Our Farm Eggs

 My son has been begging me to make banana bread since Saturday, so between all other things I need to get done today I stopped and made banana bread.  I cracked two eggs opened and look what I found it my bowl! Three yokes.  This has only happened to be once before.  The last time it happened it was a few days after one of my twins passed away.  We laughed, I cried, and we thanked him for the joke/reminder.  Today I smile at the thought of him and at this beautiful picture before me.  Two eggs three yokes, my three beautiful boys, sigh, tear.  Guess it doesn't really matter if I clean up the kitchen today, just as long as my boys feel of my love then it's a worth while day.

This isn't the only reason I find myself writing.  But since our hens have started producing eggs funny occurrences happen often.  Note the variety of sizes, amazing no?  And the different colors?  We do have one hen that lays white eggs, if I had the time to sit outside and watch as each of them lay I'd love to discover which of the 30 hens lays that one.  Guess it shall remain a mystery.

Thinking of eggs I wonder how the grocery store gets theirs to be all the same size and color, and what happens to the ones that don't fit the 'perfect' mold?  Random I know...so what is the difference between farm fresh and the grocery store variety?  This question has puzzled me this last year as I tested allergic to conventional eggs and was encouraged to eat only farm fresh eggs.  I recently took a cooking class and she answered this question for me.  And yes the price difference is worth it.  A study was done comparing the nutrient data of conventional eggs and eggs raised in an environment where they are allowed to roam and scratch.  The results:

• 1/3 less cholesterol
• 1/4 less saturated fat
• 2/3 more vitamin A
• 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
• 3 times more vitamin E
• 7 times more beta carotene

Besides, they taste better, hold their shape better, and are the perfect brain food.  So pay the extra and make sure your eggs came from chickens that got to roam around, eat grass and bugs, and then lay orange yoked eggs.  If you are wondering if your eggs come from a good source, note the color of the yoke and if it is nice and firm or yellow and kind of flat.

The study was published by Mother Earth News in November of 2007