Golden Yolks

The ladies have arrived, and in droves!

After an 8-hour drive from eastern Pennsylvania, these ladies are finding a new home. They don't know what green pasture is, but they will learn soon enough. Note their long beaks, left intact so they can hunt and peck in the grass. (In confinement operations, they are debeaked, so as not to cannibalize each other.) Outdoor hens are constantly moving to fresh grass, distracted by lush feed. After a few days of orientation, they will begin their march across pasture, never to sit still again. 

And what does pasture gives these hens? It gives them a diet rich in "carotenoids". Carotenoids are pigments found in fruits, vegetables, and grasses. They are a source of Vitamin A, which benefits skin, teeth, skeleton, and eyes, among else. Hens also derive rich proteins from pasture through ingestion of bugs and worms. The result is a thick, deep-yellow egg, that looks more like a steak, when fried, than common eggs.

So much can be made with eggs. They are great for baking, and rich golden yolks are notably conspicuous in baked goods. Below is an almond pound-cake, accompanied by the season's first strawberries. Note the golden hue of the cake, derived from eggs like the one to the side in the dish.

And here is another delectable product -- egg salad. This is curried egg salad, accented with golden raisins and avocado, on Blue Oven English muffins. What a great lunch this made!

We look forward to seeing you at the Montgomery Market on Saturday and Hyde Park on Sunday. Please review respective protocols closely, as they are central to these marketplaces working effectively. The critical thing is staying in vehicles and having visible signage taped to the windshield, citing your name in bold and vendor names listed below from whom you are picking up. Everybody is threading needles to adapt to our new constraints these days, and it is working amazingly well.

If you want to treat yourself, go for some of our golden eggs.

In the yolk of it all!