An update on my eggs. - By Morgan

It's day two of my pastured farm fresh eggs for breakfast and I am just stopping in to report that they really ARE way more delicious than any store bought egg. At first the very orange color of the yolk was a little disconcerning, I'm not sure why. Probably just one of those things that you are used to seeing one way and freak you out when you see them differently. But I would recommend everyone at least try them. Look at your local farmer's markets and just keep your eye out for places that have them. Or find someone you know of that has chickens and too many eggs for their own family. I know craigslist seems like a funny place to find eggs but sometimes people advertise them there. It really is one of my goals of this blog to eventually have my own chickens once I can figure out how to do it and the laws for my city-- and get the nerve up to clean the coop. Chickens freak me out just a little bit.

Pictured above is my lunch, spanish rice, kale with garlic and an egg. This was actually quite tasty. It could have been improved nutritionally with a different type of grain, or no grain at all but I was making Spanish rice for a dinner we are going to tonight so I used that.

Rainbows of summer and nutrition, or, how much I hate chard--by heather

When eating locally and seasonally, one is at the mercy of what nature provides (duh). Some months bring delicious treats like tender asparagus, crisp apples, or all the cherries you can fit in your mouth at once (9, including pits). In the Northwest in early June, nature provides chard. Lots and lots of chard.

My introduction to chard took place just about a year ago, after one of our early trips to the farm. Morgan had been talking about its incredible nutritional properties for weeks and I was excited to try this amazing superfood. Honestly, I also get a little kick out of liking foods that are not well known/widely enjoyed. I felt the same way about hummus 10 years ago. I'm a little pretentious, sue me. As we walked down the rows of lettuces, I kept my eyes peeled for chard. I had no idea what it looked like, but with how much I had hyped it in my head, I think I was expected a sparkly halo or something. I was not too far off. My first glimpse of rainbow chard was like that scene in Willy Wonka when they go into the room with the candy landscape. It looked like a row of popsicles--lemon yellow, strawberry pink, orange...orange. Popsicles topped with huge dark leaves, of course, but dessert none the less. I promptly picked a huge bunch and almost tapdanced with excitement.

We went back to Morgan's and decided to make lasagna. This was during our really brief stint of making a huge batch of food together and then splitting it up for our respective families for the week. We did this exactly twice--the next time, we almost killed ourselves via potato overload, but that's a story for another post. Anyway, lasagna. Morgan suggested we put chard in it and wanted to know if I thought it would be good. It was at this point I actually asked what chard tasted like. "Like, a more spinach-y spinach". Hey, I like spinach! Into the lasagna mix it went, teeny tiny, almost undetectable threads. I couldn't taste it at all. VEGETABLE VICTORY WILL BE MINE, I thought. I will eat bowls of chard and brown rice and my skin will glow and I will live to be 125 and do yoga everyday. It was pretty much all settled.

Later that week, I was bored, hungry, and still had a whole mess o' chard in the fridge. Feelin creative, I decided on a saute of chard seasoned with apple cider vinegar, honey, and pepper flakes served over a bed of parmesan polenta. It seemed like a really good idea. Vinegar to brighten the flavor, sweet to compensate for some of the earthiness, pepper for spice, and parmesan for salt. It took probably 25 minutes, all told. A substantial amount of time when you're starving. But I knew it would be worth it. I took my steaming plate of health and culinary magnificence to the couch and took a huge, hopeful bite...

...and almost threw up. You see, chard tastes like dirt. By "more spinach-y spinach", Morgan clearly meant "spinach that has been buried in the dirt for months so as to actually be more dirt than vegetable." So what sat on my plate was essentially bright, sweet, spicy, salty dirt. Over a bed of polenta. I gave it a few more tries, reasoning with myself that my tastebuds just weren't used to such a unique taste. Eventually though, I scraped all the chard off the polenta, blotted the top with a paper towel to get rid of any lingering taste, and ate a stupid boring dinner.

I'm not sure why I was so surprised--I don't like beets, I don't like arugula, I don't even really like spinach (I like baby spinach raw, but cooked spinach has a distinctly, uh, dirty taste). That earthy flavor just doesn't work for me.

But I really wish it did. I had chard one other time that summer, in a stir fry made by my boyfriend's mother. All the mushrooms, soy sauce and garlic almost masked the "bowl of soil" flavor, and I was able to eat it without making a horrible face, but I'm not sure it will ever be something I eat without trepidation and a nose plug.

