Friday, April 6, 2012

Bring on the Brown Eggs!!!

For the past few years I have bought my weekly eggs from one of two local farms, at the farmers market or picked the "Free Range" eggs at the store (you check out Simple Bites Egg Labels 101  for assistance on buying your future eggs).  Years ago when I learned the inhumane treatment of the egg layers (aka the chickens), I vowed never to buy caged eggs again.  "Free Range" is a loose term (the chickens are loose in their pen and there has to be a door to the outside but most don't use it) and so I often try to buy local pastured eggs.....they taste sooooo good and I can get them for $3.00 a dozen!

In our area, most breeds of chickens lay brown eggs and it is rare you will see a white egg.  At Easter time, the foreign white eggs appear in our market and flood the shelves.  Each year I am sick to my stomach as I bring the carton of white eggs to the checkout, knowing that the momma's who laid them were not living a very good life.  Not to mention all the crap that they ate (literally) that was then passed on to my egg.  In the past we would also dye the eggs with chemical dyes and didn't eat them....a true waste which causes even more guilt!!!  But not this year.

This year we are dying brown local eggs and using natural dyes that I got on clearance last year.   I am excited to see what they turn out like and we will be eating this years batch.  I love egg salad and I can't wait!!!  Hopefully the colors will still be vibrant and the kids will enjoy the outcome, I'll let you know.

4 comments:

MamaB said...

That is an awesome idea!! We also buy eggs from a co-worker who has free range chickens, we never know what colors we will get some are brown, white and occasionally a blue-green. I am not an egg eater but Don and the girls have gotten to the point of when we are at someone else's house and they have normal CAFO eggs the don't like the taste. I can't wait to see the pictures! Oh and I love the updated header!!!

Annie said...

$3.00 for a dozen? that's a lot. Most people here buy eggs at the store and almost anybody like to get free eggs.

What kind of natural color are you going to use? I was thinking to paint eggs with the girls but I don't want to waste them. And your idea sounds really good.

Anonymous said...

We use to dye eggs making our own dyes from onion skins (a nice golden brown color) beet juice (pink) and red cabbage (nice robin's egg blue... oh yes, and tumeric... for golden yellow. There were some others but now I've forgotten. The years we had the geese... our eggs were GIGANTIC! But that didn't last lon., As you know, we decided to keep S and got rid of the attack geese! Glad you are having fun:)
MIMI

Connie said...

I want chickens!!

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