When you’re little, the world is filled with a constant riptide of experiences both big and small. Umpteen moments of “firsts”. First few steps. First smell of the sea. First feel of raindrops. First sight of fallen snow. First taste of chocolate. First ride on a bike. First day of school. First crush. First heartbreak. As we grow older, the first time trying something, seeing something, tasting feels more fleeting. There’s no longer a shiny new adventure at every turn. We have to seek it out. Until – the other day, when I was greeted with an unexpected surprise. The other day, I ate my first egg.
Or I should say, the other day, I tasted my first egg. A real egg. A bona fide farm fresh egg. An egg so good, its mama surely is the happiest hen in town. THIS is what an egg was supposed to taste like. And all this time, I thought I was eating pretty well…buying organic, free-range eggs from the local Island grocery store. How sadly I was mistaken.
My monumental discovery was right under my nose this entire time. A neighbor’s home, within walking distance, down the small country road that winds its way to our house. A stone’s throw away. A home I’d driven by hundreds of times, tacked with a sign, I’d read silently in my head, just as many times. FRESH EGGS. Heeeelllllllllo. What was wrong with me? The day I finally came to my senses and stopped in, the owner had sold out of the eggs he gathered that morning, but promised more by evening once his next batch had been cleaned and rinsed off. I waited impatiently and several hours later, I returned to discover the prettiest dozen eggs I’d ever seen. Light green ones, the color of watery sea glass and Easter eggs, dotted in-between the usual suspects. Eggs laid, gathered and eaten — all in one day. I’m a happy girl. Unbeknownst to my neighbor, he’s become my new best friend. Do you have a memorable “first”?
(I’ll be back soon with a favorite method to prepare these gems).
what a great discovery. you must be lucky. Its sometimes really exciting to stray just from the daily track. Your pictures look wonderful, like always. A memorable first? It isn’t a stone throw away at all, but it was just a taste explosion when I ate the first tomato in provence/france. It smacks of real tomato not watery tomato like we usually get it here in the supermarket.
hi anja! you know provence is near and dear to my heart, so i can completely relate with your tomato sensation!
Beautiful photos, as usual.
There simply IS no substitute ! :) I am so happy for you that you stopped and that you are eating good, fresh eggs – it makes me smile. Funny how that right-under-your-nose thing works, isn’t it? I laugh at myself for missing things like that all the time.
And I always love your photography… always.
Michaela
Wow, those eggs are really gorgeous especially the mint green one. There’s nothing like really fresh eggs right from the source. My memorable was eating pizza in Italy. I thought I’m eating good pizza here until I was in Italy.. Love, love, love your photos.
The shells of those eggs are so pretty. I love the pale green color. I’ve never seen that in an eggshell.
I’ve had lots of eye-opening firsts in regards to food, including a farm fresh egg, but heirloom pork ranks as one of the most memorable. It was unlike any pork I’d known before, or since. It was just so ….. pork-like. Indescribable. Life changing. I love moments like these.
hi kate – heirloom pork sounds like something i need to try next!
Great find and they really are the best when fresh and local! Eat locally!
What a cute little chicken farm! I love the signs! And aren’t you amazed how much yellower/more flavorful the yolk of a fresh egg is?
hi thekitchenwitch – YES. it’s like night and day!
Your photos are gorgeous…simply gorgeous. My favorite is the eggs in the cast iron skillet.
I was such a convert after trying my first farm fresh egg that I now have six chickens, including one green layer.
My most recent memorable food experience was wild Concord grapes. They grow all over the place on Cape Cod and I can’t believe I missed them until this year.
hi laurie! i so admire you for having your own chickens…we are working up to that. might take awhile though. :)
OMG, those colors are perfection, I’m so jealous! I live smack in the center of the concrete jungle that is L.A.
I grew up in a neighborhood that was previously an apricot orchard, so I’m spoiled and just cannot find any apricot worth eating since the day I moved out.
what gorgeous pictures. You are so right, the flavor difference is unbelievable…
What fun – when you said you ate your first egg, it reminded me of the story Julie and Julia and how she describes eating her first egg. What beautiful photos!
I had my “first egg” at a farmer’s market in San Francisco. It was the best egg I’ve ever had and the last since then. I would seriously get my own chickens if I had a yard. Love the photos, too!
Those eggs look really pretty and sound really tasty:) Growing up with animals I know how different fresh produce and meats taste compared to the stuff you buy in the store. Now you know where to get all your eggs from now on…hooray for new discoveries :)
hi nutmegnanny! you are so lucky to have grown up around animals..i’m sure it was a hoot!
