed tomatoes cried, “Take me home!”, and so did his neighboring bucket: Feta drenched in a parsley sauce. Absolutely nothing could be better than the sauce that this feta swims in. Very finely chopped parsley, garlic, olive oil, and chunks of red pimento peppers. Mmmmm. I like to toss a big spoonful over salads or spread it on bread.

The idea of baked vegetable chips entered my head, and figured I could take a stab at them. So, I chose beets and yellow turnips (les navets jaunes). I generally do not ever fancy a turnip in whatever meal I plan on eating, but these particular turnips are delicious. In fact, later that evening, I was eating thin slices of them raw. Yes, it is possible…you too, could like turnips.

Anticipating salads, I picked up a head of radicchio and two endives. While endives can be quite bitter, I pictured using them as little boats, a vessel in which to serve something else yet to be determined. In case the occasion should arrive…I would be ready. If not, they add a nice contrast to salads in both taste and texture. Next to the endives were these purple artichokes. While I don’t know the first thing about dealing with artichokes, I couldn’t stop myself from buying two. They were just too attractive.

My last stop was to a man selling asparagus. Wow, were they gorgeous! And they weren’t small and wimpy either. I bought 6, and it was my most expensive purchase at 3 euros, but worth every centime. If you want to see these beauties cooked, stay tuned for my Sunday Night Dinner post, coming soon.

Desiring fresh herbs, I had swung by a market earlier that week in search of tarragon. When the man asked me if I was looking for something in particular, I said, “Yes, but I don’t know how it’s called in French.” Then came the next most common question I am asked here in Strasbourg, “What is it called in German?” I said I wasn’t sure, I don’t speak German. As usual, the “Where are you from / What are you doing here” conversation then ensues and lasts roughly 2 minutes if I’m feeling talkative. Once they had my life story, we moved back to the herbs. Before I knew it, 5 more workers were huddled around the man, all barking names of herbs at me, now full of curiosity as to what this mysterious “tarragon” could be. “Le romarin! Le thym! La ciboulette! Le laurier! Le menthe!” Turns out it is called “estragon”…not too far from tarragon after all. Whops.

After that whole debacle, there was no tarragon…so I settled for chives and rosemary. Equally nice.

That night, I attempted the vegetable chips. I do not have a mandoline (the cooking utensil…not the instrument), so I sliced my beets and turnips by hand as thin as I could.

I rubbed them with a small amount of olive oil, salt, pepper, and a bit of chopped fresh rosemary and baked them in the over at roughly 300 degrees for about 20 minutes.

Result: Failure. Half the chips burned on one side while being completely soft on the other side. Take into account the “oven” I’m working with. I’ll try again when I have a proper oven.

Not wanting to serve any more vegetable slices a fiery death sentence, I just ate them raw. Wow! So much better than I ever would have thought. Sliced thin, their true flavor really comes out.

Since beets are my favorite, I think a raw beet coleslaw is in order. Grate it just like a carrot, season with spices, throw together a vinaigrette, and POOF…lunch. You should give it a try too.

The other great thing about going to the market, it that my purchases double as decorations until eaten. Next to the potted flowers I also bought at the market, is a convivial bouquet of asparagus, rosemary, and artichoke, nestled in an old jam jar.

What will you do with your vegetables this week?

Imagine the thrill when, shortly after I moved to the country, I learned I wasn’t even eating good eggs. Farm-fresh eggs are so much better, I read in books and farming magazines. They have good cholesterol instead of bad cholesterol, more protein and less fat. They look better.

Look better? How, I wondered. Because they are brown? I was planning to get chicks but it would still be five months before I’d have any eggs. At the feed store, I found my answer. They had eggs for sale by the dozen, grown by local farmers. I fried one up as soon as I got home.

Whoa, Nellie. As soon as I cracked the shell I could see the difference. You know that saying, “You are what you eat?” Well. A farm chicken eats (often organic) feed, fresh cracked corn, and whatever bugs and seeds it cares to forage from ranging freely through the grass. A commercial layer eats whatever crap the factory owners care to throw her way, sometimes allegedly even ground-up former chickens. They are in cages and never get to spread their wings or see the sun.

Can you tell which is which?

Caveat: The upper egg is an “organic” store-bought egg, so it’s less gross than a true factory egg, which I cannot bring myself to buy even for demonstration purposes

And chickens are not the limit to eggs on a farm! There are duck eggs, slightly larger and with a consistency that makes them a favorite with bakers. And quail eggs, which are more of a novelty than anything else.