However, I couldn't resist yesterday and now am the proud owner of a bunch of chard. I guess I'm the opposite of most people who refuse to try something again after not liking it once--I continue to try things I know I don't like, in the hopes that maybe I was wrong.

Farm fresh eggs, apple cider and raw honey at Minea Farm

I have been on the hunt for true farm fresh eggs for several months, without much luck. Granted, I have to admit that I haven't looked THAT hard or gone to a huge effort. Obviously, living in Western Washington, with many farms in the surrounding areas as well as the fact that fowl is allowed within city limits, I'm sure there are many many places that sell them - it just takes a little searching and effort. Today Heather and I decided to take our inaugural summer trip to the u-pick South 47 farm in Woodinville. They had some awkward looking shaven Llamas, or maybe they were Alpacas, and quite a bit of leafy greens....and pretty much only leafy greens. So, Heather and I are up to our eyeballs in chard (which she hates, but bought anyway. That is why I love her) kale, bok choy and mixed greens. We got two bulging bags of greens for only $10.97. On our way back we spotted a small, almost hidden little farm on the side of the road with a sign stating "Farm fresh eggs." I almost made Heather get into a car accident with my squealing. Of course we turned the car around. And went to get ice cream. Yeah ok, I know, farm fresh eggs, ice cream, how does that make any sense? Well, earlier we discussed the possibility of stopping at this little local ice cream/dairy place up the road the other way that is fairly well known around here called Theno's Dairy. They have heavenly ice cream and I think we showed pretty good self restraint by only getting a one scoop sugar cone instead of a waffle cone.

After Theno's we finally stopped at the little farm, called Minea farm. It seems like they mostly specialize in Apple Cider. When we walked in we were greeted by who I assume was the owner (Mr. Minea perhaps?) who proceeded to show us a short informational video (which we later learned was the only tour we were gunna get) about the place and how they make their apple cider. We learned that it takes about 25 apples to make a gallon of apple cider. They have about 100 apple trees on their farm but also bring many in from Eastern Washington. He also gave us samples of both regular apple cider and cherry cider (which were so goldenly delicious!), as well as a taste of Blackberry honey and Fireweed honey. Then the eggs. You should have seen the light in my eyes as I saw the cartons of eggs. I asked him if the chickens were pastured and he said YES. They are eggs from their own chickens, and they also sell eggs from a farm in Redmond. I decided to purchase the ones from Minea farm. They were tiny eggs, really adorable, from Pullets. I just now learned that pullets are chickens that are under one year of age. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. I had to buy 2 dozen to equal about 1 dozen regular or large eggs, but it is worth it to me to try the tiny adorable eggs from adolescent hens. I cannot wait until tomorrow morning to test them out. I also had to get a quart of the fabulous apple cider- I should have bought a gallon really. I also love trying out new types of raw unheated local honey so I had to get some of the fireweed honey. I asked him if it was filtered and he told me that it was, because you don't want legs and wings and stuff in your honey. I actually disagree and think that unfiltered unheated raw honey is the way to go. When you filter honey you get rid of many nutrients and enzymes, and nutritious pollen and propolis fragments. But I digress, I bought the honey anyway and will use it, it's yummy.


More information on why to eat farm fresh eggs:

"Pastured chickens will get up to 30 percent of their nutritional needs from insects, grass, clover and other greens. As a result of this kind of diet, their eggs have higher amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin E, vitamin A, folic acid and carotenoids and half the cholesterol." -Mother Earth Magazine

Also see: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-pastured-eggs.htm

The journey of a thousand miles starts with one step.

This is the story of two girls in their mid twenties on a quest to find balance between their rural fantasies and suburban realities.

We met about two years ago through a mutual friend. It was an unlikely match; Heather, a loud tattooed social worker with a blue collar boyfriend, a dirty apartment and two scraggly cats, and Morgan, a shy stay-at-home mom of a toddler with a mortgage and a computer whiz husband. But it was kismet and soon we were spending our Sundays together, eating pho and pretending to exercise.

We found ourselves spending much of our time dreaming of having a farm and living off the land. Our summer Sundays were filled with farmers markets and looking for farming type adventures. And our winter Sundays? Pizza and reality TV.

We are starting this blog as a challenge to ourselves to stop talking the talk of organic foods, active lifestyles and simple pleasures and start walking the walk. This is us cutting down and growing up. Learning as we go, making mistakes and failing better next time.