Lookahere, son! Don't stand there gawkin'! Eat real, pastured eggs.

I happened to ride by a friends house the other day while cycling, and noted that he was out working around the barns. Hmmm. Chickens are out roaming in the spring sunshine. Could there possibly be eggs in the coop?

Yes, indeedy! Real eggs. With those intense orange yolks that say “Peep! I been eatin’ bugs, grass and all manner of stuff while playing around the ranch”. I came home with a carton of six of the finest - one had a little chicken poop on it, but that’s nature for you.

We love eggs here, and eat eggs for dinner often (cereal and yogurt are out breakfast mainstays), as I make a really good omelette, poached eggs etc. They’re fast, easy (with practice) and economical. Eggs are also an excellent source of protein.

Egg manufacturers - with loads of lobbying money - will tell you that there is absolutely no difference between factory farmed eggs and pastured eggs. Bushwa! Balderdash! That only goes over with city folks who’ve never tasted a real egg.

True free-range, pastured eggs are those where the chickens are allowed to run and roam freely to graze and browse, hunt and peck, as nature intended them to. In the laboratory, pastured eggs have been shown to have higher levels of Vitamin D3, 2/3 more Vitamin A, 2 times the Omega# fatty acids, 3 times the Vitamin E, with 1/3 less cholesterol and 1/4 the saturated fat. And they are more humane!

So, you may say “But where can I get real eggs and taste the difference?” Well, if you don’t have a friend with chickens, you could look into the growing trend of raising your own ‘urban chickens’, or find a producer in your area.

Reno Egg is local pastuered egg producer, and they sell at Whole Foods and some local markets on weekends.

Gee, but what if you don’t live in the Reno area? No worries, Local Harvest can help you locate a local farm or Community Supported Agriculture source near you! Here is a list of Northern Nevada pasteured egg sources.

Now get crackin’!

Just a joke,son. Just a joke.

Oh, and here’s a post about poaching eggs the right way. And a bit about making a swell souffle omelette.