The wonder and joy of eggs

It's Easter season and eggs are everywhere but are all eggs created equal? You know the answer to this or I wouldn't be asking the question. No, they are not. Try this little experiment. Buy three dozen eggs: 1 doz regular, grocery store eggs; 1 doz eggs marked free range; 1 doz local, farm fresh eggs. Crack one of each egg in a bowl and notice the differences. I am no egg expert but in the last year I have noted these differences. The eggs I get from Sunny Hill and other local farms are larger, the shells are harder, and the yolks are firmer and deeper orange. In fact the yolks recently have been so much deeper in color that my cookies, quiches and other items have been a brighter yellow color.

Eggs now make up one meal in our home every week. They are an inexpensive protein and the kids love them. But, chickens are very mistreated in the factory farming industry. So, these days, if I can't buy them locally, I don't eat them. Here, it really isn't good enough to be vegetarian because animals are still suffering greatly even if you are not eating them (just their bi-products). But, local eggs? They are in a whole different ball park.

Here is our quiche recipe. It is easy to adapt for whatever veggies you might want to add. If you don't like quiche, try frittata, scrambled eggs, stratta or whatever floats your little egg filled boat. In fact, if you have a great egg recipe, share it here.

Crust: buy a 9" pie crust or make your own
Mix 1 1/4 c. flour, 1/2 t salt, 1/2 t sugar in a food processor
Add 1 c. butter 1 T at a time until the mixture is like course meal (butter should be cold)
Add 2-4 T cold water until the mixture just comes together.
Roll into a large circle, lay in your pie plate and finish off the edges as you would a pie.

Filling:

1. preheat oven to 425
2. drain 10 oz of frozen, chopped spinach (or 10 you cooked down yourself)
3. Beat 4 eggs, 1 c. yogurt or sour cream, 1 T flour, 1/4 t. black pepper. Stir in spinach
4. Place 1/2 c. slice mushrooms or tomatoes, 1/2 shredded cheese, 1/4 c. green onion chopped in the bottom of the crust.
5. Pour egg mixture over the top.
6. Bake 15 min. Decrease temp to 350. Bake 30 min more.

You can add whatever veggies or filling you want in the bottom of the crust. We recently have used: sun dried tomatoes, fire roasted jarred red peppers, cooked white/yellow onion to name a few. The cheese can also be whatever you would like: cheddar, swiss, jalapeno jack, etc.