From Coop to Kitchen in 2.5

Drama Queen Jolene

In an age where convenience is key, we've taught ourselves that take-out and "just add water" substitutes for a little bit of elbow grease and good 'ol grit. Earlier this week we had the invite for "GAME NIGHT" at a friend's house. I jumped on the opportunity to make some of my favorite cookies (OK- I'm no "Betty Homemaker" but I need to add a disclaimer about Darci and baking. Please note, there is a significant difference between baking and cooking. If it has to do with flour, eggs, butter and milk... I can make magic. However; if it has to do with a frying pan, or even a sauce pan heating up, it is a disaster in the making). But I really do enjoy baking. My favorite homemade cookies are oatmeal raisin. Plus, I had a recent incident involving the oatmeal dispenser at Whole Foods, involving more oatmeal than I errr, intended. Oatmeal cookies it will be!

I have been waiting for this day since last May when I brought my three little pullets home! The day I could walk down to the coop, pick up an egg, bring it back up to the house, and plop it into a bowl. Since it was a warm January day, I opened the windows. Only a few minutes earlier I heard the proud Ba-GAWKing of Drama Queen Jolene (See, hens have a long tradition of bragging about the eggs they've just laid--ok, maybe not tradition with our chicks, but you get it! Let's just say, Drama Queen Jolene didn't get her name from her modest humility). As soon as I was ready to add the eggs, I put on my shoes walked out to the coop, and within 2.5 minutes I was back in the kitchen with a freshly laid egg in my hand.

I did a quick egg shell cleaning, and cracked the incredibly thick-shelled eggs on the side of the bowl. The brightest, yellow/orange yoke fell into the mix. The cookies turned out amazing (Check out my favorite recipe blog called Smitten Kitchen), and turned out to be a fun conversation starter at the party. There was even a couple interested in raising their own backyard hens! Oh how we could go on, am I right?? Owning backyard chickens isn't all about the eggs. We realize we will never see a full return on our coop investment, even if we end up selling the eggs it would take double our little flock, and span beyond the egg laying days of the typical laying hen. See, our backyard hens mean something much more. It's more about the return to the simple things in life. The fact that I took a bite of the cookies knowing exactly where the eggs came from; that's priceless (Thanks but no thanks, Mastercard. These eggs came from my backyard)!