I laughed as I read "Do not eat raw cupcake batter." right on the top of the box above the instructions. We do. We each get a spoon and enjoy what is left in the mixing bowl every time we make a cake. Sometime more raw cookie dough gets eaten than cooked at our house.
I like having the convenience of having eggs from our chickens. More than that, though, I like the cleanliness of our eggs. I do still buy eggs occasionally at the grocery store, as we use more than our chickens share when we cook a lot. Last week while shopping I opened the first carton and more than half of the eighteen eggs were crushed. I handed the carton to the employee stocking yogurt, and he didn't seem surprised. What he did when I showed him another carton surprised me, though. He took the whole ones from the messy carton and traded them out with the broken ones in two more cartons. Egg whites remained behind. I decided then (why it had not crossed my mind before I'm not sure) that maybe we should wash eggs from the store like we do the ones from our chicken pen.
It actually took a little time and some advice from a few friends and family members to come up with just how we wash eggs. At first we soaked them in a bowl of water and bleach, but my Mother in law expressed concern of the bleach getting into the egg through the shell. (I wish I could find pictures from the vinegar experiment showing just how soft the shell is.) After a lot of trials and a few errors, we came up with a simple solution that works. Baking soda! We (mostly Em) rinse the eggs, use the dry baking soda as an abrasive to scrub anything off that is not wanted, then rinse. Simple, right?
So today, my gratitude is to God for our remaining chickens that have not been killed by snakes, raccoons, or unseen wild animals and for the eggs that they lay. Also for my kids feeding the chickens and gathering the eggs.
Early tomorrow morning I'll use some of those eggs in the oatmeal muffins for breakfast.
What are you thankful for today?
I like having the convenience of having eggs from our chickens. More than that, though, I like the cleanliness of our eggs. I do still buy eggs occasionally at the grocery store, as we use more than our chickens share when we cook a lot. Last week while shopping I opened the first carton and more than half of the eighteen eggs were crushed. I handed the carton to the employee stocking yogurt, and he didn't seem surprised. What he did when I showed him another carton surprised me, though. He took the whole ones from the messy carton and traded them out with the broken ones in two more cartons. Egg whites remained behind. I decided then (why it had not crossed my mind before I'm not sure) that maybe we should wash eggs from the store like we do the ones from our chicken pen.
It actually took a little time and some advice from a few friends and family members to come up with just how we wash eggs. At first we soaked them in a bowl of water and bleach, but my Mother in law expressed concern of the bleach getting into the egg through the shell. (I wish I could find pictures from the vinegar experiment showing just how soft the shell is.) After a lot of trials and a few errors, we came up with a simple solution that works. Baking soda! We (mostly Em) rinse the eggs, use the dry baking soda as an abrasive to scrub anything off that is not wanted, then rinse. Simple, right?
So today, my gratitude is to God for our remaining chickens that have not been killed by snakes, raccoons, or unseen wild animals and for the eggs that they lay. Also for my kids feeding the chickens and gathering the eggs.
Early tomorrow morning I'll use some of those eggs in the oatmeal muffins for breakfast.
What are you thankful for today?
Oh, eggs are delightful! How nice to be able to have your own fresh eggs! :D
ReplyDeleteOh, that's awful about the store employee putting them back like that. *shivers* Hmm, maybe we ought to try your washing method! ;) Thanks for sharing about that tip! Our eggs usually look very nice from our grocery stores, but it's better safe than sorry I suppose! :)
God Bless! :D
~Miss Rachel~
Yum! Farm fresh eggs are so much better than store bought eggs. Someday, I hope to be able to have chickens, so we can just go out and gather eggs.
ReplyDeleteI love fresh eggs when we can get them. We also love cookie dough better than the cookies!!
ReplyDelete