Friday, April 1, 2016

Duck eggs, children and baking secrets

I am quite enjoying the duck eggs, people have remarked at how fluffy and light my cornbread is, I smile and say Old family secret!
Lucky for me everywhere you look on-line it tells you how wonderful duck eggs are for baking and they most definitely live up to the star billing. However I am not really fond of them for fried eggs, they are just too rich for me.

I think they are such beautiful eggs, the near translucence of the shell is ethereal and I find the size a delight. There is something about holding a large duck egg in your hand that makes you smile and marvel at its simplicity.



Some of the Blue Swedish eggs are huge and some have a faint greenish hue while others are faintly gray. Then one of the Cayuga had been gifting us with Black eggs...the black will rub or scratch off but it is a delight to find one after the first shock of such an unusual color for a 'good' egg!


Since I am baking with the eggs it does not matter if the yolk is ruined so I have taken to blowing the eggs to keep the shell intact. I started this before Easter as I had been invited down to our Amish family next door to make Easter eggs with them. I took some of the blown duck eggs for the older girls and boiled a dozen regular chicken eggs for the boys!

We decoupaged the blown shells with easter themed napkins and feathers and it was such fun. The boys decoupaged mostly feathers from our chickens on to the hard boiled eggs and it was amazing to see what they came up with.  This got me to thinking about eggs and decorating and country themed items and following is a glimpse of the results. I respect the privacy of the Amish so I am sorry but there are no photos of the egg making session at their home. Andrew, the middle son was an instant talent at this 'fancy' decorating and here is a photo of a blown egg he did and gave to me.  I think it is quite beautiful.



Of course you all know how to blow eggs...right?
I do not have the spiffy tool Martha Stewart has, I just use a big darning needle and lung power.


My biggest darning needle is perfect for this job.  I make a small hole in one end of the egg.


It is just the size of the needle. Then I make a bigger hole  in the other end of the egg, trying to keep both holes centered in the end of the egg. I carefully peel the membrane out of the bigger hole with the tip of the needle and tweezers.


Then I blow from the smaller end and slowly the egg drains out. I do use the needle to break the yolk a bit and it does take some time as they are heavy yolks, the Amish boys laughed so hard when I was showing the girls how to blow the eggs, they "chickened" out though when I asked them if they wanted to try to do it.

When you have the egg empty you should rinse it out. I run my tap as slow as possible to run water into the egg through the bigger hole. I shake the eggs to rinse the inside then set it to drain and dry. It makes a beautiful empty shell to get creative with and they are not as frail as blown chicken eggs.


Now what am I gong to do with these? Experiments ensued....some good, some bad but it has had some interesting results.

#1 Way too busy but fun anyway!

Then things came together.....
I  hope these make you smile and I still have things to improve but chicken art on duck eggs is the current form of therapy at our nut house!


White Leghorns on a Cayuga egg, this is the color the egg came in with the unusual markings on the bottom of the egg.


Delaware Chickens on  a Blue Swedish egg, one of the really big eggs.


I cannot leave the turkey's out and this is on a smaller duck egg. There is some wonderful turkey art out there and I am going to see if I can transfer some of my own photos when I get better at the process.


Floral?  I found less is more as I like the egg to show off its unique shades as well as what I stick to it.


One of the Australorps lays huge eggs so I blew one of them, they are quite fragile compared to the duck eggs and with the color of the shell, images you decoupage on have to have a different contrast but I was pleased with this result.




Of course I had to try something with a guinea hen egg, these are fun because they show up all over the place....the tiny egg with the silhouette of the rooster was right in the middle of the gravel in the yard!


And I just cannot forget my pet chickens, the Buckeyes. It took a big egg to handle the picture of the Buckeyes.


So there you have it. Things I do at night before bed. The table everyone said would be too big is perfect for us. Ralph can spread out his seeds and I can craft at the table and we do not get in each others way.
The poultry is producing so much, food, entertainment and crafting supplies as well as a good lawn mowing service and bug control. The gift of joy is all around us and shows itself in simple things when we let it.

Count your blessings and be thankful, and share those baking secrets!



10 comments:

  1. your plain eggs are beeeeee-yoo-ti-full! oh to have a duck egg! i love them! i love fried, poached, scrambled - heck - i even eat them raw! haven't a duck egg in years tho.

    your decorated eggs are just gorgeous and if i didn't know better i would think they are faberge eggs!

    happy spring Fiona and Ralph! sening loce! your friend,
    kymber

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    1. Fiona - you can fry them sunny-side up, or over-easy just like regular eggs. you can also poach them but for an absolute treat, soft boil them and have them as eggs and soldiers (you cut off the top of the egg and dip little pieces of toast in it). i just re-read all of this comments and it seems confusing. just ask for clarification if it doesn't maksende. xox

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    2. I tried fried, what oil do you use? My mother made soft boiled eggs with the toast strips for us as a special breakfast...I will have to try that. Thank you so much for the tips.

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  2. no oil with eggs ever! i mean like never! it's just butter baby - all the way!

    and if you are crazy like me - you put in a ton of butter in your pan when cooking them over-easy (my fave) and as they are cooking you keep shifting the pan in order to spoon up the butter to pour over the tops of the eggs. works like a charm and then you flip them for maybe 20seconds. but you have to be a big lover of cholesterol to properly enjoy this! don't even get me started on the 80's campaign that butter and eggs aren't good for you. properly churned butter and fresh egs are the most healthy food on the planet! xoxox

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    1. I was glad to read all this too Kymber! Someone told me duck eggs are rubbery when fried, so all we've done so far is scrambled, French toast, and quiche, And of course for baking. :)

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  3. Since our Muscovies have recently started laying I've been singing the praises of duck eggs myself. Do you notice a difference in flavor amongst the breeds? It seems that some folks dislike them but after trying ours I can't imagine why!

    Your decorated eggs are gorgeous!

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    1. Our ducks all run together and are on the same ration of grain mix and all the grazing they want, we do not notice differences in flavor. They are bright rich orange in color. I use them to make tapioca pudding and it's fabulously rich and creamy in texture and a buttery yellow in color. I find the straight eggs very rich.

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  4. Duck eggs are fabulous! I love poached duck eggs and am with Kymber 150% on the frying in lotsa butter! When I used to be able to eat pound cake, I always make it with duck eggs. I LOVE your decoupage eggs! This post has given me all kinds of ideas!

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    1. Yes we always need more ideas! Some day when I clear out my closets will I have dozens of pretty decoupage eggs to deal with? Now tomorrow morning I am digging out the Block of Amish Butter and dealing with Duck eggs!

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