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!