Tuesday, October 12, 2010

The Egg and I

Reggie loves farm-fresh eggs.  He far prefers them to the ones available in supermarkets.  For a lot of reasons.

Farm-fresh eggs on the kitchen table at Darlington House

The recent health scare notwithstanding, Reggie thinks that eggs fresh from the farm taste better than supermarket eggs.  They taste egg-ier.  Their yolks are more flavorful and more vibrantly yellow than in the eggs generally available at grocery stores.  And they aren't as uniformly sized, either, which Reggie likes.  The ones pictured here were irregularly sized, ranging from small to large, and came in different colored shells.  Some were brown and some were white.  That's how the farmer gathered them that morning.

And then there's the issue of diet.  Farm-raised chickens eat a more varied, healthier diet than do the chickens that produce eggs sold in mass-market grocery stores.  Reggie knows for a fact that the hens that laid his eggs are farmyard chickens, as he's seen them running around at the farm where he buys them.  They don't live a cooped-up, chemicals-fueled life in an egg factory with thousands of other hens, never seeing the light of day.  Reggie likes that.

What a charming egg carton this is

But there's a bit of magic going on here.  Reggie's eggs didn't come in the carton he's showing in this post.  They came in a more pedestrian one, similar to the ones generally found in supermarkets.  Nothing special.  I bought the egg carton pictured here several weeks ago full of different eggs--since consumed--from a small specialty food purveyor in a nearby town.  But I saved the carton because I thought its graphics were too charming to toss it into the recycling pile.  And so when it came time for Boy to style and shoot this essay we decided to place the eggs we bought that morning in the more picturesque carton I had saved.  We thought it would make for a better photo essay.  And it did.

You think this stuff just happens?

Photographs by Boy Fenwick

17 comments:

  1. I agree with you completely on the eggs. There is simply no comparison between farm fresh eggs and the ones you get at the market. And they are literally weeks (if not more) fresher.

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  2. You are so right. We keep ten hens for just this reason. I always make a quick trip to the hen house to grab a couple of warm eggs (thanks to the early layers) to make the morning muffins. And the carton is delightful!

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  3. Reggie all you need now is a cow at DH so you can have your farm fresh milk. Can't wait to see you sitting in a stool milking in your Belgians. Now that would make for an interesting photo shoot! By the way, what are you planning to do with all that beautiful squash in the background?

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  4. Love, love fresh eggs; and that is one charming egg carton!

    Happy Fall,
    joan

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  5. Only you and Boy have the patience, the taste, and the will to bring us such consistent elegance. Even to the eggs...

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  6. I agree with you about the eggs, but I really want to say that I'm enjoying all the great photography. Your career as an art director is waiting ... Mark

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  7. Sadly, I'm not an early enough riser to get the eggs at the local farmers markets -always the first thing to sell out so I just get them from the local whole foods up the street.
    I love how Martha Stewart keeps her eggs -in a big bowl! admittedly they don't have far to travel from her chicken coop to kitchen...
    Always meant to do that in my own refrigerator.

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  8. "You think this stuff just happens?"

    OMG - I just literally laughed out loud at that! Funny Reggie, Funny Boy!

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  9. It may not just happen, but you certainly make it look effortless, despite the planning and research you obviously put into your very entertaining posts.
    Best -
    - Mike

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  10. Dear Reggie, Ah!! Truth will out!! The Reggie that I have only just met and come to love is, well, STYLED. And, I thought that Reggie was au naturel.....how the computer can deceive!

    I do so agree, however, about ensuring the provenance of one's eggs. One cannot be too careful about this matter. Mine live in a ceramic chicken since I have so far not found any cardboard packages nearly so glamorous as yours. And, my Quail eggs go into a smaller ceramic chicken. Do Quail eggs reach the table at Darlington House? I think that they look so pretty atop some dressed leaves.

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  11. "You think this stuff just happens?"

    Stuff? Reggie, having become intoxicated by the autumn air and a farm fresh omelette, has let fall from his lips an uncharacteristic vulgarism. Wild man!

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  12. "You think this stuff just happens?"

    You now must make that your phrase like "its a good thing" but a million times better! Brilliant post I only wish this was a television show segment so I could actually hear you present it...for some reason my mind imagines the voice of Liberace with a little buzz going on.

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  13. Truth in advertising. Your post is sunny side up.
    BarbaraG

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  14. In the late 1950s, MD bought fresh eggs weekly from a friend who had Aurucana chickens. Not only did they have the beautiful blue shells that Martha Stewart later made famous, the yolks were frequently double and a very deep shade of yellow. They made the very best french toast.
    These days, I also purchase my eggs at the local farmers' markets. The farmers are always quite happy to have their cartons returned for re-use.

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  15. Stephanie: Yes, the freshness, too

    Muffy: Hens and muffins, too? Sounds heavenly.

    Lindaraxa: Reggie aspires to be a farmer of the most gentlemanly sort, where the wearing of la Belgiques is a prerequisite. He is not so sure about his desire to take on the regular milkin' of the cows, a job best left to the saucy milking maidens who are more suitable for such activities than he.

    For the Love, LPC, and MFR: Thank you

    Architect: There is little more beautiful than a bowl of lovely eggs on one's kitchen counter.

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  16. Those are the little egg cartons my chicken's eggs rest in. I must say as a chicken owner, there are very few options for lovely cartons here in the U.S. of A. Across the pond, the cartons are so colorful. Again, you are a marvel.

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  17. we have pet chickens. 10 of them at the moment. They have feathers on their feet! We have roosters; so we also have baby chicks!

    Where do I find those egg boxes???

    HELP!!!

    I have to have them! j We give eggs when we go to dinner parties.....instead of wine.....

    And I give Oprah eggs over the fence. She is our next door neighbor here in Santa Barbara......on two sides.

    We were here first. Just so you know.

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