Because most philosophies that frown on reproduction don't survive.

Friday, January 06, 2006

Egg as art

A co-worker of Darwin's raises chickens and sends us some farm-fresh eggs every now and then. This morning, as Darwin fried up an egg for himself, I contemplated these minature works of art. They came in all shades except white -- camel, umber, light cocoa, robin's egg blue, pale blue, and even a rosy beige speckled with pink. One was a mix of blue and brown that defies description but was gorgeous. I have a weakness for swathes of color and can spend hours perusing paint chips, so the carton of many-hued eggs was music to my eyes. It almost makes me want to repaint the kitchen using the eggs as my color bases.

Of course, Darwin, I don't really want to repaint the kitchen, especially since I painted it a cheerful shade of green (Lowes, Eddie Bauer Colors, Lakeside Cottage collection, Apple Green) just this year. But the eggs inspire me! The pinks, the blues, the browns -- all this season's hottest colors, according to the Wall Street Journal's fashion editor earlier this year.

Why don't we see these kind of colors on eggs at the store? There it's either straight white or straight brown, with nary a variation. I bet egg consumption would rise if the eggs sold at the supermarket looked as irresistable as the farm eggs in my fridge. Marketers, you heard it here first.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ever get a double yolk? We did from some friends of ours who supply us with fresh eggs once in a while. However, these eggs are brown and brown.

Jenny said...

The blues and pinks come from a particular breed of chicken the araucana (AKA Easter-egg chicken for obvious reasons). I had a small flock of araucana-mixes growing up. Commerically sold eggs come from chickens bred for egg production. The araucanas take longer to come to maturity and lay eggs less frequently. The American market prefers white eggs, so that's what you see in stores. I miss my chooks, though.