{"id":25116,"date":"2015-03-30T09:55:04","date_gmt":"2015-03-30T13:55:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=25116"},"modified":"2015-03-30T09:55:04","modified_gmt":"2015-03-30T13:55:04","slug":"on-your-table-having-eggs-for-easter-try-farm-fresh-eggs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=25116","title":{"rendered":"On Your Table: Having Eggs for Easter? Try Farm-Fresh Eggs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Happy, well-fed hens make for tastier, more nutritious eggs<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

By Cathy Branciaroli<\/strong><\/span>,\u00a0Food Correspondent, The Times<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"susans-egg-basket\"<\/a>

The hundreds of varieties of laying hens produce eggs of all colors and sizes \u2014 far beyond the white varieties most common in local supermarkets. Here are a few.<\/p><\/div>\n

Eggs are synonymous with Easter, with 522 million projected to be consumed during the Lenten and Eastertide period in the US alone, according to the American Egg Board.\u00a0 Why this close association?\u00a0 Eggs have traditionally been a symbol of fertility, and rebirth, and in Christian traditions they also represent the rebirth of Christ rising from the dead. \u00a0Decorated hard boiled eggs will delight children at egg \u00a0hunts or in Easter basket. \u00a0\u00a0Deviled eggs will grace many an Easter table.<\/p>\n

The vast majority of eggs consumed in the US are purchased at the grocery store from large-scale producers.\u00a0 While these are perfectly great and tasty, an increasing number of consumers are demanding what are called farm-fresh, free range or eggs from pastured hens.\u00a0 Reasons vary \u2013 among them a desire to support local food and farmers, wanting to know where their food comes from or wanting to purchase eggs grown in healthier conditions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yolks from farm-raised hens eggs are deep yellowy-orange color. \u00a0In comparison, all the eggs bought at the local grocery, even those labeled organic, have pale yellow yolks.\u00a0 The difference reflects the well-balanced, healthy, nutritious diet of the hens producing farm-fresh eggs. That color signals the presence of beta-carotene, a natural pigment also found in carrots.\u00a0 The nutrients the hens consume are passed onto their eggs, and concentrated in the yolks.\u00a0 So just like us, the eggs are what the hen eats and when we eat them we benefit too.<\/p>\n

\"susans-flock\"<\/a>

Happy, well-fed hens make for delicious eggs. Here is a local flock of mixed farm raised hens enjoying getting their daily meal.<\/p><\/div>\n

Plus there is the flavor factor.\u00a0 According to local egg farmer Susan Hoffman of Over the Top Farms near Unionville, happy hens make delicious eggs.\u00a0 Why are they so happy?\u00a0 They are raised in small groups, which makes them close companions with their flock-mates.\u00a0 They enjoy the sunshine.\u00a0 They hunt and peck in the grass, enjoying an omnivore\u2019s diet of table scraps, beetles, bugs, worms, greens and well, who knows what else. \u00a0What could be more fun?<\/p>\n

Susan\u2019s current flock consists of 22 laying hens and a rooster named \u201cLarry\u201d.\u00a0 Some are American heritage breeds including Rhode Island Reds and Barred Rocks that were bred to thrive in the Northeast climate.\u00a0 Others are more exotic, including the Auacanas from South America that produces robins-blue eggs.\u00a0 She said that she chooses the breeds that provide a rainbow of colors in the eggs \u2013 white, blue, speckled and a range of brown eggs that go from light to the color of dark chocolate.\u00a0 Although the breeds, egg colors, and even the egg sizes differ, the yolk color is determined by the hen\u2019s diet so is consistent across the flock.<\/p>\n

Susan\u2019s eggs can purchased at the Country Butcher in Kennett Square.\u00a0 But farm fresh eggs can be found at nearly all the local farmers markets and of course from any number of local farmers who sell direct on the premises.If you and your family are going to consume 4.5 dozen eggs during this Easter season, which is what the Egg Board\u2019s statistics predict, why not try some from\u00a0 pasture raised hens.<\/p>\n

And while you are at it, why not try making some egg salad from the Easter hard boiled egg leftovers. \u00a0Here is a classic recipe for this always appreciated dish.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Classic Egg Salad<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Courtesy of Susan Hoffman<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Ingredients:<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

6 hard boiled eggs<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00bc cup mayonnaise<\/span><\/p>\n

salt and pepper to taste<\/span><\/p>\n

lettuce leaves<\/span><\/p>\n

Optional additions include sweet pickle or Vidalia onion relish, Dijon mustard and olives.<\/span><\/p>\n

Preparation:<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Susan recommends using an egg slicer to cut the eggs, first in one direction then the other, instead of mashing.\u00a0 This adds more texture to the mix.<\/span><\/p>\n

Combine the eggs with the mayonnaise, season with salt and pepper and then have fun with the optional additions.\u00a0 \u00a0Depending on how many people will be served, just increase the the number of eggs and proportion of mayonnaise accordingly.\u00a0 These proportions serve four people.\u00a0\u00a0 Serve on top of or with lettuce leaves.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another tip, if you are using fresh eggs, add a few teaspoons of vinegar or salt to the water when boiling to make peeling the hard boiled eggs easier.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cathy Branciaroli also writes about her adventures in the kitchen on her blog <\/i>Delaware Girl Eats<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Happy, well-fed hens make for tastier, more nutritious eggs By Cathy Branciaroli,\u00a0Food Correspondent, The Times Eggs are synonymous with Easter, with 522 million projected to be consumed during the Lenten and Eastertide period in the US alone, according to the American Egg Board.\u00a0 Why this close association?\u00a0 Eggs have traditionally been a symbol of fertility, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25117,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[245,7],"tags":[3068,6913,6914,6915],"class_list":["post-25116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","category-featured","tag-easter","tag-eggs","tag-farm-fresh","tag-over-the-top-farms"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25116"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25118,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25116\/revisions\/25118"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/25117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}