Well, they keep fowls. Turkey, Duck, Chicken, Guinea Fowl. They make some noise, but I can't hear them inside the house, so it doesn't bother me.
They presented me with a gift of eggs. I had to accept them, of course, but I was unfamiliar with "home-produced" eggs. Questions like are the shells sterile, what are the tastes like, is there danger of salmonella, etc. I'm not a forager or even much of an adventurous eater.
The 3 large ones on the right are turkey, the 2 in the center of the tray are guinea hen, and the rest are chicken. The 1 duck egg was eaten previously (I misplaced my camera for a few days).
I cook the things I know well enough and stir-fries, stews, and pot pies are routine. I can make my own pizza.
But some things worry me or seem too unusual. I have a can of curry sauce I've never opened. My Dad used to collect wild mushrooms and I refused to eat anything made with them. "Try this; you'll like it" doesn't get anywhere with me.
So I was nervous about the eggs. But I tried a duck egg yesterday. Fried it like a chicken egg. The white firmed up quicker than a chicken egg. The taste was slightly stronger, but OK.
Funny thing was that the duck egg was harder to crack open. Not because it was stronger, but because it was slightly more flexible. Maybe I was being more careful than usual because I wasn't sure how clean the shell was. Commercial chicken eggs get sani-washed; I suspect the neighbor's eggs aren't so much.
But I ate the egg and felt fine after a day, so all was OK. It still seems a bit weird though.
Time to try a turkey egg in a few days (I don't eat eggs a lot). That's a big egg, though! And I'm not sure what to do with the guinea fowl eggs. Too small to fry easily so I might add a chicken one.
They are really good neighbors to give me these eggs to try. But I think I will beg off the next offer. I'm too used to regular commercial chicken eggs, LOL!
OK, eating a duck egg, a turkey egg, and a guinea egg weren't exactly on my "bucket list", but maybe I can be allowed to add that to the list after the fact. Which is not how bucket lists are supposed to work, but sometimes there is a surprise item you never thought about.
3 comments:
The turkey eggs are huge. I prefer store bought eggs too. :)
You could try googling to see how to cook the different kinds of eggs and anything you need to be wary about. I'm told (although I admit that I don't know from first hand experience) that baking with freshly laid eggs makes superior cakes and scones, so why don't you give that a whirl? Once you've cooked yourself a batch of perfect scones and munched a couple with jam and cream you will (i) feel a wonderful sense of accomplishment and (ii) be able to add 'make wonderful scones' to your bucket list and then immediately tick it off!
Megan
Sydney, Australia
I used to give eggs to a fellow teacher. His wife refused to eat them because they were "too yellow." I find home grown eggs superior to store bought. Mark, you should keep a couple of hens. Two would produce as many eggs as you need, they will roto-till your garden, eat bugs, and produce fertilizer. There are small, movable chicken houses available.
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