Eggs, Eggs, Eggs

It started last year after receiving my first dozen fresh eggs; my fascination with them.  I found I could make recipes with them that I had tried, but had not worked out quite as well as I had anticipated.  Poached eggs worked, meringue rose three times as high and homemade mayonnaise transformed a chicken salad.   The only downside was yolk, so yellow that it made my cheesecake look more like compressed scrambled eggs than it's typical creamy color (delicious when eaten with one's eyes closed).

When we moved to Sierraville, the fresh egg quest began in earnest and it marked the beginning of a delightful friendship with our neighbor, Steve.  Containers of eggs one way were returned filled with cookies the next.  It worked will for all involved.  Unfortunately, the chickens came to an abrupt end one night culminating in a feast for some sneaky creatures of the night.  New chickens were not to be had until spring, so another quest began.

I learned just before Easter of a woman who sells eggs for two dollars a dozen.  You go back to the main road, I was told, then down the street that follows the river for about a mile.  There is a refrigerator just outside their front door with a wooden box on top for the money.  In addition to chickens, she has turkeys and ducks.  I have not yet tried those eggs.

The other night we had friends over for dinner.  After eating this very pie, we talked about the qualities of fresh eggs and they wanted some.  I was not sure about heading to the refrigerator after dark and felt slight regret at sharing my source, but off we went.  We drove up to the house and a woman came to the fence and suggested we were likely looking for the next driveway.  No, we came to get eggs.  Okay.


We stood in the yard and chatted about this and that as it got dark and rather chilly.  I was wondering what my city friends could possibly thinking and of the many things I imagined, it was not one of them.  As we were saying our thanks and good-bye's my friend leaned over and whispered she had been in her neighborhood for two years and had met almost no one.  This was a treat for her.  I relaxed and was pleased with the sharing of eggs and friendships, old and new.