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A Rainbow of Brown

You do know brown is my favorite color right? No seriously it is!

Last weekend I went skiing with my coworker Beth. We had a blast! 50 degree weather, not a cloud in the sky! It was beautiful! On our way out to the mountain we passed a small country house with a little sign reading "Brown Eggs for Sale" we made a mental note so I could pick some up on the way home. I, of course, forgot all about it, darn my goldfish memory, but Beth (who is 95% vegan and doesn't eat eggs) was sweet enough to remind me and stop! Thank you Beth!!

We pulled in and after a few minutes noticed an old style bell with a string to pull by the door. The man was wicked nice and I picked up a dozen large eggs, grand total $1.75. More than a dozen eggs at Wegmans... and worth every penny! I mean look at how beautiful these are! Look at the range of colors!


So far I've eaten a few over easy with some freshly toasted bread with a little butter. Now that's good eating! I haven't decided what else I'll make with them :) Any suggestions?

What about you guys, do you prefer brown farm eggs over the normal white kind? Can't taste a difference? Don't care? :)

UPDATE: Svaha left an awesome comment with tons of info, thank you Svaha!!!!
Svaha said...

My family owns an egg farm in Western Mass. Here are a few more tidbits for you:

~ brown eggs come from brown/red chickens, white eggs from white chickens

~ the darker birds tend to be a little heartier, thus the local/smaller farmers raising these birds and having the brown eggs. The big agri-farms down south have the millions of white birds (cheeper maybe? ;) that raise the store bought white eggs.

~ eggs need a few hours to 'set'. An egg right out of the chicken is almost like water when cracked open. So there is such a thing as too fresh.

~ when the young birds first start laying they'll lay small, almost toy like eggs with no yolks.

~ then the first few months they'll often lay what we call double-yolkers. They're 2-3 times the size of a normal egg and actually have two yolks in them. They can't even fit in an egg carton so we'll just rubber band the lid closed. These are a huge hit at the farm. Little kids flip when their egg has two yolks in it.

~ every now and then we'll also get eggs with no shells. A regular egg on the inside of a slightly thicker membrane with absolutely no shell at all (another hit with the kids on farm tours).

20 chews:

Anonymous said...

Really really fresh eggs like that call for one thing: a souffle. It'll rise better for you than any you've prepared before.

Misty and I are fortunate enough that one of her coworkers raises chickens all summer, and has been giving us the eggs. She has more than she knows what to do with, and we're always happy to help her get rid of them . :)!

Pearl said...

I don't really have a preference, but for a while, my family claimed that brown eggs tasted better than white. I didn't really notice, but I did notice that brown eggs were a lot smaller than the whites (well, the ones sold at Costco, anyway) ;)

Fresh farm eggs make a real difference in taste from my experience. And it's always good to know where you food comes from!

Jeanne said...

My family raised chickens when I was a kid, so I was lucky enough to have scrambled eggs each morning for breakfast. So maybe I'm partial, but I definitely think that brown eggs taste better!
My mom swears that they aren't as good for baking (so she always kept a dozen store bought white eggs on hand), but I'm not sure about the validity of that claim.
There's always the good standby of a quiche or frittata.

For my money there is nothing like a farm fresh egg. The taste is so much better, richer than garden variety eggs. So, so good!

I recently developed a baked egg dish for a recipe contest and it was really good. The recipe is on my blog
here.

Cheers!

stephchows said...

Tim- that is so awesome! I wish someone here had chickens in the back yard :) I keep threatening John that I'm going to adopt some :)

Pearl- I always thought brown were smaller too, until I picked these bad boys up! They put my wegman's eggs to shame, they were HUGE!

Chocolate Shavings- So true, knowing and seeing where your food comes from is always an extra bonus :) PS love your blog!

Jeanne- Hmmm I wonder why she didn't think they were as good for baking... makes me want to go bake something with them tonight!!

Diva- Thanks for the recipe!

Sara said...

Fresh eggs are infinitely better than the kind you buy in the grocery store - the problem is that they can be so expensive, at least around here!

Natalie said...

I actually buy 2 kinds of eggs, nice organic ones for me and regular white ones for baking. :)

These are pretty eggs!

Anonymous said...

For some reason brown eggs cost more than white around here. I thought maybe it was the perception that brown are better somehow, though I've never noticed any difference between the two.

