Last Sunday, as I was about to make away with my purchases from the Wintermarket, I noticed dozens of fresh eggs stacked up on the table belonging to the fantastic Blossom Hill Farm. Blossom Hill is best known to most of us for its phenomenal pork, but not being in the market for meat that day I had swept past their table without looking carefully. I cannot believe that I almost missed out on a gorgeous dozen of their marvelous eggs.
Lovely ovals peeked out of the carton at me, in designer shades of speckled blue and soft brown. What a treat! We city folk really don't know what we're missing when it comes to fresh chicken eggs produced with love and care. We've grown accustomed to the rubbery, dull replicas pawned off as the real deal by our local supermarkets. 
Did you know that the average American egg has a shelf life of 30-45 days? Can you imagine what that little orb must have gone through to have earned such longevity? I try to stay away from food politics here on YUM, but check out a few chicken facts noted in the chart to the side. I don't intend to examine all of the rights and wrongs of the egg industry, I just want to shed a little light on the topic for you as a consumer.
You can try to right some food chain wrongs by purchasing the supermarket's “cage-free” eggs, but for the most part, those chickens are merely raised packed into pens with many other chickens as opposed to a crowded cage. This can lead to disease and cannibalism. "Cage-free" is a new enough term that it is still loosely defined and lightly regulated. When it comes to egg production, the same thing can be said for the term "free-range". There are no specific USDA standards in place for determining what qualifies as free range and what does not. It can simply mean that the chicken's feet stand on dirt rather than metal cage work, or that the barn door is opened and then immediately closed once a day. Most often chickens used in "cage free" or "free range" egg production live without seeing a beam of sunshine or a blade of grass, and their diet isn't any different than those raised in harsher conditions.
And don't fool yourself into thinking that the “organic” label on your $7 eggs (which probably shipped in from hundreds of miles away) is much better either. The term itself doesn't dictate that the chickens connected to your breakfast are any happier than those being raised on antibiotics and fed non-organic grain in a giant egg “factory”. Looking for eggs certified as "humane" may be the best option of all. Keep in mind that purchasing from a small, local producer is often better than buying from a major producer that has jumped through the government's hoops (and shelled out the big cash) to be able to legally use the term “organic”. Anyway, enough soapbox (or should I say, egg crate) for today. A quick Google will answer any additional questions you may have about the egg industry in the U.S. In my mind, politics or no, when it comes to food, flavor and quality always win hands down.
Blossom Hill's eggs crack open to reveal beautiful orange-yellow yolks. Their flavor is delicate and lovely alone or when combined with other quality ingredients to make an egg forward recipe like custard or mayonnaise. I only paid $3 for my dozen, but would have gladly paid more. At breakfast this week we've so enjoyed each and every egg with a sense of gratitude generally reserved for edible luxuries like truffles and caviar.
Tomorrow the Wintermarket is trying something new. They'll still have all of those great, local, artisan goodies, but they've added a new element to entice. A local chef will be on board to prepare fresh, hot food featuring super local ingredients. This week's offering is piping hot Sunday Morning Pancakes with Blue Hill Farm Maple Syrup and the nationally acclaimed White Cow Dairy's Maple Yogurt. It's quite appropriate that such treats should be served in a church on a Sunday. Holy YUM!
Wintermarket on Elmwood, open Sundays from 12-4
Lafayette Presbyterian Church
875 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, 14222