Egg-ceptional Cookbook...

 I remember the very first dozen of farm fresh eggs I received.  My sister Ann had just made the big move from Massachusetts to New Hampshire. Her new neighbors at that time were lucky enough to be raising chickens. Because they were exceptionally  friendly and welcoming the new neighbors gifted her with many of their hen's fresh eggs.  Being the kind and generous sister that Ann always is, on her next trip down from New Hampshire  a dozen of her neighbor's farm fresh eggs came along with her.  I thought I had died and gone to heaven
 

 
Their unique individual sizes and shapes as well as their distinct shades of brown and blue drew me in like a moth to a flame.  They were in a word gorgeous.  I immediately had to cook one up.  Could there some how be butter in these farm eggs?  How could they possibly have gotten butter inside an egg?  I had never had an egg that tasted anything like this.

So begins my love affair with farm eggs.  My hen love affair came much later when I heard the author of this wonderful book The Farmstead Egg Cookbook  by Terry Golson speak.  One Sunday afternoon late last winter I went to a lecture on chicken keeping.  Terry Golson was one of the scheduled guest speakers.  The enthusiastic way she spoke about her hens and the pleasure she received from chicken keeping spread quickly to me. I was beginning to feel this strange need to read as much as I could about chickens.  Could  all this chicken keeping talk be contagious?

I bought her thoughtfully written cookbook that day and read it from cover to cover in one evening.  Not only are there many delicious recipes with gorgeous pictures, but it's also peppered with stunning photos of  her hens. ( The hen above is from the Topsfield Fair this past fall.) Terry also has a web site called chicken keeping. It was here on her web site that my obsession began in earnest. Go here  to learn more about Terry Golson. If you are at all interested in keeping chickens Terry's web site is a must.  Even if chicken keeping is not on your radar at the moment, her web cam for the hens and goats is loads of fun.