Monday, September 7, 2009

brown eggs


when i was young and still living at home, my mom bought eggs from a local farm. they were always brown eggs which to me have the most wonderfully rich color and texture. i admit that for years i haven't even thought about buying brown eggs even though they are available in the produce section of our grocery. last weekend hubby asked why would someone buy brown eggs. he was holding a carton of cage free grade a brown eggs from vegetarian fed hens. i said they taste better, gently took them from his hands and put them in our cart. i'm sure they were more expensive but i didn't want to compare the difference in cost. i wanted the experience of holding those brown eggs in the palm of my hand, closing my eyes and imagining i was back home again in the kitchen with mom. i wanted to be stepping out of the old tan chevy and onto the back porch at blanche fuson's house to pick up the cartons of eggs. often they were still warm from when she pulled them out from under the hens. yes, they were that fresh.

this morning, cracking open that first large brown egg for an omelet i thought yes, you can go back in time. maybe only in your mind's eye and your heart and your romanticized memory but it can be done. and, it is a journey i cherish.

and, yes, the brown eggs DO taste better.

p.s. brandi asked why are some eggs white and some brown. here you go, btrandi: White eggs come from white chickens and brown eggs come from brown-ish chickens. Most of the eggs in your supermarket come from the following breeds of chickens: the White Leghorn, the Rhode Island Red, the New Hampshire, and the Plymouth Rock.

White Leghorn chickens are white and lay white eggs. Rhode Island Red, New Hampshire and Plymouth Rock chickens are all reddish brown and lay brown or brown-speckled eggs.

don't you just love google??!!

9 comments:

Megan Coyle said...

What a sweet post--thanks for sharing :) I love the color of the brown eggs in your photograph, and your autumn tree below is just stunning. You have a great eye for color.

lori vliegen said...

you are SO right....brown eggs are the best!! i remember as a kid, riding with my aunt down an old indiana country road to the egg farm.....for brown eggs, of course!! then we'd go back to her house and bake the most fabulous cakes and pies.....great memories!! xoxox, :))

steviewren said...

Besides tasting better, they make a pretty picture as well.

Bee said...

All eggs in England are brown. Sometimes I forget that American eggs are white. Brown eggs just look more wholesome, I think, although they aren't as good for dying.

Also: we had chickens until July, but they went *missing* when we were on holiday. Even if you buy the best free-range eggs from the grocery store they aren't quite the same. Ours had a deep rich orange yolk.

Mary said...

I don't know if they taste different, but they sure look, I don't know, more country to me!! :)
I but brown eggs most of the time.

I want chickens, I hear fresh eggs are much tastier!!

Brandi said...

I love that nestalgic feeling!
I have never had brown eggs, but one of these days, we're going to have to buy some.
Food for thought: What makes a brown egg brown and a white egg white? Hmm.

Joanna said...

A few years ago we gave up buying the cheap factory white eggs and started getting free range eggs which are mostly brown. We get the eggs from local farmers that treat their chickens humanely. Plus--what a difference in flavour. As you found out. I enjoyed thinking of you as a girl with the eggs. Also, I really like this week's header.

Sandy K. said...

Hi Julie, Thank you for checking in my my blog; I love this photo of the eggs. Brown eggs seem more "homey," though I was born and raised in the city. But my adult life has been in the country, with all that entails. Farm markets, soft summer days, and brown eggs. Thank you for the google info, too:). Yes...I love google.

Michael said...

I love google and i LOVE brown eggs. yes, they do taste better. Was just wishing for one the other day in fact.