I love your photos! Those eggs are gorgeous – brown, white & blue – so pretty. I visited my friends country home this summer and they sent us home with a carton of similarly coloured eggs and it was almost hard to use them up. Almost.
So, now I am looking forward to hearing how you ate these beautiful eggs;)
xox
hi mon ami! i felt the same way…i didn’t want to crack any of them open at first either.
Wonderful egg post! here is something to add
http://handsongourmet.com/blog/2008/12/31/egg-salad/
Eggs are my absolute favorite food. To hear that you have found eggs that are better than normal eggs both excites and confounds me. Will I like them even better too? Should I try them or would that be ruining me for the rest of my life?
hi jason! you bet you’ll like them better. i can guarantee it. yes…it’ll be hard to go back once you try, but hey – it’s sooooo worth it!
I love fresh farm eggs like these! Glad you found them! I love the fresh eggs I get – and am sad that the chickens have significantly slowed their laying as it’s gotten cooler. (I’ve had to supplement with *gasp* organic free-range GROCERY STORE eggs.) Gorgeous photos.
You are so lucky! I live in the city. No fresh eggs. I need to look out for some when I head out into the country next time. I should bring a pan along!
I used to raise my own chickens and gather the eggs everyday, and it’s true, there’s nothing quite like a fresh egg :) The best ones, by far, came from my black sex-link hen, Penelope. Although, if you want to try something even more tasty, find fresh laid quail eggs (3 = 1 chicken egg); they are so incredibly flavorful and colorful!
hi em! thanks for the suggestion and love to your penelope!
You make everything sound magical, and I love it. Wishing I lived next to this farmer.
Awesome photos. I just love them. We get local farm eggs too. If we had more land, I’d buy a hen. They’re amazing!
What interesting colors! Green eggs do exist!
I want to live next to that farm.
Your photos are amazing you know. You have a real talent! if you like, I’ll let you come and take the photos for my blog too. :)
wow green?! that’s so pretty!
Lovely photos, as always! Fabulous locavore resource, those farm fresh eggs, and what a good thing it was to heed that sign and follow it to the land of deliciousness. I need to find a place close to where I live out in Duvall to find fresh eggs. I know some of our neighbors are raising chickens, as I hear their soft clucking in the mornings, but I don’t think we’d be able to go to that level, as much as I love the idea of fresh eggs every day!
I am dying to have a few laying hens in our yard. You can’t beat fresh eggs for flavor. And they make baked items taste so much better too. So far, the family is not behind this endeavor, but I will make them read your posting to try to convince them.
I can remember the first time I ate a real egg, one straight from hen to hand to skillet…I’ll never forget it. It was the most delicious egg I had ever eaten.
I was so lucky to bump into this post. Eggs are on my mind today. This morning I woke up at 5:30 am to get myself to a duck farm an hour away in time to see the owners collect the lovely orbs laid last night by their beautiful Pekin ducks. I am not sure what to do with the dozen I received for my labors but I do agree with you that they are so incredibly beautiful. I was struck the entire time by the way the light caught them and the thick air in the houses.
I also see that you’re in Bainbridge? I used to live in Seattle and my family still lives on the island. What a beautiful part of the world.
Cheers!
Amber @ Native Food & Wine
Gorgeous photo of the eggs in a pan! I too am lucky to have a supply of free range eggs from a neighbors chucks but I haven’t had any as pretty as those!
you make the simplest things gorgeous! ps. I did it!
Love your photos!
Getting eggs fresh from the farm makes such a difference! Can’t wait to see your recipes.
What a wonderful post, your description of tasting your first real egg was beautiful. Really, there is nothing better. My boyfriend’s family has chickens at their home in Rhode Island and although none of the eggs are blue they sure are delicious and rich. We were up there this past weekend and made sure to bring some back to NYC. Although they aren’t exactly fresh anymore, every time I crack one open and savor the silky texture I am transported back to the country.
What a wonderful post! I thought I was buying eggs as well, but after reading your post, I definitely need to run out and find a neighborhood chicken coop with gorgeous multi-colored eggs! Wow! Your photos are out of this world! Thanks for sharing this moment with us!
I need to find delicious fresh eggs like this, it’s very hard considering the fact that I live in NYC and i would have to travel very far just to find a farm you visited.
Let me speak for my husband who just came back from Paris and is now the most vocal proponent of Free-range chicken, waxing lyrical about the tasty skin
I want chickens! I just found out that it’s legal in Oakland to have chickens, so that’s it, I’m doing it. And, I found a class that teaches you how. I’ll send you some of my precious eggs :)
oh my goodness! The shot with the eggs in the frying pan…..perfect!