But yeah, I'm going to agree with the apparent consensus and say that local, no matter the colour, will always be better than grocery store eggs.

Kate said...

I think it's funny that you said "the normal white kind."

I have never had white eggs in my life!

Reeni said...

I definitely prefer farm fresh eggs!! They taste so much better and the yolks are brighter and bigger. Make a quiche! Mine come out super fluffy and creamier than usual when I use farm fresh.

Anonymous said...

You are SO lucky! I live in Portland, Oregon, and farm-fresh eggs run about $7.00/dozen here. In summer. I don't think anyone even has them this time of year. I'm terrifically jealous!

Maggie said...

I love good eggs. There was an Amish farmer that used to sell them at my local farm market that had the best. I always like the ones with the darkest, richest yolks.

stephchows said...

Sara- It's always a bummer when price stops you from buying something extra good :(

Natalie- you are the second to say you buy white for baking??? Do you know why they are better for baking?

Aleta- Go local go!!! :D

Kate- Seriously?? That's really fun to learn, where do you live? I don't think I even saw a brown egg until high schoool!

Reeni- The yolks really are brighter! I need to take a picture of one cracked open for sure :) So pretty

dampscribbler- OMG $7???? That is insane!! I knew my 1.75 was a bargain for brown eggs but 7!!! WOW

Maggie- I love the Amish farmers that come to the public market here, they have the best cheeses :) Hmmm I may need to take a trip to the market this saturday now that the weather is warming up!

Hi all - I think the egg color is based on the breed of hen. But clearly, we're all in agreement that farm-fresh eggs are much tastier! And I'm guessing they are usually more humanly raised too.

Svaha said...

My family owns an egg farm in Western Mass. Here are a few more tidbits for you:

~ brown eggs come from brown/red chickens, white eggs from white chickens

~ the darker birds tend to be a little heartier, thus the local/smaller farmers raising these birds and having the brown eggs. The big agri-farms down south have the millions of white birds (cheeper maybe? ;) that raise the store bought white eggs.

~ eggs need a few hours to 'set'. An egg right out of the chicken is almost like water when cracked open. So there is such a thing as too fresh.

~ when the young birds first start laying they'll lay small, almost toy like eggs with no yolks.

~ then the first few months they'll often lay what we call double-yolkers. They're 2-3 times the size of a normal egg and actually have two yolks in them. They can't even fit in an egg carton so we'll just rubber band the lid closed. These are a huge hit at the farm. Little kids flip when their egg has two yolks in it.

~ every now and then we'll also get eggs with no shells. A regular egg on the inside of a slightly thicker membrane with absolutely no shell at all (another hit with the kids on farm tours).

Svaha said...

My family owns an egg farm in Western Mass. Here are a few more tidbits for you:

~ brown eggs come from brown/red chickens, white eggs from white chickens

~ the darker birds tend to be a little heartier, thus the local/smaller farmers raising these birds and having the brown eggs. The big agri-farms down south have the millions of white birds (cheeper maybe? ;) that raise the store bought white eggs.

~ eggs need a few hours to 'set'. An egg right out of the chicken is almost like water when cracked open. So there is such a thing as too fresh.

~ when the young birds first start laying they'll lay small, almost toy like eggs with no yolks.

~ then the first few months they'll often lay what we call double-yolkers. They're 2-3 times the size of a normal egg and actually have two yolks in them. They can't even fit in an egg carton so we'll just rubber band the lid closed. These are a huge hit at the farm. Little kids flip when their egg has two yolks in it.

~ every now and then we'll also get eggs with no shells. A regular egg on the inside of a slightly thicker membrane with absolutely no shell at all (another hit with the kids on farm tours).

You are SO lucky! I live in Portland, Oregon, and farm-fresh eggs run about $7.00/dozen here. In summer. I don't think anyone even has them this time of year. I'm terrifically jealous!

Jeanne said...

My family raised chickens when I was a kid, so I was lucky enough to have scrambled eggs each morning for breakfast. So maybe I'm partial, but I definitely think that brown eggs taste better!
My mom swears that they aren't as good for baking (so she always kept a dozen store bought white eggs on hand), but I'm not sure about the validity of that claim.
There's always the good standby of a quiche or frittata.

Sara said...

Fresh eggs are infinitely better than the kind you buy in the grocery store - the problem is that they can be so expensive, at least around here!

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