How cute are those?

When young hens (called pullets) start laying eggs, they are sort of practice eggs. They’re a bit smaller than regulation eggs but every bit as yummy. When our chickens laid their first eggs, I was so proud of them I took a picture and sent it to Mike, who was out of town.

Pullet egg on left

Once I had laying chickens, I was about as happy as could be. All I had to do was walk out to the barn, scoop up a couple eggs and go cook them. Often they were still warm, a particular pleasure on a cold morning. Thank you, chickens!

Even after the chickens got into their groove, mishaps could occur. Sometimes an egg had two yokes. Sometimes it had an extra-tough shell. One didn’t have a shell at all. And once, I discovered this monstrosity:

Holy giant egg!

It was basically two eggs in one shell. That must have stung a little on the way out.

My former roommate came to visit, and the first thing I did was cook her some eggs! We even re-created the Egg Dance in the driveway.

Lyndale Ave. Egg Dance Redux

Lazy Saturdays are good for trips to the local farmers market and porchin’. For those of you that are not native Texans, porchin’ is a favorite past time when the weather is mild. I often spend entire weekends porchin’ with wine and a good book. It is very relaxing to hang out on the patio, listen to the birds, and disconnect.

This particular Saturday left me with a dozen farm fresh eggs, a bottle of Chicken Run, and lovely weather. I made up a salad nicoise for lunch and proceeded to enjoy a few glasses of the 2011 Chicken Run Chardonnay.

What prompted me to buy a wine called Chicken Run? Well, (1) it is a Chilean wine and due to my recent trip to Chile I was intrigued; (2) I thought the name was amusing; (3) It was on sale. What the hell, right?

Chicken Run was a light and refreshing patio wine. Not too heavy on the tongue and lovely with a salad! It was tart and crisp with notes of green apple and lemon. You can find Chicken Run at the HEB Volente location. It was perfect for a weekend of porchin’.

Austin transplants—get out there and enjoy some porchin’ before it gets too hot!

Rotten Tomatoes.com

Have you ever seen the movie, “People Will Talk”? It stars Carey Grant and Jeannie Crain. I put it in my Netflix cue simply because Carey Grant was in it. It also featured an uncredited appearance by, Margaret Hamilton, aka. The Wicked Witch of the West. I still got the heebies watching her in this role even though she was just playing a maid. The scene pictured finds Noah Praetorius ranting a bit over the state of the food of the day..

“What have you great men of science done with atomic energy to make people well?….Sauerkraut belongs in a barrel, not a can.  Our American mania for sterile packaging has removed the flavor from most of our foods.  Butter is no longer sold out of a wooden tub, and a whole generation thinks butter tastes like paper.  There was never a perfume like an old-time grocery store.  Now they smell like drugstores, which don’t even smell like drugstores anymore.”  ~ Cary Grant as Dr. Noah Praetorius, People Will Talk (1951) (I found the quote here.)

I don’t usually blog about the state of food and it’s quality, although it’s something I think about. This is my blog about making things pretty and sometimes yummy. When I watched that movie though I found myself cheering for Dr. Praetorius and not just because he’s played by Carey Grant. Who knew that some people were thinking about the state of food in 1951?

Many moons ago I used to drive very far away to get, among other things, farm fresh eggs. I saw for the first time ever a happy chicken running through the grass presumably to go after a nice, fat worm. I didn’t know a chicken could look happy. When gas got to $4 a gallon it didn’t make sense to drive so far to get fresh eggs. I went back to buying eggs at Costco and while that fit our budget better I really wanted to have the opportunity to buy farm fresh eggs again.

So, over a year ago I met one of my friend’s mom and she raised chickens for eggs. I told her that I’d love to buy farm fresh eggs again but unfortunately some of her chickens were, um, well, they have a dog and…you know. So she had to get more chickens. Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago and my friend, Lori, asked if I was still interested in eggs. Yes! Yes, I am interested in eggs! And even better? Lori brings them to me at church. No extra driving required.

Aren’t they pretty?

They’re speckled and brown and white and grey-blue-green. They’re pretty and yummy and fresh and as an added bonus there’s no chicken poo on them. When I used to buy them they’d been washed but I’ve never seen farm eggs this clean.

Eating fresh, local and organic is all the rage these days so is there anything you love fresh from the farm? I’d love to hear about it.