Good grief! Those are REAL? They look so delicate and beautiful! Love the lightning in your pics (esp of the eggs). Gorgeous!
Ju
I am so happy you stopped by! Your pictures are absolutely stunning — I love the tone you’ve set very very nice :) I love the taste of farm fresh eggs — there really is a difference!
I could eat the page. Those are the loveliest eggs I’ve ever seen. Just gorgeous!
You have me gasping! Those eggs are stunning and the pale colors are so elegant! I was just lamenting to my husband this past weekend that the egg yolks we have lacked a richness, and it’s reflected in the pale yellow color. I’ve seen eggs in other countries that are much closer to orange than yellow. These eggs are beautiful!
Stunning photos. And what incredible timing too because I recently discovered a grocery service via the Florida Holistic Center that allows me to order such things as farm fresh eggs from a real Central Florida farm (along with other produces and livestock from local, family owned farms) and I pick it up on the same day every week. I’m really excited about it since I’ll get my first taste of it probably later next week. Looking forward to reading posts on how to prepare them and what to expect!
Thank you for dropping by winos and foodies. What gorgeous autumn photos you have on your site.
So many great pictures, hard to pick a favorite! Love the signs, the eggs, the chickens!
Hello ~ I have been enjoying your blog for awhile after stumbling upon it. I wondered if you might live on Bainbridge and now I have my confirmation. I walked past this egg sign and took a picture too when visiting my parents this summer. We weren’t able to get any eggs and now I’m very sorry about that. There is absolutely nothing like a farm fresh egg. Thanks for your lovely work and enjoy our beautiful island.
Your photos are stunning and the eggs? So beautiful. You are lucky to live so close to farm fresh eggs. I want chickens!!
Such beautiful pictures!
Super pictures. Fresh eggs are so delicious. I was also reading an article that said they were more nutritious and lower than in cholesterol than the store bought ones.
Your photographs are gorgeous and tell the story perfectly. Coincidentally I brought home a bounty of colourful eggs this afternoon too! I didn’t happen upon a green one but I did have a double yolk!
Gorgeous pictures! I’ve only had farm-fresh eggs in restaurants, but would love to savor them at home too!
Wow, those colors look like dyed Easter eggs for sure! We are able to buy fresh eggs when we travel a certain destination and there is nothing fluffier than a fresh egg’s white stuff! (matter? goo?) My first “wow” experience with a marachino cherry (that I don’t like) was “wow, this tastes just like….cherry! I know, sad isn’t it? I had seen those bright red balls in my fruit salad for years and finally decided to bite one. Anyhow, I enjoy your blog and pictures and hope that you’ll keep sharing your discoveries!
Gorgeous! I had the same experience the first time I tasted farm eggs. Those yolks!
And! I didn’t realize that you’re on Bainbridge Island! I spent a really lovely week there a few summers ago visiting a friend on Laughing Crow Farm. I have very fond memories of that place.
I love the Chateau Poulet sign, but I’d love fresh, farm eggs even more.
Funny thing is, like you, I have seen a sign for fresh eggs in my neck of the woods, but can’t really remember where. Maybe I’ll need to drive by it a few thousand more times, for my brain to make the connection.
Flashing neon signs, featuring dancing chickens, might help me.
this is the first time i’ve ever seen a blue-ish chicken egg. so cool!
You live on Bainbridge Island?? Geez, that has made me doubly envious, what with the freshly-laid eggs and all. We spent a day cycling around the Southwestern part of the island this past May and it was absolutely gorgeous. I can see the tranquility of the place reflected in your pictures – beautiful!
you inspire me!!! your style is so fresh, and makes me happy :)
I absolutely adore eggs. I have this massive dream of owning chickens and ducks on a little farm and enjoying the freshest produce and eggs ever. Don’t you just feel like kicking yourself for not stopping in so long ago? Time to make up for it, and I can tell you will. By the way I stumbled here and I am glad I did. Your photography is beautiful.
Fresh eggs are amazing. Bainbridge, eh. You should take the ferry to Vashon Island and pay a visit to Seabreeze Farms. We buy from George at the Ballard Farmer’s Market every Sunday, and he has a few other things that you may have never “tasted” before. Amongst others is his raw milk. Non-pasturized, non-homogenized. There is nothing that compares. Pair that with those fresh eggs, and you’ll have an ice cream that is out of this world! Ask me how I know. :D