Farm fresh and Friendly

It’s a high-tech world out there folks, but I find that some things have been perfect from the very beginning.

We recently spent a restful few days at Butterfly Gap (check it out, you’ll be glad you did). Since we visited last the owners have begun raising chickens. They must have 70 hens and a handful of roosters by now! Each morning we enjoyed delicious eggs fresh from the Butterfly Gap coops.

Before we left, Becky gave me a dozen fresh-from-the-chicken eggs. In a variety of colors and sizes, covered with dirt, they felt like a bit of treasure in their carton.

My first thought was to wash them, but that’s when I learned a superfriendly fact about eggs: the “bloom” on their shells protects them and keeps them fresh. Becky taught me that if I left them just as they were, they’d keep in the fridge (or on my counter) as long as 5 weeks and stay perfectly edible. Isn’t that amazing?!

Such a simple foodstuff, perfectly designed to exist in a basket, a backpack, a fridge – just about anywhere – until you need the protein.

(Regardless of their potential shelf life, our eggs lasted less than a week at home. My kids declared them the “best eggs ever.”)