As many of you may know, I was born and raised in New York. Now, that statement can have many different meanings because New York is a large and diverse state. I was born on the island of Manhattan and moved to Brooklyn before I was 1 year old. We lived there until the summer right before my 11th birthday. We moved to Staten Island and let me tell you it was like moving to the country for us. All of a sudden, we had a yard with a pool, a garden and a swing set. We went from living in a semi-attached, 2 family house in the apartment above my Nonna's to a large one family home with a yard that backed up to protected wetlands. We went from sharing a driveway with the house beside us to never having to park in the street. We had made the move to suburbia and never left the city of New York.
I lived in that house until I went away to college. I experienced culture shock when I moved to a small Indiana town of 3,000 (when school was in session). Corn as far as the eye can see! I came home to get married and have a baby. My new family and I lived in a one bedroom apartment in the house in Staten Island until November of 1999 when my parents sold the house and moved to North Carolina. We too were looking to move south but my husband was having trouble finding a job. So our little family of 3 moved back to Nonna's house in Brooklyn except this time, we all lived in Nonna's 2 bedroom apartment. By February, Michael had found a job and we moved to North Carolina.
I say all of this to say . . . I am a city girl. Until now (and except for college), I have never lived outside of New York City. I hate yard work. I do better with potted plants. I miss sidewalks, street lights, block parties, the ice cream man, L&B Pizza, being able to walk to the corner store and get milk and bread. I know you are all saying, "We have those things in the south." I know! I just don't live near any of it. The morning after we moved into our house, I was awakened to find that roosters really do crow early in the morning but they also crow all day long. Goats and cows smell bad from far away. Country folk let their dogs run free and don't spay or neuter their animals (ASK ME HOW I FOUND THAT OUT!!!). Did you know that you never have to go the grocery store for meat because you can sit on your back porch with a shotgun? For this city girl, This was like Green Acres!
After almost 10 years of living here, I am used to the . . . shall we say, quirky ways of country folk. Every now and then something really strange will make me ask what I was thinking but for the most part, I realize that I am raising country boys!
So we were really excited when one of our homeschooling friends came over this morning with a gift for us. Let's call them Farmer Bob and Farmer Amy. They are dear friends and our boys get along very well. They brought us some fresh eggs from the chickens that they raise on their property. Amy told me she had some extra and asked me if we wanted some. I am never one to turn down free food so I said, "Sure! I'll take some eggs! Thanks!"
Amy and Bob showed up at my home with 5 DOZEN EGGS!!! I only took four dozen because that was all that would fit in my basket. Did you know that eggs . . . fresh eggs straight from the chicken coup are dirty? You are probably saying, "DUH! Of course their dirty, Genius! They shoot out the back end of a farm animal!" In my defense, when you have ever only seen eggs in a carton in the grocery store, you don't realize that eggs are dirty and somewhere along the way someone sterilizes those eggs before they can be sold in stores. So I gratefully took my chicken poop and dirt coated eggs into the house and gave them a bath in anti-bacterial hand soap. They are so pretty and let me tell you how good they tasted! YUM! We are being short changed at the grocery store. These eggs were huge and all different. When I cracked them into a bowl to make breakfast, the yokes were a rich deep yellow and they were huge. I just had to share them with all of you.
I lived in that house until I went away to college. I experienced culture shock when I moved to a small Indiana town of 3,000 (when school was in session). Corn as far as the eye can see! I came home to get married and have a baby. My new family and I lived in a one bedroom apartment in the house in Staten Island until November of 1999 when my parents sold the house and moved to North Carolina. We too were looking to move south but my husband was having trouble finding a job. So our little family of 3 moved back to Nonna's house in Brooklyn except this time, we all lived in Nonna's 2 bedroom apartment. By February, Michael had found a job and we moved to North Carolina.
I say all of this to say . . . I am a city girl. Until now (and except for college), I have never lived outside of New York City. I hate yard work. I do better with potted plants. I miss sidewalks, street lights, block parties, the ice cream man, L&B Pizza, being able to walk to the corner store and get milk and bread. I know you are all saying, "We have those things in the south." I know! I just don't live near any of it. The morning after we moved into our house, I was awakened to find that roosters really do crow early in the morning but they also crow all day long. Goats and cows smell bad from far away. Country folk let their dogs run free and don't spay or neuter their animals (ASK ME HOW I FOUND THAT OUT!!!). Did you know that you never have to go the grocery store for meat because you can sit on your back porch with a shotgun? For this city girl, This was like Green Acres!
After almost 10 years of living here, I am used to the . . . shall we say, quirky ways of country folk. Every now and then something really strange will make me ask what I was thinking but for the most part, I realize that I am raising country boys!
So we were really excited when one of our homeschooling friends came over this morning with a gift for us. Let's call them Farmer Bob and Farmer Amy. They are dear friends and our boys get along very well. They brought us some fresh eggs from the chickens that they raise on their property. Amy told me she had some extra and asked me if we wanted some. I am never one to turn down free food so I said, "Sure! I'll take some eggs! Thanks!"
Amy and Bob showed up at my home with 5 DOZEN EGGS!!! I only took four dozen because that was all that would fit in my basket. Did you know that eggs . . . fresh eggs straight from the chicken coup are dirty? You are probably saying, "DUH! Of course their dirty, Genius! They shoot out the back end of a farm animal!" In my defense, when you have ever only seen eggs in a carton in the grocery store, you don't realize that eggs are dirty and somewhere along the way someone sterilizes those eggs before they can be sold in stores. So I gratefully took my chicken poop and dirt coated eggs into the house and gave them a bath in anti-bacterial hand soap. They are so pretty and let me tell you how good they tasted! YUM! We are being short changed at the grocery store. These eggs were huge and all different. When I cracked them into a bowl to make breakfast, the yokes were a rich deep yellow and they were huge. I just had to share them with all of you.
Here are 3 and a half dozen eggs that are left. They are shiny because they are still a little wet from their bath.
See all the color variation and pretty speckles?
You can see the reflection of the skylight above in the eggs.
This one is my favorite one. It is a really pretty pale blue-green with brown speckles.
So I know all my country friends are shaking their heads and laughing at the city girl. I am glad I could make you smile.
I can totally relate..I saw my first skunk, not dead on the road, when we moved here! I miss exhaust fumes and being able to go to the store in my ratty clothes, because the city is too big to run into anyone you know!
ReplyDeleteGee thanks. I got your leftovers - the almost one dozen you didn't have room for. But I am thankful to have the dirty eggs by all means. The city council meeting did not go in favor of those in the city limits having chickens, so our chicken coop may be a fort/storage building after all.
ReplyDeletehi Kristi - Oops - no email...so here it is...in the comments.
ReplyDeleteYes, I am laughing at this post...tood cute.
Thanks for your kind words of encouragement on my blog. They are truth! We went through a time ten years ago where we were trying to keep a business afloat after the big dot com explosion/crash.
It's amazing because the Lord has shown His hand of faithfulness over and over. Honestly, this seems like a walk in the park compared to that. I guess because I know that He meets our daily needs and has proved it over and over.
Yes, I do "sell" Homemade Gourmet (to me...haa haa). I would love to get you whatever you need. If I have the Pantry Staples on hand, I will even pass on some savings since I am trying to get rid of my overly huge inventory. I have to order every two months but haven't had the time to be active. I've kept ordering since I have a huge Holiday Market that I'm already committed to and paid for last year.
So let me know what you need and I wont charge any shipping.
Jen